Had the Public network curse hit, can't change back to private!

[looney2ns]

I'm struggling with trying to change the network back to private.
The BI system I manage that is located 600 miles from me, started having no signal issues' this morning.
I rebooted the computer, but no joy.
I found that the ethernet adapter has been set to public magically.
I can't see the settings to change it back to private.
Win 11 pro, that hasn't had Win11 updated since September of 2022.
When I go to Network and Internet, and then to properties, the settings are not there to change to private.
I'm doing this via Teamviewer, so I'm cautious of what I change so as to not cut off my access.
See screen caps.



I've been all over google, and haven't found similar. Could very well be I'm having a senior dumbass moment. I appreciate any suggestions you may have.

 

[looney2ns]

Yes, I'm signed in as admin.

 

[gwminor48]

Are you able to get to Network&internet, and properties under network status?

 

[looney2ns]

Are you able to get to Network&internet, and properties under network status?

Yes, as shown in the screen caps above.

 

[gwminor48]

Hmm, I'm seeing this

 

[gwminor48]

OK, I see properties in you screenshot

 

[gwminor48]

And no joy clicking on properties I presume, never mind, I just read your post again

 

[tangent]

I've been avoiding W11, but have had this happen before on W8 and W10.

Here's an article that covers several ways to change this (some require a reboot). As @bp2008 suggested in another thread I believe you can also set a firewall rule to allow certain things if it gets changed to public.

How to change Network Profile Type to Public or Private in Windows 11/10

You can change the Network profile type (Public or Private) in Windows 11/10 using Windows Settings, PowerShell, CMD, GPEDIT and Registry.

www.thewindowsclub.com

 

[looney2ns]

And no joy clicking on properties I presume, never mind, I just read your post again

That's showing screenshot2, but there is no settings there to change from public to private or vise versa.

 

[tangent]

That's showing screenshot2, but there is no settings there to change from public to private or vise versa.

What if you scroll? That setting is usually near the top and it appears you've scrolled down that settings pane.

Just try one other the other methods using PowerShell (Admin) or gpedit.msc or secpol.msc

 

[looney2ns]

It's scrolled one line, the only thing that is not visible in that screen shot is "Unidentified Network", just above the "authentication" line.

 

[tangent]

It's scrolled one line, the only thing that is not visible in that screen shot is "Unidentified Network", just above the "authentication" line.

View attachment 174232

That one line made a big difference in understanding your problem

You might fair better using the router's DHCP reservation system than a static IP.

Are you using a pro or home version of windows?
If W11 Pro, open secpol.msc find "Network List Manager Policies" double click on unidentified networks and set it to private. click ok, reboot.

If W11 Home, you can probably do it via the registry or find instructions to enable secpol
EDIT: here's a reg file that may work for W11 Home users (reboot required):

 

[Flintstone61]

 

[Coltect]

Quite often you can go into file explorer and type \\192.168.0.20 or \\some-pc-name in the address bar and windows will prompt if you want to change this network to a Private network.

 

[c hris527]

It's scrolled one line, the only thing that is not visible in that screen shot is "Unidentified Network", just above the "authentication" line.

View attachment 174232

Seeing the "Unidentified network" rings a bell with me, I had some win 10 machines that lost the controls for public/ private option. I ended up disabling the adapters and re-enabling them, That fixed both of them. Not sure If that is a option If you are remoting in.

 

[tangent]

Seeing the "Unidentified network" rings a bell with me, I had some win 10 machines that lost the controls for public/ private option. I ended up disabling the adapters and re-enabling them, That fixed both of them. Not sure If that is a option If you are remoting in.

Running the network troubleshooter or otherwise scripting that would be necessarily remotely and could still be risky. You can find guides like this that have some other procedures you can try: How to fix Unidentified Network in Windows 11/10
However in this case, what's the point. The network this PC is connected to isn't changing and issues when statically assigning IPs are common. Just change unidentified networks in secpol, you could even change identifying networks to private in this case.

 

[looney2ns]

Thanks all, I'm just now getting time to get back to this. Appreciate all the replies. I'll report back after I read through all the info provided.

 

[c hris527]

Running the network troubleshooter or otherwise scripting that would be necessarily remotely and could still be risky. You can find guides like this that have some other procedures you can try: How to fix Unidentified Network in Windows 11/10
However in this case, what's the point. The network this PC is connected to isn't changing and issues when statically assigning IPs are common. Just change unidentified networks in secpol, you could even change identifying networks to private in this case.

In My case I was not changing anything on the network, It changed the state of the network Interface from Unidentifiable to what is was suppose to be thus had the controls back, That was my point The controls were not present when the Interface said "Unidentifiable"

 

[OakleyFreak]

You didn't change print sharing or file sharing did you?

 

[charcoalcreampotatochips]

Powershell command Set-NetConnectionProfile can change it back to Private (or whatever you want): How to Force a Network Type in Windows Using PowerShell