Windows 7: The Homegroups Thread to Rule Them All

I have searched for the past several hours for the solution to my Homegroup issues. There must be thousands of threads out there with nothing but half-solutions and frustration.



Here is what I am looking for:

1) What Windows services do Homegroups depend upon.
2) What does the network infrastructure need to allow, e.g. ipv6, etc.
3) What Windows firewall exceptions need to be made?
4) What options should be set in the Network and Sharing Center and associated menus.
5) What other issues are there to consider?

Basically, I would like, in one place, an end-to-end description of the Homegroup system. What does it depend upon to work?


For the curious, I have two boxes running 7100 x64. They are on a wireless network with a Trendnet draft n router. One box is a fresh install and the other I have had since the RC went public. The older install has had Virtualbox installed and uninstalled and the associated virtual bridged connection deleted.

Neither computer has any knowledge of the other's existence. To prove this I created a Homegroup on both computers with the same password. Nothing. I have never had the option to join a Homegroup or even glimpsed the other computer on a network map.

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