Solved Can access folders elsewhere w/W7; cant access W7 from elsewhere

[jasong1968]

Three computers on my network. Windows 7 .100, Vista .101, and XP .102.

When I am on my Windows 7 computer, I can access any shared folder on either the Vista and/or XP computers. I can not, however, access Windows 7 from either of the other computers. I actually had a thread about this a while ago:

http://www.sevenforums.com/network-...-elsewhere-w-w7-cant-access-w7-elsewhere.html

But the problem now is slightly different. There, I could see shared folders, now I can't. That issue was solved by checking Use Sharing Wizard in the folder options. That still is checked, so I have a different issue now. This was working ... not sure what happened. It's not just folders I cant see - it's the W7 computer as a whole. If I am on the Vista or XP machine, and I go Run > \\192.168.1.100, I get an error that says:

"Windows can not access 192.168.1.100 Check the spelling of the name, there might be a problem with the netoworm, etc."

I am using a linksys wired router. I have went to Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings and everything is set to on, including Turn on Network Disc. PWord protected sharing is off, however. I have tried disabling the firewall, and have no security sw that would be blocking me here. All of the correct services are on:

- TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service
- DNS Client
- Function Discovery Resource Publication
- SSDP Discovery
- UPnP Device Host

An sfc/scannow gave me no errors.

The workgroup is WORKGROUP on all three computers (control panel > system)

Hoping someone can help me as to where to look next. Thank you!

 

[Shadowjk]

First things first can you open a command prompt and type in the following exactly:

net view

Once you have done so it should list all available computers to the machine. Does your Windows 7 machine appear? If not then it may be a physical connection problem. Is the machine wired or wireless??

Many Thanks,
Josh

 

[jasong1968]

Hi - thanks for the reply. The W7 computer does indeed show up in net view.

Everything is wired.

 

[Shadowjk]

Okay, next step could you please try and ping the computer to see if a response is returned. To do this enter the following command into the prompt

ping [insert computer name or IP address]

For example if the computer name was Josh-PC then I would enter

ping josh-pc


If that works then could you please enter the name of the machine into the explorer bar rather than the IP address.

For example if I want to connect to a machine called Josh-PC then I would input:

\\Josh-PC

If works then the available network shares of that machine will show. If not then please post the error message that you are receiving

 

[jasong1968]

Cant ping.

But before we go any further....

I can't turn on Network Discovery in Network and Sharing Center. That might be he problem. It was on before, but now I cant set it on; it keeps defaulting to off. I have researched this, and found some answers - including this forum. But none of the answers I have found relate to me. All of the appropriate services are on:

Base Filtering Engine
DNS Client
Function Discovery Provider Host
Function Discovery Resource Publication
HomeGroup Listener
HomeGroup Provider
Server
SSDP Discovery
UPnP Device Host
Windows Firewall

I have no 3rd party fwall, nor av. I can connect to the internet. W7 fwall is on, and I have reset to the default settings.

Ideas?

 

[Shadowjk]

Can you turn off the personal firewall and then try to access the machine. I need to make sure that the machine isn't blocking requests since its one of the factors that can impede network communication. Especially if your ping requests timed out.

 

[Shadowjk]

Also, on the windows 7 machine which cannot be accessed, can you please again go to command prompt and complete the following command. Please post the results:

ping 127.0.0.1

Many thanks
Josh

 

[jasong1968]

Ok, I turned the fwall off, and that automatically sets Network Discovery to on. I can now access the W7 machine from my Vista machine. Is it safe to run W7 with the fwall off? I assume no.

So I did some more research on fwall, and found a few things. One of the things I cant do (with fwall on, of course) is restore the default policy. I can restore default settings, but not the policy. I found a page that gives you instructions on how to "fix" the fwall, but wasn't sure if I should go there.

Did the local ping anyway, not sure if it matters:

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\W7>ping 127.0.0.1
Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\Users\W7>

--edit--- wierd.... the forum sw is changing double-u 7 to Windows 7

 

[Shadowjk]

Okay, this has shown that the firewall is causing the issue. Do you have a link to the webpage for restoring the policy? If so I can have a look at see if it would be suitable to try.

Also the ping command was to check that your network card wasn't faulty since 127.0.0.1 returns to the host machine. Essentially you were sending a text message to yourself to see if you could receive any messages.

As for the Windows 7 thing, I haven't a clue... It could be possible for an autochanger to be set on the forum however I don't know.. out of my knowledge there

Josh!

 

[Shadowjk]

Could you please open the attachment below and follow the steps to open the file and printer sharing services on your firewall and see if that solves your problem.

Many Thanks,
Josh

 

[jasong1968]

Got the zip - thanks so much.

I am stuck here:

Problem Step 9: (06/06/2013 19:21:20) User left click on "Predefined: (radio button)" in "New Inbound Rule Wizard"

That radio button is greyed out.

--edit--

Did some searching, and found someone who said the solution was to import this registry branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\SharedAccess

Import what, tho?

--edit #2--

Some more searching reveals this:

cmd prompt > netsh firewall reset

That gives me a "deprecated" message, and tells me to use netsh advfirewall reset instead. Doing so results in the cmd prompt giving me:

An unrecoverable Windows Firewall error <0x3> occurred.

I have seen some people say that they see this problem was due to some Kapernsky sw... I have nothing of the sort. Is it possible Malwarebytes is doing something here? Cant find anything in the options/prefs.

 

[chev65]

You have to export the key and it's values from another working machine then import the registry key and it's values to the problem machine according to the link at the bottom of the page.

[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\SharedAccess\Defaults\FirewallPolicy\FirewallRules]

This guy was running Malware bytes as well, he solved it by importing the registry key and it's values from another Windows 7 Ultimate machine "second link".
Can't turn on file sharing or network discovery - Windows 7

This link talks about importing the registry key for the firewall values.

What happened to my "Predefined rules" in Windows Firewall? How can I get them back? - Super User

 

[jasong1968]

You have to export the key and it's values from another working machine then import the registry key and it's values to the problem machine according to the link at the bottom of the page.

I dont have another working W7 machine.

 

[jasong1968]

Ok, got the registry key and it's values from a friend's computer. All seems to be ok. I can turn the fwall on, I can turn on network discovery, and I can see my W7 machine from my other 2 comps.

Am I set, or do I need to do anything else?

Thanks for the help!

 

[chev65]

Ok, got the registry key and it's values from a friend's computer. All seems to be ok. I can turn the fwall on, I can turn on network discovery, and I can see my W7 machine from my other 2 comps.

Am I set, or do I need to do anything else?

Thanks for the help!

Sounds like importing those registry values worked, good thinking on getting them from a friends computer.

 

[Shadowjk]

Ok, got the registry key and it's values from a friend's computer. All seems to be ok. I can turn the fwall on, I can turn on network discovery, and I can see my W7 machine from my other 2 comps.

Am I set, or do I need to do anything else?

Thanks for the help!

I am glad your problem has been solved!