Homegroup connection problem

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  1. Posts : 17
    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Service Pack 1
       #1

    Homegroup connection problem


    Hello. I have two Windows 7 Pro computers. For the Homegroup they both have the same password yet both say that no other computers are currently available.

    Under the network icon I can see the other computer but when I map a network drive each require a username and password. Neither computer requires a logon.

    Both computers belong to Workgroup.

    I thought this was supposed to be automatic. Initially I did get a couple of drives showing. I'm not sure what happened but the mapped network folders were showing one way but never seemed to work very well and the client computer didn't recognize a Homegroup password. I fixed that but now I can't get any further.

    Computers - just one problem after another. Tiring.

    Well this may have something to do with it. On System Properties\ Computer Name\ Network ID. I changed both computers to read 'This is a home computer...' and restarted. Now I see that neither selection actually changed. When I look again both selections still read 'This computer is part of a business network...'.

    I'm still working on it. This should have maybe been obvious but I had all the 'Share Libraries unchecked - except printers. I could see the printer. I don't use libraries. I don't really have any convenient use for them. What I want is simply the other computer and all of it's drives showing in the navigation pane. I thought that's what was going to show - the whole computer. Not just libraries. That's what I'm trying to do. Show each computer in its entirety.

    I am utterly baffled by what Microsoft thinks a home computer user needs. Years ago I had two XP computers connected . Took me 5 minutes. Everything up. All the drives showed and worked perfectly. Never a single problem.

    I have got the Homegroup libraries to show. And I shared a 'user' folder, I turn off password protected sharing but I still get a requirement to enter a username and password when I try to open it.
    Last edited by tradervic; 19 Aug 2013 at 06:59.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,045
    Win8/8.1,Win7-U64, Vista U64, uncounted Linux distor's
       #2

    I have 2 W7, 1 Vista U, and a XP box and was struggling to get everyone taking to each other. I fought pass words and login names. I turned all pass word requirements off in all boxes, now they work fine and it was all automatic.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 17
    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Service Pack 1
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I have gone over everything a dozen times. But I did get a public folder working one way so I must have done something. But there just aren't that many places to adjust settings. Or at least not many that I know. I have looked at the map the Windows creates for the network to which the computer is connected. In this case the two maps are different. Why are they different. Personally I think it has something to do with the type of router that my ISP provides. This is Telus. Big company with lots of customers who I've been connected to for several years. But I have heard a couple remarks from techs in the past who scratched their heads and commented that they didn't know why Telus does it this way. In the context that it is much simpler and better to do it another way like other companies. Unfortunately that's as much as I know. I have made a screen shot of each mapped network in the hopes that it may be a clue for someone.

    It's maddening. For instance, I couldn't open the computer which showed under the Network folder without getting a request for username and password. I decided to enter 'user' and leave the password field blank. After that I no longer get the request for logon, instead I just get a message telling me that the resource can't be accessed.

    I have mapped a network drive and shared it and checked the permission to everyone. The drive shows in the Networked computer folder but won't open it claiming I don't have permission.

    In the images below, the first network (the main computer) map is the one on the left and the added computer is the one on the right. Just looking at each configuration it appears to me that it is the first configuration (the one on the left), which looks odd.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Homegroup connection problem-main-pc.jpg   Homegroup connection problem-client-pc.jpg  
    Last edited by tradervic; 19 Aug 2013 at 09:07.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 17
    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Service Pack 1
    Thread Starter
       #4

    So in summary -

    I have a Homegroup with the same password on both machines.
    I do not use any logon requirements on either machine.
    I have mapped a network drive and granted permission to everyone.

    Network discovery - ON
    File and print sharing - ON
    Public folder sharing - ON
    Media streaming - ON
    Password protected sharing - OFF
    Homegroup connections - Allow windows to manage...

    What I have is a public folder available in one direction. One machine can see the public folders of the other. I have no network drives available. Which is what I want.

    Clearly there must be a lot more options that I know nothing about. But I'm just a home user. You know, the guy that Microsoft created the Homegroup for to make it easier to connect two computers together. Uh-hu.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 8,870
    Windows 7 Ult, Windows 8.1 Pro,
       #5

    tradervic said:
    So in summary -

    I have a Homegroup with the same password on both machines.
    I do not use any logon requirements on either machine.
    I have mapped a network drive and granted permission to everyone.

    Network discovery - ON
    File and print sharing - ON
    Public folder sharing - ON
    Media streaming - ON
    Password protected sharing - OFF
    Homegroup connections - Allow windows to manage...

    What I have are public folder available in one direction. I have no network drives available at all.

    Clearly there must be a lot more options that I know nothing about. But I'm just a home user. You know, the guy that Microsoft created the Homegroup for to make it easier to connect two computers together. Uh-hu.
    From what you are saying the problem is that both machines aren't connecting through the Homegroup and when you try to access them it says that "No other Homegroup machines are Available"?
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 17
    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Service Pack 1
    Thread Starter
       #6

    I have struggled and pushed buttons for hours now but I have managed to change that. Under Homegroup each machine is visible to the other. Clicking on the public folders which appeared after I checked the boxes in the Homegroup Settings page does nothing. A public shared public folder returns the '\\User-PC\Users\User refers to a location that is unavailable.'

    Under the Network icon I can access Network\Trade-PC\Users\Public\Public Documents...

    And that's it. Not at all what I was expecting. In fact downright dismal.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 8,870
    Windows 7 Ult, Windows 8.1 Pro,
       #7

    tradervic said:
    I have struggled and pushed buttons for hours now but I have managed to change that. Under Homegroup each machine is visible to the other. Clicking on the public folders which appeared after I checked the boxes in the Homegroup Settings page does nothing. A public shared public folder returns the '\\User-PC\Users\User refers to a location that is unavailable.'

    Under the Network icon I can access Network\Trade-PC\Users\Public\Public Documents...

    And that's it. Not at all what I was expecting. In fact downright dismal.
    So now you are having problems accessing one of the Public folders on just one machine?

    We need to nail the actual problem down here but it seems to keep changing from one post to the next.

    If the problem is with a Public folder you need to be sure that it is shared out through the Sharing tab "on both machines" at C:>Users>Public per the picture below.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Homegroup connection problem-public-folders-sharing-enabled.png  
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 17
    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Service Pack 1
    Thread Starter
       #8

    It keeps changing because I keep pushing buttons because I don't want to just sit here doing nothing.

    I have gotten the public folders to work. These are the 'Public' folders that appear under the network drive on each machine. However, if you click on the PC icon visible under the Homegroup (the folders which appear are the ones that result after you check the boxes in the Homegroup Settings page), nothing happens at all.

    The 'User' folder also appears in this group but clicking on it presents the message that the location is unavailable.

    This is one problem. But I would be happy to ignore this problem and solve the problem of why I can't get any drives from one machine to be accessible to the other. All this public, library folders that seem to never be in the location you were expecting is very confusing. The best and simplest is to just make the whole damn machine appear. What else is there to us layman?

    Thanks very much for your interest. I know its confusing. I am not that good of an explainer. Previously the second machine was configured with Vista. I even had a tech over here and after many hours couldn't figure it out. So I went out and spent a bunch of money to upgrade and put Windows 7 on the machine. Now I have the same problem. Unbelievable.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 8,870
    Windows 7 Ult, Windows 8.1 Pro,
       #9

    tradervic said:
    It keeps changing because I keep pushing buttons because I don't want to just sit here doing nothing.

    I have gotten the public folders to work. These are the 'Public' folders that appear under the network drive on each machine. However, if you click on the pc visible under the Homegroup icon the folders (which appear are the ones that result after you check the boxes in the Homegroup Settings page), Nothing happens at all.

    The 'User' folder also appears in this group but clicking on it presents the message that the location is unavailable.

    This is one problem. But I would be happy to ignore this problem and solve the problem of why I can't get any drives from one machine to be accessible to the other. All this public, library folders that seem to never be in the location you were expecting is very confusing. The best and simplest is to just make the whole damn machine appear. What else is there to us layman?

    Thanks very much for your interest. Previously the second machine was configured with Vista. I even had a tech over here and after many hours couldn't figure it out. So I went out and spent a bunch of money to upgrade and put Windows 7 on the machine. Now I have the same problem. Unbelievable.
    So now drive access is the problem? Follow the link below to fix the drive access problems. Typically just adding the "Everyone" share to the Security tab will fix this.

    HDD sharing
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 17
    Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit 7601 Multiprocessor Service Pack 1
    Thread Starter
       #10

    chev65 said:
    tradervic said:
    It keeps changing because I keep pushing buttons because I don't want to just sit here doing nothing.

    I have gotten the public folders to work. These are the 'Public' folders that appear under the network drive on each machine. However, if you click on the pc visible under the Homegroup icon the folders (which appear are the ones that result after you check the boxes in the Homegroup Settings page), Nothing happens at all.

    The 'User' folder also appears in this group but clicking on it presents the message that the location is unavailable.

    This is one problem. But I would be happy to ignore this problem and solve the problem of why I can't get any drives from one machine to be accessible to the other. All this public, library folders that seem to never be in the location you were expecting is very confusing. The best and simplest is to just make the whole damn machine appear. What else is there to us layman?

    Thanks very much for your interest. Previously the second machine was configured with Vista. I even had a tech over here and after many hours couldn't figure it out. So I went out and spent a bunch of money to upgrade and put Windows 7 on the machine. Now I have the same problem. Unbelievable.
    So now drive access is the problem? Follow the link below to fix the drive access problems. Typically just adding the "Everyone" share to the Security tab will fix this.

    HDD sharing

    'So now the drives are the problem.'
    From original post -

    "What I want is simply the other computer and all of it's drives showing in the navigation pane. I thought that's what was going to show - the whole computer. Not just libraries. That's what I'm trying to do. Show each computer in its entirety."

    Adding 'Everyone' to security tad. From the second post above -

    "I have a Homegroup with the same password on both machines.
    I do not use any logon requirements on either machine.
    I have mapped a network drive and granted permission to everyone."

    Is the security tab you mention the 'Permission' granting tab?
      My Computer


 
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