I have a wired LAN network with some networking issues. In dealing with them, I have used net view in Command Prompt to try to see all of the computers on the network.
There are four computers on the network: XP1, XP2, XP3, and Win7. (I am doing this on Win7).
- When using
net view, Win7 can see XP2 and itself. - When looking at the network in Network and Sharing Center, Win7 can see and share with XP2, XP3, and itself.
- Using
\\XP1, Win7 can also see and share with XP1. - All of the computers can be seen if
nbtstat -a "Computername"is used in Command Prompt.
Why can I see the two other computers (XP1 and XP 3) in either the Network and Sharing Center or by using \\XP1, but not when using net view?
To clarify, they are all in the same workgroup. Some of them can see each other, and each computer can, in some way or another, see or be seen by at least one other computer in the group, generally more.
Best Answer
The reason has to do with the architecture of Microsoft Windows networking. In your setup, Windows uses a rather mundane way of enumerating network devices: Broadcasting. Virtually, it broadcasts a message on the network asking any device that can hear it to report in.
Of course, you probably expect a fast response, so
net viewwaits a split second before listing every device that has reported in. The Network view, however has the luxury of waiting as long as you keep it open and updating its device list in real time. Hence, if it takes longer for a couple of devices to report in than the amountnet viewwaits, you get a partial list. But Network can still list devices even if they report in late. They appear late, but if that latency is just a split second, you don't feel it.It is of course possible for some computers to become stealthy by actively refusing to respond to the device discovery broadcast message. That's what a firewall can do.