Enter Network Password: win7 to win7 networking

Yes, yet another question about the "network password" issue with Win7 networking.

This has nothing to do with Win7-winxp networking, as most of the questions related to this subject (from google) appear to be.

This is an issue of 1 single win7 installation being unable to connect to another specific win7 installation over the network.

4 computers, all win7 ultimate 64 bit. no changes or modifications made to their network configuration.

3 of them talk to each other just fine. I share files with/without homegroup no problem.


that 4th computer, which is the trouble computer, only has problems when it tries to connect to a specific computer on the network. It can connect and see the shared files on the other 2 no problem.

also, the computer I am having trouble connecting to can see the shared files/folders of ALL of the computers without a password prompt, including on the computer that is having the problem.


I have never seen this form of "one way" sharing issue, where the computer in question cannot connect, but everyone else can.


I have tried all the usual stuff:

changing Secpol settings
changing/adding users of the same name/password on the different PCs
changinng the advanced sharing settings to disable password protection
deleted/added new credentials

nothing works.


I am about at the limit and ready to try reinstalling windows. I dont really want to. I am running this off a Sandforce SSD (OCZ Vertex 3) and I dont really want to have to keep rewriting 10s of gigabytes worth of data to attempt a fix.

4 computers, all of them use windows 7. 3 of them communicate perfectly fine.

for the sake of clarity, I will call them computers 1-4. Computer 1 is the "problem" computer that cannot see the shared folders on computer 2. Computers 3 and 4 have no problems whatsoever.

when I try to navigate to the shared folders of Computer 2 from the explorer on computer 1, I am prompted for a network password.

When I do the "opposite," which is to navigate to the shared folders on Computer 1 from Computer 2, there is no problem and it works immediately with no issues associated with users or passwords.


furthermore: Computer 1 can connect to Computer 3 and Computer 4 with no problems whatsoever. 3 and 4 can connect to 1 as well.


this network issue is "one way only" in the sense that it is a problem that ONLY affects 1 computer, and it ONLY affects communication in one direction.