Windows 7: Sharing music/photo's on network

Hey all,

Okay, I've had Windows 7 on my laptop for a long time now, but my desktop was always Windows Vista. I just recently got a new 3TB harddrive for christmas, and decided to finally upgrade to Windows 7. (Yes I know Windows 8 just came out, but I have no interest in Windows 8)

Anyway, I can't get my Windows 7 setup to share music/photo's.. It use to be a fairly easy process, but I guess microsoft has now made it "Easy", which means it's somehow more confusing!


Anyway, I don't want to use homegroup because, while I have 1 laptop and 1 desktop that is Window 7, I have another laptop that is Windows XP, a PS3, a Denon HT Reciever, etc that I want to be able to share my music and photo's...

Since I installed Windows 7 on my desktop, I can no longer get my PS3 or my laptop running XP to share my music/photos, My PS3 "See's" my desktop, but doesn't find any content, my Windows XP latop, doesn't even see my desktop on the network.

I tried going into -->Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings in windows 7 and tried the turn "on" network discovery, file & printer sharing, etc, which are all currently "Off"

But after I turn them "on" and click "Save Changes" I go back in and they are all "Off" again.

So now I'm stuck? What do I do to fix this? So far Windows 7 runs ALOT after than my Vista did, but as usual Microsoft makes simple things 10x more complex than they need to be calling it "easier".

Thanks in advance for the help!

-ThaChad

This problem is usually caused by one or more services not being turned on or not set to automatic start up.

If this is an upgrade installation you may have better luck with a clean install of Windows 7.

Check your Services. Ensure that the required services are Started on all the computers:
Go to Start\Control Panel\ Administrative Tools\ Services.
o Computer Browser
o DHCP Client
o DNS Client
o Network Connections
o Network Location Awareness
o Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
o Server
o TCP/IP Netbios helper
o Workstation

Thank's for the reply.

This was a fresh install. I checked all the items listed and they are all started and set to automatic start up..

I just don't understand why it wont allow me to turn the sharing setting "On"..


-ThaChad

Is universal plug and play enabled also?

http://www.walterdevos.be/cannot-can...y-on-windows-7

This is a very common problem but with many different solutions. The link below shows more solutions and more links for this never ending problem.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...e-d132aae03e82

chev65,

Thanks for the info. Everything listed is started and set to automatically start. I read both of the posts you posted and verified everything is running.

Still no go :-\


It may have something to do with the firewall.. I have Firewall Disabled, as my router takes care of that for me, but I was going to see if I turned the firewall on if it would let me enable sharing, as soon as I tried to start the firewall i get Error Code (0x80070424) "Windows Can't Change Some Of the Settings"..

I'm soo glad Microsoft made this "easy", because the previous way that worked and was simple wasn't "easy" enough.


-ThaChad

In that case the firewall is the source of the problem.

You should try setting the firewall back to defaults and definitely leave it turned on.

Okay,

So I rebooted the computer to see if that would fix the firewall issue. It did. Now that I rebooted I was able to start/run the firewall. So it's running, however my origional problem is still the same.

I went back threw and verified that everything you mentioned was started and set to automatic. It all is/was.

So the firewall wasn't/isn't the problem..

-ThaChad

Okay...

I Turned OFF the firewall, and now.. IT WORKS! WEIRD!

-ThaChad

If the XP machine still can't see the Windows 7, you might want to make sure they are in the same Workgroup.

Ideally you should use the Public folders to share with the XP machine, rather than bringing down the NTFS security permissions.

The firewall can be restored a few different ways, the link below shows you how.
Using Windows 7 Firewall Repair Options in Windows#

The problem you are describing is very common but in most cases a reinstall of the Op system is required to fix this. In other words, something is royally messed up.

Okay, so my media is sharing fine now across the network.

However I can't access any files..

When using my Windows 7 Laptop, I can access my Documents/etc, however from my XP laptop, the laptop "sees" the desktop and laptop running windows 7, but doesn't allow me to access any files.

I am pretty sure this is all due to new security settings or whatever in windows 7. As it all worked perfectly fine before in Vista.

Thanks

-ThaChad