Windows 7: Homegroup not showing folder contents

I have two computers connected to the same HomeGroup on the same network. Both are sharing their documents (Control Panel/HomeGroup). On both computers, Windows Explorer shows the user on the other computer under HomeGroup, and under each user is Documents. But when I click on Documents, nothing changes. It seems that it isn't reading the contents of the documents folder on the other computer. What am I missing?

Hi Peter,

Have you tried restarting both computers? Sometimes a reboot helps resolve this type of issue.

Do you have any Security or Firewall Software installed?

thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, yes, I did restart both computer to no avail. I do have Windows Firewall running and I also have an antivirus program. I hope not to have to disable these important programs in order to use HomeGroup! Thanks again.

Are both machines running Windows 7?

Yes, both run Windows 7.

Click on the Start Orb and type \\IPAddress\SharedFolder(Computer's IP Address you are trying to connect to) press enter or type the \\ComputerName\SharedFolder then press enter.

Were you able to access the computer using this method?

Not sure how to find the IP address of the computer... However, I can say that each computer seems to be seeing the other because each has a HomeGroup "folder" in Windows Explorer listing the documents folder on the other computer. The problem is that when I click on the documents folder, nothing happens. It doesn't show the contents of that folder.

Hopefully folders/files are hidden, if they are, you may unhide them.
Hidden Files and Folders - Show or Hide

To find out the IP Addresses and Computer Names in your network, you may run the ipconfig /all or it's better to install this utility called AdvanceIPScanner which I also use.

OK, I found the IP address. It says that "Windowws cannot access \\<ip address>\sharedfolder. Getting weirder and weirder...

Plenty of files and folders in there that are not hidden...