Windows 7: Homegroup Problem

Hi - I have a Netbook, a Laptop and a Desktop - all running Windows 7 and on the same Homegroup. The Netbook is fine and can see both the others but the other two can only see each other and not the Netbook. I tried the Troubleshooter to no effect. Curiously, they can all see each other on the Network heading! Can anyone help please?

Which antivirus software or third party firewall are you using?

This can also be a permissions issue, if permissions aren't granted to a particular Homegroup User account you won't be able to see that machine in the Homegroup network list.
Sharing and Permissions

Thanks for responding - all the PC's have Windows Firewall and Live Essentials Anti-Virus.

Live essentials is a good choice because it doesn't seem to cause problems with Homegroup sharing like the others.

Try going down this Homegroup check list making sure the time/date is in sync on all machines. You may also need to do the registry adjustment for this to work.
Ultimate Troubleshooting Guide for Windows 7 HomeGroup Connection Issues

Ok - that all checks out apart from the Registry where that key only shows Default and Dhcpv6DUID - nothing for DisabledComponents

For some reason that registry settings sometimes gets messed up, I'm not sure what causes this to happen.
First make sure that Homegroup permissions are set to "Everyone" read-write on all machines. Also make sure that live essentials real time protection it enabled on all machines.


Note, If the DisabledComponents entry is unavailable, you must create it. To do this, follow these steps:

Just a Note here Create a DWORD -> DisabledComponents
Navigate back to where that registry key is supposed to be.

1. In the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
2. Type DisabledComponents, and then press ENTER.
3. Double-click DisabledComponents.

# Type any one of the following values to configure the IPv6 protocol, and then click OK:

4. Type 0 to enable all IPv6 components. "

If that doesn't fix the problem try delating the following file to fix the problem.

Delete the file idstore.sst under C:\windows\serviceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming\PeerNetworking