Windows 10 Netbios computer name

[hotbrass]

Anyone know how to change the Netbios Computer Name in Windows 10?  I can get to the box but it is greyed out.  Its in Control Panel>System and Security>System>Advanced system settings>Computer Name>Change>More

 

Cant find a service or registry setting either.

 

All the places to input a computer name are working except Netbios Computer Name.  When I look at my networked computers in file explorer, only one has a different name than what I have named the computer.(i hope that makes sense)

 

Thanks!

[MSWindowsinside]

10 minutes ago, hotbrass said:

Anyone know how to change the Netbios Computer Name in Windows 10?  I can get to the box but it is greyed out.  Its in Control Panel>System and Security>System>Advanced system settings>Computer Name>Change>More

 

Cant find a service or registry setting either.

 

All the places to input a computer name are working except Netbios Computer Name.  When I look at my networked computers in file explorer, only one has a different name than what I have named the computer.(i hope that makes sense)

 

Thanks!

It's usually (almost) the same as you computer name, sometimes it's shortened or some characters are removed for compatibility in the NETBIOS name.

So what you should do is change the computer name

[hotbrass]

Thanks mswindowsinside, but that does not work.  Have you tried it?  Does your Netbios Computer Name change?

 

 

[MSWindowsinside]

5 minutes ago, hotbrass said:

Thanks mswindowsinside, but that does not work.  Have you tried it?  Does your Netbios Computer Name change?

 

 

Yes, yes it does I just tried it. Are you sure you are doing a restart as prompted by Windows? 

[hotbrass]

Yes I am restarting and it does not change.  Thanks for trying.

 

I just read in another forum from a member that I have to disconnect from the network domain before the name will change.  Then rejoin the network domain.

 

I will try that now.

[Ringthane]

Why do you need to change the NetBIOS name?  Is the computer name not enough to identify the computer?  

[hotbrass]

Because it is easy to identify on the network with a common name instead of one made up by random characters by Windows.

[GoodBytes]

NetBIOS is for support for network support with old computer (old version of Windows, or other legacy versions of OSs), so that computers powered by an old OS, can interact with the PC running newer version of Windows.

 

The NetBIOS name is the same (more or less) than your actual Computer Name that you can define form its generic name, but all in caps (due to the limitation of NetBIOS).

 

Modern OS in your network, will see the full computer name defined in the box. In the above example: Desktop486-PC is the computer name, and its NetBIOS is: DESKY486-PC. So assuming you are an OS of this area in your other computers, they should see: "Desktop486-PC" once you share something in Desktop486-PC.

 

You can also go (much easier), under Windows 10: Start > Settings > System > About, and click on "Rename this PC" button

[hotbrass]

Thanks goodbytes.  I have done that.  It does not work.  In that graphic you posted the More... button is where you see the Netbios Computer Name.  Name of computer still does not match Netbios Computer Name.  The Netbios Computer name still remains the same and is grayed out so it cannot be changed.  Even tried changing it from the Admin account.  I have fired off a query to MS support.  Will see what they come up with.

 

I have tried every suggestion found in a google search and no luck so far.  I believe it is somewhere deeper in my setup.  I even tried it on another computer and changing the Computer Name worked and changed the Netbios Computer Name.  But for some reason there is some setting blocking my access and not allowing the Netbios Computer Name to be changed.  It is now a mystery.  Likely with a simple solution. But I havent found it yet.

[GoodBytes]

8 minutes ago, hotbrass said:

Thanks goodbytes.  I have done that.  It does not work.  In that graphic you posted the More... button is where you see the Netbios Computer Name.  Name of computer still does not match Netbios Computer Name.  The Netbios Computer name still remains the same and is grayed out so it cannot be changed.  Even tried changing it from the Admin account.  I have fired off a query to MS support.  Will see what they come up with.

 

I have tried every suggestion found in a google search and no luck so far.  I believe it is somewhere deeper in my setup.  I even tried it on another computer and changing the Computer Name worked and changed the Netbios Computer Name.  But for some reason there is some setting blocking my access and not allowing the Netbios Computer Name to be changed.  It is now a mystery.  Likely with a simple solution. But I havent found it yet.

Did you restart your computer? I just did a quick try, and it works for me. The NetBIOS name is always grayed out. Like I said, it is your computer name but in capital letters, you can't have a different computer name and NetBIOS.

 

[hotbrass]

Yes I restarted every time.

 

And yes you can have a Netbios Computer Name different from the Computer Name.  Why, I dont know, but I do!  On only one of many computers.  That is why I am on several forums looking for help and finally have asked MS.

 

Goodbytes, thank you for your help.  It is appreciated.

[WearySky]

I know this is an old thread, but it's one of the first google search results that comes up if you're searching for this problem.  I ran into the same issue, where I renamed a machine and the actual name changed but the NETBIOS name didn't (it kept the original random name created by the system when I installed Windows). I *think* it was because I renamed the machine at the same time that I was doing a bunch of updates on a fresh machine, and because I couldn't restart immediately (there were other updates in progress), something got messed up.  This was an issue for me, because when I tried to add the machine to a domain, it wouldn't let me - the NETBIOS name contained a dash character.  

 

The solution: rename the machine to something else, reboot, then rename it back to the original name that I wanted it to have.  Success!