How To: Configure Network Map Feature In Windows Vista
The network map is a very cool new feature in Windows Vista operating system that allows you to visually see all the devices and computers on your network is connected together.Network map is a part of the Windows Vista Networking & Sharing Center.Computers and other networked devices can be seen as objects in the Windows Vista network map, and that should facilitate easier access to the shared resources found on them. Network Map in Windows Vista makes network diagrams of the connections between network devices that can be used to troubleshoot connectivity problems. Network Map uses a discovery protocol called Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) that queries other devices on the network to determine how the network is organized.
If all your computers in your network are powered with Windows Vista you will have no problems, but if you have Windows XP computers on your network they won’t show up in the proper place. So you will have to download and install Microsoft KB 922120 The Link Layer Topology Discovery patch on all Windows XP computers.
Windows Vista enables the Network Map by default when a user is in a location designated as “Home.”However, LLTD and, therefore, the Network Map are both disabled by default in “Work” and “Public” locations.You will receive a message inside the Network Map (Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Network Map) if the map is disabled.As long as your network policy (group policy) does not prohibit it, enabling the Network Map on a local machine is simply a matter of enabling the right setting in the local computer policy.
“Network mapping is disabled by default on domain networks. Your network administrator can use Group Policy to enable mapping.”
For this do the following steps:
- The first step in locally enabling the network map in Windows Vista is to run the Group Policy Object Editor (gpedit.msc) as an administrator on the local machine.
- With User Account Control (UAC) enabled in Windows Vista, just right-click “Command Prompt” (Start Menu->All Programs->Accessories) and select “Run as administrator” to open an elevated command prompt.
- From the elevated command prompt, run the command “gpedit.msc” (no quotes).This will start the group policy editor for the local machine.
- Inside of the Group Policy Object Editor, navigate the tree to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> Link-Layer Topology Discovery.
- Once you are in the Link-Layer Topology Discovery section of the editor, simply Right-click and open properties for “Turn on Mapper I/O (LLTDIO) driver” and enable the “Allow operation while in domain” option.
You should now be able to see your network map in Windows Vista with all the connected computers and devices.If you would also like to use the network map on a public network, you can enable the “Allow operation while in public network” option.
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Written by Tony on January 22nd, 2009 with
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