"Set Network Location" dialog issue in vista

by Steven Bink

http://bink.nu/news/disable-the-set-network-location-dialog-in-windows-vista.aspx

Problem:

In vista, the system presents the "Set Network Location" dialog requesting to categorize the newly connected network as one of the following:
• Private
• Work
• Public
"Public" is the only option that can be chosen without using administrative rights on the system.

When an admin does not want this dialog to pop when one of his mobile computers is connected to non-trusted network, there is no option in Group Policy to stop the dialog from occurring.

Solutions 1:

The user has the option to disable the dialog from the UI:
• Right Click the network icon in the system tray
• Click Turn off/on notification of new networks

Solutions 2:

This is not the ideal option for the average admin. So this can be arranged from the registry:
On a per user basis
Set the value "Show" (REG_DWORD) to 0 in
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Network\NwCategoryWizard

At the system level
Create a new Registry key (without any value) NewNetworkWindowOff in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Network\NewNetworkWindowOff

reference reading:
Clean Up the Vista Networks
http://blogs.msdn.com/knom/archive/2007/03/27/clean-up-the-vista-networks.aspx

Network Location Types in Windows Vistaby The Cable Guy
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/library/bb878110.aspx

New Networking Features in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb726965.aspx

Network Location Settings in Windows Vista

http://blogs.technet.com/mattmcspirit/archive/2007/04/19/network-location-settings-in-windows-vista.aspx