HomeGroup works or not?

it IS an actual machine, it's just that I also have VM installed on this actual machine, and it adds 2 lan virtual cards to the system.

well, given that networking is enabled on VM machine, this should have worked too !

Homegroup networking relies on multicast IP traffic which is blocked by some routers and adapter drivers. It can usually be configured to be switched on but the location for this configuration varies. Your best bet is to verify that this is a multicast issue first before spellunking about for multicast settings. Try Serial and IP Solutions for Telemetry and Security from SimpleComTools and Serial and IP Solutions for Telemetry and Security from SimpleComTools

darkassain said:

from what i know only older routers and network hardware have this disabled or dont even have the option for this correct...

even the cheapest router have multicast enable by default...

I suspect the VM's virtual adapter(s) rather than the network hardware. Multicast with virtualized endpoints gets a little sticky to configure so the natural tendency would be to disable multicast by default on the virtual endpoints so as not to interfere with the native hardware endpoints.

it is indeed the VM adapters, cause I enable them , it gets stuck..I disable them, it works.. I'm only trying to figure why now...I got to the reason though , that's a start. I dont think multicast is the issue here , plus no router is in between.
I really start to believe its a setting that has to do with your Location... Home, Work or Public. Those Virtual cards belonged in a public network which I couldn't alter from anywhere , but network and sharing center listed them both as a public network....now considering these cards might be clones of my other 2 network cards (otherwise why 2?) it has to lead to some conflict theory....or a multicast issue with these 2 vm cards...

Network discovery is only enabled be default for private networks. It depends on multicast. Maybe that's it. Have you tried enabling network discovery for public networks temporarily?

well...my apologies to everyone , I guess I made a really bad debugging here...

I disabled/removed the cards...I ditched VM, restarted, cleaned up everything, and still I can't connect...only time I managed to connect , as I remember, was yesterday right after I clicked "Restore Defaults" on Firewall settings on the host pc.
However, I didn't tweak any firewall rules/settings except for allowing some programs out when asked, so why would it need resetting the firewall?

I'll post a network map / configuration in a few hours cause I'm really sleepy now (5.30 am in Greece).

Cheers