Networking - Homegroup problems

I am trying to connect 3 Windows 7 32bit Professional systems on an Intranet type configuration.
There is a router which all of the 3 systems connect to. I will call them system A, B, C. There is no internet connectivity.

A couple problems I am struggling with:

It seems like the systems choose whether they are in a "Home" "Work" or "Public" network on their own. I have multiple times tried to force them to "Home/Work" so I can put them into one Homegroup. Sometimes it works and sometimes one of them is always in "Unidentified Network". Not sure how to make the change stick. I am at this point not putting any password or security features in since it will not have internet access so I am wide open to change the permissions etc...

All 3 systems can see eachother, but two of the systems have 2 different homegroup passwords and one acts like it isn't in a homegroup and won't show me the password or give me an option to change it and also doesn't allow me to join either. I attempted to "leave the homegroups" to start over, but I don't believe it worked properly.
On System B & C, I have to create a network path to a specific file on System A which is going to be a server for the other two which will be workstations.

I have messed with the homegroup and permissions etc... over and over and over and cannot get something right or where it will keep the settings I choose.

Currently System B & C can access eachother's files/folders, but neither of them can access System A's, and System A cannot access any of the other systems files/folders.

Well, if you read all of that I either put you to sleep or got you very frustrated with my explanation of the issue. I apologize.

Some of the explanations on Microsoft's Windows 7 support pages aren't totally accurate with what it tells you to do and I am still at a loss on why things aren't coming together easier. I am not a novice but by no means experience in networking but can usually figure out the glitches.

Any things that I can try or some way to easily start over would be great. Thanks.

CB

Welcome to the forum CBtexas,

If those machines aren't using the same default gateway then they won't be able to share a common Homegroup. You should first confirm this by doing an ipconfig on all machines. You might also might want to make sure that the IPv6 address are there when you do the ipconfig. You do need a router that is capible of supporting the IPv6 protocol.

This is not a complicated procedure so there is probably an underlying problem of some sort.

I'm wondering why you don't want the machines to have any internet access and I can't help but to think that is part of the problem.

You should follow the guide in the link below which should help you to fix any other Homegroup problems.

Homegroup issues

Thanks Chev65,

Pardon my ignorance but what does it do when you run ipconfig? Just by going to each computer and start>run>ipconfig , what will this do?
The router is very old and I do not have any log in type information on the router and made a couple of attempts to access it but didn't get anywhere. If you have any ideas on accessing it, please share.

Not sure whether the router supports IPv6, it is probably 8-10 years old so it more than likely doesn't. They had 3 Windows XP systems running fine before the server crashed and getting a system with Windows XP nowdays isn't so easy in a retail store (Fry's). They already had one Windows 7 laptop so we purchased 2 low end Windows 7 desktops.

The system is in a dental office and they only run one dental software application from the server that the other workstations access for scheduling and patient information. They have not decided to access the internet at this point.

Thanks,
CBTexas

Kegobeer,
They don't formally have anyone, I'm trying to wing it. It shouldn't be that complicated, I've built computers and put together small in home networks and maintained them before. Mainly out of necessity.
Shoestring budget, probably a new router that could access internet at some point would be smart.
Thanks,
CBTexas

CBTexas said:

Thanks Chev65,

Pardon my ignorance but what does it do when you run ipconfig? Just by going to each computer and start>run>ipconfig , what will this do?
The router is very old and I do not have any log in type information on the router and made a couple of attempts to access it but didn't get anywhere. If you have any ideas on accessing it, please share.

Not sure whether the router supports IPv6, it is probably 8-10 years old so it more than likely doesn't. They had 3 Windows XP systems running fine before the server crashed and getting a system with Windows XP nowdays isn't so easy in a retail store (Fry's). They already had one Windows 7 laptop so we purchased 2 low end Windows 7 desktops.

The system is in a dental office and they only run one dental software application from the server that the other workstations access for scheduling and patient information. They have not decided to access the internet at this point.

Thanks,
CBTexas

Many routers that old do have IPv6 functionality. Hard to say for sure. If there are XP machines in the network than setting up a Workgroup would be the way to go. Are you sure the scheduling application will run on Windows 7? I've seen those apps at my Dentist office so I know what you are talking about. They look a little outdated in the GUI department so you may need to install them in compatiblity mode.

As for the Homegroup, you should leave the Homegroup on all machines before setting up a Workgroup. You will need to use a Workgroup because Homegroups does not work with any of the older server software's.

The procedure for this > Homegroup - Leave