Windows won't find my network device

Recently I've been having this issue with Windows when I search for my devices name in my network Windows doesn't find them, this seems to be a very common issue in Windows 10 and especially if you are trying to access a device that runs some versions of Linux.

The symptoms are, when you search for a network device by name like this \\MYDEVICE and Windows doesn't find it or it takes a long time scanning for it.

For the experts out there all we are doing is to add the device's name and IP Address to the lmhosts file.

The lmhosts file works similar to the hosts file but instead of DNS mappings it works by mapping your network device names.

Hopefully this will solve your issues:

1) Press the WIN key and type "Notepad".

2) Right click the Notepad's icon and select "Run as administrator", select "Yes" in the security dialog.

3) In Notepad click "File" form the menu bar and then click "Open".

4) Navigate to this path "C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc".

5) In the bottom right dropdown menu select "All Files (*.*)".

6) Open the file "lmhosts.sam".

7) In the bottom of the file add the IP Address and name of your device like this example:

192.168.1.50    MYDEVICENAME

You must find your device IP Address first and use that one instead of 192.168.1.50 of course. The device name should be separated at least by one space, one tab in my case.

Your Windows computer should be able to find your device immediately now, no need to reboot but in case it doesn't work you can try rebooting your computer.