Network discovery in Windows 7 is a network setting that affects whether your computer can see or find other computers and devices on the network and whether other computers on the network can see your computer in return. This feature is enabled by default, but if you are concerned about system security then its a good idea to disable this setting. After disabling the network setting in Windows 7, it would prevent your computer from seeing other network computers and devices and prevents people on other network computers from seeing your computer. Here is how you can disable network discovery in Windows 7 :
- Click on the Start Menu (blue orb on the bottom-left corner of your desktop) and then click on Control Panel to open the Control Panel.
- In the Control Panel click on Network and Internet, then Network and Sharing Center. Then click on the Change advanced sharing settings link on the left side pane as shown.
- In the window that opens up, choose Turn off network discovery as shown. Selecting this option would disable network discovery on your computer.
- Finally, click on the Save changes to save the settings.
Once the network discovery is disabled your computer would become invisible on the local area network you are connected to. If you decide later to re-enable the network dicovery, just select Turn on network dicovery in the above mentioned step-by-step procedure.