• Still running Windows 7 or earlier? Support for Windows 7 ended on January 14th 2020. Please review the thread here for more details.

Refresh list of connected computers

mike1950r

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 21, 2017
Posts
166
Hi,

can anybody tell me please how I can refresh the list of connected computers in windows-explorer.
These computers are displayed on the left panel under "Network".

In my system this list does not refresh even after a long time,
all computers the have been connected since last reboot are still displayed.

Refresh takes very long time,
only a reboot would refresh immediately (say delete and new create) this list.

The best would be, if I could get a commend prompt for updating/refreshing this list.

Thanks in advance

Cheers mike
 
If you want to see all your powered up network devices connected to your router, I run this small, portable program
Wireless Network Watcher - Show who is connected to your wireless network

MBAM detects it as a PUP so I have to restore it from quarantine and place the exe file in the allow list, otherwise it will not run. It will continue to scan your network until you close the exe so it is constantly being updated.

It shows computers, tablets, chromebook, wireless printer and phone with the current IP address.
 
Hello,

thanks for the answers.

In my system computers are still displayed in Windows-Explorer, even when they are no more connected.
My question is: How can I force Windows-Explorer to refresh? (Say no more display unconnected computers)

Thanks for advice.

Cheers mike
 
Perhaps if you tell us why you want to do this, we can provide a good, and safe solution for you.

I personally do not want to be able to do this because it requires Network Discovery to be enabled. That may expose those systems to potential security issues. So I have Network Discovery disabled.

For me, when I want to see what devices are connected to my network, the best solution is to look in my router's admin menu at the list of "Attached Devices". This not only shows me which computers are attached, it also shows my network attached printer, network storage device, smart TV, Roku, tablets, wifi connected cell phone, AND any potential unwanted/unauthorized device (perhaps a bad guy or nosy neighbor whizkid) that may be connected to my network.

Note "Attached Devices" is what my Netgear router calls them. Another router may called them Connected Devices or something similar.

If you really want these in Explorer, as far as I know there is no way to actually refresh the display without restarting Explorer. You can do that by restarting the computer, or you can go into Task Manager and under Processes > Name, scroll down to Windows Explorer, right click on Windows Explorer, then select Restart. Just make sure any open files - such as an email you are creating or a Word document - is saved first or you may lose all your most recent changes.

If these off-line devices still appear after rebooting or restarting Windows Explorer, you may have to do a "cold" reboot. By “cold”, I mean shut down the computer and flip the master power switch on the back of the power supply (if your supply has one) to off (or “O”), or unplug the power supply from the wall for about 15 seconds. Then turn the master power switch to on (or “|”), or reconnect the power cable and boot up and see what happens. By totally removing power, you reset the PSU. It also removes the +5Vsb standby voltage all ATX Form Factor power supplies are required to supply whenever the power supply is plugged into the wall and (if applicable) the master power switch is set to on. This standby voltage is distributed throughout several points on the motherboard, including RAM for faster boots and the USB ports too. This also keeps alive several features, including “wake on keyboard” and “wake on mouse”, and the network interface for “Wake on LAN” commands. A cold reboot ensures any device settings that may be held by the standby voltage are released, then reset when power is restored.
 
Hi Digerati,

thanks for your answer.

I think with "network discovery" you mean translated from german windows,
"Automaticly search for network folders and printers".

This is enabled in my system, but the problem is anyway.
Also restarting explorer does not resolve the problem.
Only chance is to wait for ages or reboot.

For me it is a question of comfort to see the network folders in windows-explorer, which are connected say accessible.
Otherwise clicking on such a folder causes windows to hang and search for ages, what's going on.
Anyway I think that network processes in windows are very slow which is very uncomfortable.

Since we are working in an intranet configuration with multiple computers I search for a command line to update
the info of connected devices.

But I fear, that is not possible.

Cheers mike
 
Last edited:
If you really want these in Explorer, as far as I know there is no way to actually refresh the display without restarting Explorer. You can do that by restarting the computer, or you can go into Task Manager and under Processes > Name, scroll down to Windows Explorer, right click on Windows Explorer, then select Restart
Hi again,

BTW under processes in taskmanager i do not find "Windows Explorer". But I find "Explorer.exe", without any option to "restart".
However I managed to restart Windows-Explorer with cmd "taskkill /f /im explorer.exe" and afterwards "start explorer.exe".
But as already said, this did not solve the problem.

Cheers mike
 
BTW under processes in taskmanager i do not find "Windows Explorer".
Sorry. I haven't had any W7 systems around here for some time. So it may be a bit different.

this did not solve the problem.
What do you mean? Are you saying you still see devices that you are 100% sure are no longer attached to your network? Or that you are NOT seeing devices that you are 100% sure are attached?

Understand, you have to enable discovery on every device you want to see.
 
My problem is that I still see devices that are 100% no longer attached to my network.
If the devices deconnect it takes ages until they disappear one after one.

So I'm searching for an option to speed this up.

Cheers mike
 
If I reboot (cold or warm) everything is updated.
I was searching for an option to refresh without reboot.

However, as far as I see this does not exist.
No problem...

Thanks for you assistance anyway.

Cheers mike
 
Restarting explorer does not resolve the problem.
Only chance is to wait for ages (15 min or so) or reboot.

Cheers mike
 
Back
Top