New
#11
That doesn't always work. Usually you have to completely uninstall it. You can always reinstall it after testing though.
EDIT:
If Norton is the problem, then you can do what Chev posted below to allow the IP address in Norton.
Last edited by Brink; 20 Jul 2010 at 11:36. Reason: edit
I believe that Norton uses IP ranges to allow networked machines through it's firewall. So to allow it to work with Homegroups you would need to know the IP range that your router is using and allow that range of IP's through the Norton firewall. Uninstalling also works but I believe the problem is with the Norton firewall permissions.
I did a Google of Windows7/Norton/Homegroup and yes, indeed, there are problem with communication and setting up homegroups. I then called Norton and they were able to change N's firewall settings on both computers so that "Home or work (private) networks were connected" (Control Panel/System and Security/Windows firewall). I re-booted the computers and on the laptop, tried to get a "join" button to appear. Didn't happen, nor did it happen on the desktop. So far, I can't get a "join" button.
If I totally uninstall N, would that be any different than having changed the firewall settings to allow networking? Also, if I do uninstall, and assuming I get networking to work, does putting it back screw things up? And lastly, what free alternative (and easy to setup) antivirus program would you recommend in its place.
Flycaster,
Changing "Windows Firewall" settings would not be the same as changing them in Norton. You would need to change them in Norton as well.
I thought that that is what Norton did, but I guess not. I'll have to get back to then to do as you suggest. However, I'm not quite sure about what they should actually do. Should they help me do as chev65 suggests: "...need to know the IP range that your router is using and allow that range of IP's through the Norton firewall"? If so, then I'll first go to Linksys to find out my router's (Linksys wrt620N)IP range (unless someone here can tell how to find it.
The IP range for that router is most likely 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.200.
You should also try and delate the following file on the problem machine that is unable to join the Homegroup.
The fix seems to be Deleting the file idstore.sst under C:\windows\serviceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming\PeerNetworking