Windows 7 Can't change recognized network to home network...

[yoyorocks]

When I first connected to my network, I selected "Public" instead of "Home." I try to change it from the Network and Sharing Center by clicking on "Public Network", and select "Home Network" but in the end the network still stays as a Public Network and I get a message saying "Windows was unable to change network settings." I want to create a homegroup, but this prevents me from that.

I couldn't find a solution anywhere, and I will be grateful for any solution.

P.S. This is NOT the "unrecognized network" problem.

I am using a D-Link DWA 125 Wireless 150 USB Network Adapter to connect and having no problem to connect to the Internet.

Thank you

 

[Trouble]

When I first connected to my network, I selected "Public" instead of "Home." I try to change it from the Network and Sharing Center by clicking on "Public Network", and select "Home Network" but in the end the network still stays as a Public Network and I get a message saying "Windows was unable to change network settings." I want to create a homegroup, but this prevents me from that.

I couldn't find a solution anywhere, and I will be grateful for any solution.

P.S. This is NOT the "unrecognized network" problem.

I am using a D-Link DWA 125 Wireless 150 USB Network Adapter to connect and having no problem to connect to the Internet.

Thank you

yoyorocks:
Hello and welcome to the forum. First, as a general rule make sure that you have all the latest drivers for all your network devices, including the latest firmware for your router.
Then use the ipconfig /all command from the command prompt and inspect the ip addressing information that your NIC is using. Copy and paste it into your next post so we can take and look and possibly make additional suggestions.
As a last resort you may try removing the NIC from device manager and rebooting the machine to see if that may give you the opportunity to select "Home" or "Work" when configuring the new network.

 

[yoyorocks]

yoyorocks:
Hello and welcome to the forum. First, as a general rule make sure that you have all the latest drivers for all your network devices, including the latest firmware for your router.
Then use the ipconfig /all command from the command prompt and inspect the ip addressing information that your NIC is using. Copy and paste it into your next post so we can take and look and possibly make additional suggestions.
As a last resort you may try removing the NIC from device manager and rebooting the machine to see if that may give you the opportunity to select "Home" or "Work" when configuring the new network.

Thank you for your suggestions, however I have no idea about using ipconfig or NIC (whatever that is). I'm kind of a newcomer to this stuff. However, I am positive that I have the latest drivers for the Wireless adapter and router.

My problem is that after I select home or work, it doesn't do any good, Windows says that "it couldn't change network settings" and the network remains a public network.

Again, any help with be appreciated and thank you.

 

[yoyorocks]

I also have an idea about solving this but I don't know how.

You know that Windows asks you to select "Network Type" (Home, Public, Work) the first time you connect to a network. Do you know how to make Windows completely "forget" the network including the settings or password and network type?

If I can do that, I can connect to the network and select "Home" instead of "Public" at that screen when I get it for the first time.

Thank you again.

 

[Trouble]

I also have an idea about solving this but I don't know how.

You know that Windows asks you to select "Network Type" (Home, Public, Work) the first time you connect to a network. Do you know how to make Windows completely "forget" the network including the settings or password and network type?

If I can do that, I can connect to the network and select "Home" instead of "Public" at that screen when I get it for the first time.

Thank you again.

The answer to that question is the last sentence in my original response. Open device manager, select and then right click on the NIC (Network Interface Card) and choose uninstall, reboot the machine and let the automatic hardware detection process handle the new device installation wizard.
But before you resort to that, you can simply open a Command Prompt (Start Orb-> All Programs-> Accessories-> Command Prompt) and type ipconfig /all
Then click the icon in the top left hand corner of that window and choose edit -> select all -> then select edit again and choose copy and then paste the results into the next post. That should give us some idea as to what you are getting in the way of ip information from the router.
Is there another machine on the network that you are currently using to access this forum, if so then that ip address information might be helpful to have inorder for us to determine what the correct information should be.

 

[yoyorocks]

The answer to that question is the last sentence in my original response. Open device manager, select and then right click on the NIC (Network Interface Card) and choose uninstall, reboot the machine and let the automatic hardware detection process handle the new device installation wizard.
But before you resort to that, you can simply open a Command Prompt (Start Orb-> All Programs-> Accessories-> Command Prompt) and type ipconfig /all
Then click the icon in the top left hand corner of that window and choose edit -> select all -> then select edit again and choose copy and then paste the results into the next post. That should give us some idea as to what you are getting in the way of ip information from the router.
Is there another machine on the network that you are currently using to access this forum, if so then that ip address information might be helpful to have inorder for us to determine what the correct information should be.

Thank you again. Here is what I get from the ipconfig screen:

Microsoft Windows [Sürüm 6.1.7600]
Telif Hakkı (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. Tüm hakları saklıdır.

C: \ Users \ Y...> ipconfig / all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name. . . . . . . : Y. ..- PC
Primary DNS Suffix. . . . . . . :
Node Type. . . . . . . . . . . : Karma
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . : Man

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 4:

Status of the media. . . . . . . . . . Media Link has been disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix. . . :
Description. . . . . . . . . . . . Microsoft Virtual Miniport Adapter WiFi
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . . : 00-26-5A-18-9E-1D
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Enable automatic configuration. . . : Yes

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix. . . : Man
Description. . . . . . . . . . . . : D-Link DWA-125 Wireless 150 USB Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . . : 00-26-5A-18-9E-1C
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Enable automatic configuration. . . : Yes
Link local IPv6 Address. . . . . : Fe80: c08e: efac: 79df: 9246% 15 (Preferred Ed
Ilene)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.67 (Preferred)
Subnet Mask. . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Provided rent. . . . . . . . . . : June 7, 2010 Monday 17:28:58
End of lease. . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday June 8, 2010 17:28:58
Default Gateway. . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server. . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID. . . . . . . . . . . : 385885786
DUID'si DHCPv6 Client. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-0F-6F-61-00-26-18-78
-F1-BA
DNS Server. . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
4.2.2.5
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . Active

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Status of the media. . . . . . . . . . Media Link has been disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix. . . :
Description. . . . . . . . . . . . NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . . : 00-26-18-78-F1-BA
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Enable automatic configuration. . . : Yes
Link local IPv6 Address. . . . . : Fe80:: 5951: b736: 2dbb: 2d7d% 11 (Remove
n)
Autoconfiguration IPv4 Address. . : 169.254.45.125 (Indefinite)
Subnet Mask. . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway. . . . . . . :
DNS Server. . . . . . . . . . . : Fec0: 0:0: ffff:: 1% 1
fec0: 0:0: ffff:: 2% 1
fec0: 0:0: ffff:: 3% 1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . Active

Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection * 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix. . . :
Description. . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . . 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Enable automatic configuration. . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9 e76: f: 3891: aa9f: 5da5 (Choice E
beg)
Link local IPv6 Address. . . . . : Fe80:: f: 3891: aa9f: 5da5% 12 (Preferred
n)
Default Gateway. . . . . . . :::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.lan:

Status of the media. . . . . . . . . . Media Link has been disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix. . . : Man
Description. . . . . . . . . . . . Microsoft ISATAP Adapter # 2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . . 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Enable automatic configuration. . . : Yes

ISATAP Tunnel adapter. E164F10D-EB13-44AD-B7D3-44D05EF701BC ():

Status of the media. . . . . . . . . . Media Link has been disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix. . . :
Description. . . . . . . . . . . . Microsoft ISATAP Adapter # 3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . . 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . : No
Enable automatic configuration. . . : Yes


Also, I don't know if a USB Wireless Adapter counts as an NIC. I may try to uninstall it completely if I can't find anything else.

I will try to get the ipconfig of another PC on the same network.

Thank you again.

 

[Trouble]

Thank you again. Here is what I get from the ipconfig screen:

Microsoft Windows [Sürüm 6.1.7600]
Telif Hakkı (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. Tüm hakları saklıdır.

C: \ Users \ Y...> ipconfig / all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name. . . . . . . : Y. ..- PC
Primary DNS Suffix. . . . . . . :
Node Type. . . . . . . . . . . : Karma
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . : Man

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 3:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix. . . : Man
Description. . . . . . . . . . . . : D-Link DWA-125 Wireless 150 USB Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . . : 00-26-5A-18-9E-1C
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Enable automatic configuration. . . : Yes
Link local IPv6 Address. . . . . : Fe80: c08e: efac: 79df: 9246% 15 (Preferred Ed
Ilene)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.67 (Preferred)
Subnet Mask. . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Provided rent. . . . . . . . . . : June 7, 2010 Monday 17:28:58
End of lease. . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday June 8, 2010 17:28:58
Default Gateway. . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server. . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID. . . . . . . . . . . : 385885786
DUID'si DHCPv6 Client. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-13-0F-6F-61-00-26-18-78
-F1-BA
DNS Server. . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
4.2.2.5
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . Active

Also, I don't know if a USB Wireless Adapter counts as an NIC. I may try to uninstall it completely if I can't find anything else.

I will try to get the ipconfig of another PC on the same network.

Thank you again.

The information regarding your D-Link Wireless USB adapter looks like it should be viable as far as I can see. But the same information from another machine on the same network that is working well, would be useful for comparison, so that we can make sure that the scheme is accurate especially regarding the default gateway. It's not unusual to find that some folks have multiple routers on the same network and wireless devices may receive inaccurate information from a second DHCP server (router) that are improperly configured.
So if that is an option please run the ipconfig /all on a second working machine so we can have a look.

 

[yoyorocks]

Hello again,
Here's the ipconfig/all screen on another computer which connects to the same network.
However, I realized that on this computer, the network is recognized as " 'Network Name' 2." Is this important?​

Also this computer is a laptop, not a desktop.

Thank you again.​

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7600]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\I...>ipconfig/all
Windows IP Configuration
Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : I...-ACER
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : lan
Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 06-24-2C-6B-1A-3A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : lan
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR5B91 Wireless Network Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-2C-6B-1A-3A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::f449:6ab9:445e:23bc%12(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.66(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 08 Haziran 2010 Salı 18:04:51
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 09 Haziran 2010 Çarşamba 20:33:08
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 218113068
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-12-34-D7-25-00-1F-16-9D-13-2E
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-16-9D-13-2E
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter isatap.{623C989D-E294-4601-AF5A-534C10AFCC5B}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter Local Area Connection* 7:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:2053:219b:aa9e:5ffb(Pref
erred)
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2053:219b:aa9e:5ffb%15(Preferred)
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled
Tunnel adapter isatap.{2D21FB3B-D75B-4AE4-9705-87106BDF60E0}:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Tunnel adapter isatap.lan:
Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : lan
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
C:\Users\I...>​

 

[Trouble]

I see no issue with the DHCP information associated with your wireless USB adapter, the addressing scheme seems correct and accurate.
I suggest that with the USB wireless adapter connected, you open device manager expand network adapters, right click and remove them all (if prompted to uninstall drivers, choose no).
Then physically remove the USB device from the computer and then reboot the computer. Wait until the found new hardware device wizard completes. Then plug the wireless USB adapter back into the computer wait until the hardware wizard completes and then run the new network wizard from the Network and Sharing Center.
Keep us posted.

 

[yoyorocks]

Sorry, it didn't work. Any other suggestions?

Thank you for all your help.

 

[Trouble]

Local Group Policy Settings

Sorry, it didn't work. Any other suggestions?

Thank you for all your help.

Type gpedit.msc into the search box and hit enter
Under Computer Configuration
Expand Windows Settings then
Expand Security Settings then
Select Network List Manager Policies then
In the right pane double click "All Networks" then
Set all three option to "Not configured" then
Click OK
Then launch a command prompt by typing cmd into the search box and hitting enter. Then
At the command prompt type gpupdate
wait till it completes both updates
you should see user policy and then machine policy has been updated successfully or something like that.
Then see if you can change your network location.
See attachment for details.

 

[yoyorocks]

Type gpedit.msc into the search box and hit enter
Under Computer Configuration
Expand Windows Settings then
Expand Security Settings then
Select Network List Manager Policies then
In the right pane double click "All Networks" then
Set all three option to "Not configured" then
Click OK
Then launch a command prompt by typing cmd into the search box and hitting enter. Then
At the command prompt type gpupdate
wait till it completes both updates
you should see user policy and then machine policy has been updated successfully or something like that.
Then see if you can change your network location.
See attachment for details.

I didn't get anything as a result of the search... My computer isn't English, maybe that's why I can't find it?

 

[Trouble]

I didn't get anything as a result of the search... My computer isn't English, maybe that's why I can't find it?

What version of Windows 7 do you have installed on the problem computer. The Group Policy Editor isn't available in some downlevel versions. I think it needs to be Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate.
You can try opening the control panel, then in the top right chage the view settings to small icons, then open administrative tools and see if you have an option to select "Local Security Policy". That should get you the same results.

 

[yoyorocks]

What version of Windows 7 do you have installed on the problem computer. The Group Policy Editor isn't available in some downlevel versions. I think it needs to be Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate.
You can try opening the control panel, then in the top right chage the view settings to small icons, then open administrative tools and see if you have an option to select "Local Security Policy". That should get you the same results.

Oh, I have Home Premium, that's why it didn't show.
What else can I do?

 

[Trouble]

Oh, I have Home Premium, that's why it didn't show.
What else can I do?

Those policy setting control access to various network related properties. I am certain that there are equivalent registry settings to accomplish the same thing, however; I do not have them at hand. Perhaps someone else may know where the registry settings are located and I will try later today to see if I can find them when I have an opportunity.
In the mean time, try a couple other things.
First create a new user (administrator level user) name it anything you want just make sure that he has administrative priviledges and log on as that user, just to see if the problem is perhaps an issue with your user account. If that doesn't seem to get you anywhere, then just delete the newly created account and log back on as you under your usual user account.
Then reboot your computer into safemode by tapping the F8 key as the computer is posting up, then open device manager, expand network adapters, remove all items under network adapters while in safemode and then shut down the computer, remove all externally connected USB devices including your usb network adapter. Reboot your computer normally and without reconnecting any of the USB devices, see if you can open network properties. If that works ok, then reconnect the USB network adapter and test again.
Keep us posted.

 

[yoyorocks]

Those policy setting control access to various network related properties. I am certain that there are equivalent registry settings to accomplish the same thing, however; I do not have them at hand. Perhaps someone else may know where the registry settings are located and I will try later today to see if I can find them when I have an opportunity.
In the mean time, try a couple other things.
First create a new user (administrator level user) name it anything you want just make sure that he has administrative priviledges and log on as that user, just to see if the problem is perhaps an issue with your user account. If that doesn't seem to get you anywhere, then just delete the newly created account and log back on as you under your usual user account.
Then reboot your computer into safemode by tapping the F8 key as the computer is posting up, then open device manager, expand network adapters, remove all items under network adapters while in safemode and then shut down the computer, remove all externally connected USB devices including your usb network adapter. Reboot your computer normally and without reconnecting any of the USB devices, see if you can open network properties. If that works ok, then reconnect the USB network adapter and test again.
Keep us posted.

I created another but couldn't change it to home network. Also, when I don't have the USB Adapter, the computer doesn't recognize any type of connection.

 

[Trouble]

I created another but couldn't change it to home network. Also, when I don't have the USB Adapter, the computer doesn't recognize any type of connection.

I have located what I believe are the equivalent registry keys to the policy settings that I described earlier. I will include the path to these keys as well as an image of the settings on my computer hopefully to help you determine if your problem is related to these settings.
It's important to understand that editing the registry can result in serious and unintended consequences, so you need to be careful and always uses some common best practices.
Before editing the registry
1. Create a new restore point (google it).
2. Backup the registry. (google it, the restore point should create a backup but you can also export the whole registry as a backup)
3. Export the specific registry key to a safe location on your computer or a thumb drive for safe keeping.
You can open the registry editor by typing regedit into the search box and hitting enter.
The location of the keys are
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections
and
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections
Attached is an image of the key on my computer, the actual entries and their values, all the values are set to 0 (Zero). As I understand it, missing entries do not indicate a problem, so you do not need to add entries that are not present. However; entries with data values other than 0 (Zero) may be an issue so you can double click them and change them to 0 (Zero)
See attachment