Network Discovery and File/Print Sharing won't stay on

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with no domain, just a home LAN. I recently replaced my motherboard, going from a Gigabyte Z68 UD4 to an ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3. I decided to try doing this without reinstalling Windows. Both motherboards have the same Z68 chipset, so I didn't foresee too many issues.

After letting Windows boot up and recognize the changed hardware and install new drivers, everything seemed to be working fine. However I then noticed that other computers on the network could no longer see my shared files.

Upon investigating I found a bunch of problems.

- In Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Advanced Sharing Settings, Network Discovery and File & Print Sharing are turned off. If I try to turn them on and save changes, then go back to look at the settings, they appear off again immediately.

- Computer Browser service won't start, giving the error "The specified service does not exist as an installed service"

- Control Panel -> Windows Firewall shows "Windows Firewall is not using recommended settings", and a button to "Use recommended settings", and when I click it I get error 0x80070424, "Windows Firewall can't change some of your settings". In services.msc, Windows Firewall service doesn't show up at all in the list.

Everything seems to be working fine otherwise. My internet connection is fine, I can browse websites and run all my applications.

I tried running "sfc.exe /scannow", but it doesn't detect any problems.

I tried booting the Windows 7 DVD to use the repair function, but when I click repair, I get an error that says this DVD is for a different version of Windows -- but it's not.

I really want to avoid having to reinstall Windows if at all possible. Can anyone help?

Looks like I solved this on my own. Here were the steps for anyone interested:

The Base Filtering Engine (BFE) service was also missing from services.msc, which many other network services depend on. This turned out to be the main problem.

On another computer running the same version of Windows, I used regedit to export HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\BFE, then imported that registry key on the problem machine. I set the permissions for the key to Full Control for Everyone. This re-created the BFE service.

I did the same for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\MpsSvc, which re-created the Windows Firewall service.

I then rebooted. That's basically it. Both services are back, and everything appears to be fine now. Windows Firewall control panel applet is working normally, and network computers can see my shared files again.

Thanks to anyone who was attempting to help :)

Thankyou equazcion I was having same problem and these 2 services were completely missing from my registry ie BFE and MpsSvc. I imported them from a working computer and now its all fixed. I think it may have happened from a virus that briefly infected me and I didn't have any restore points for some reason. Maybe the virus caused that too. Thankyou once again.

Great to hear, I'm glad it helped!

Another thanks due to equazcion from here also.

I look after what seems to be a never ending number of machines for people nowadays and one of these friends rang me with this exact same problem a couple of nights ago.
After a lot of digging around on the net and wading through all the over-complex suggestions and the usual rubbish, I came across your posting and I can also report that it is bang on the money!

As I was doing this via remote, I exported my registry keys, zipped them up and mailed them across to his machine, imported them to his registry, rebooted, and all was well with the world again..full file sharing across his network restored.

The main reason for posting (apart from the obvious thanks) is to mention that this particular guy has a tendency to run 3rd party registry cleaners like Amust, and it transpires that it was after running the aforementioned program, these problems occurred.....maybe one to watch out for.

Anyway, thanks again for your shared wisdom :)