Solved Win 7 Pro 32 won't see network, won't honor static IPv4

I'm posting this at a couple of Windows networking forums.

We set up three new terminals this week at the office; they're all running Win 7 Pro 32-bit. I set them all up simultaneously (literally sat at a desk and entered the same keystrokes at each of them), so I don't see any obvious reason that one is behaving differently from the other two. The essential problem is that the terminal doesn't see the Internet.

Here are all the particulars that I think might be interesting, listed in no particular order:

- The terminal ran fine for several hours. Email access, Internet access, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. At that point, the user called me to show me a dialog box. I used System Restore to go back in time to 9 a.m. in case the user had somehow managed to do anything (though she's not an admin).

- IPv6 is disabled.

- The workplace uses Static IPs. The IP address is entered correctly in the IPv4 properties (x.x.x.213), but at cmd / ipconfig, I get this result: "Autoconfiguration IPv4 address: 169.254.95.187"

- In Network and Sharing Center, the network (which is only known as Unidentified Network) is set to type Public. When I reset it to type Work and reboot, it resets to type Public.

Any input is appreciated.

Welcome to Seven Forums,

Please try the following suggestions:

-If it's a wired issue, unplug the network cable from the router and plug it in to another LAN port.

-Disable/enable the NIC in question from Device Manager.
-Uninstall/reinstall the NIC.
Here's a Tutorial

Please post an update.

Although this thread is eighteen months old, I see that I never posted the solution. Here's what it was:

Since our workplace uses fixed IPs, the router does not serve DHCP. Apparently, when Win7 connects to a network that doesn't assign DHCP, it sets the network type to Public. This triggers a feature/bug that I found well-documented elsewhere whereby a user on a public network can't change the type of network (because it's a public network). I think this is known as Project Kafka.

Anyway, the workarounds that I found for that - which did the trick - involved diving into the registry to flip the bit that allows a user to change the network type.

Hello there,

Have you tried replacing the Cat5 cable? What is the cable structure like within the office? Direct cable to router/switch? Do you have a wall socket that relays back to a switch and patch panel?

Sorry - Didn't see you had solved above.