cannot delete orphaned HomeGroup shares in Win 7

[JJKad]

I have three Windows 7 computers, one a laptop and the other two are desktops. The laptop and one desktop are Win 7 Prof. and the remaining desktop is Win 7 Ultimate. All computers are part of my HomeGroup and share is set up for all default libraries, My Documents, My Pictures, My Music and My Videos.
On the Win 7 desktop (let's call this computer 1) I had a 4 disk raid array partitioned as C: and D:. I had the system on C: and used D: for data. D: was beginning to be overpopulated. I tried several ways to shirk C: and then expand D: but ran into problems exacerbated by the raid array. So, I decided to copy everything on D: to C:, delete D: and then expand C: for the entire array.
With the help of tutorials on this site, I have resolved all the problems this caused on computer 1 with the user folders and can now share everything through the HomeGroup in Win 7 Explorer on all three computers.
However, eliminating drive D: on computer 1 and relocating My Documents, My Pictures, My Videos and Downloads have left the HomeGroup on both of the other computers with two orphaned shares. One named My Documents and the other downloads. On computers 2 and 3 when I click on the shares in Win 7 Explorer, I get network error Windows cannot access \\computer1\downloads and Windows cannot access \\computer1\My Documents; Error code 0x80070043, The network name cannot be found.
On computers 2 and 3 when I run net share in regular Win 7 I see an orphaned share on D: Share name D$; Resource D:\, Remark Default share and what should be the current user share for C: Share Name C$; resource C:\ and remark Default Share. If I delete the D: share with net share, the share remains in the HomeGroup on computers 2 and 3.
One method for resolving this involved using the net share command in safe mode with networking. I am unable to run that command in safe mode with networking due to a dependency error, code 1068 caused by the Security Accounts Manager that will not run in safe mode, error code 1084.
On computers 2 and 3 I have looked in Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanServer\Shares and see a share for a printer, one for pint$ print spooler, another for prnproc$ print spooler and finally Users with Path=C:\Users. The latter is where I now have all of the shared files stored on C:\Users\Computer1\My Documents etc.
That's a lot of information (I probably left something very important out but I tried to give you what I thought was material) and here is my question; how do I get rid of the two shares in the HomeGroups on computers 2 and 3 that show shares named My Documents and downloads????

 

[ITGIRL]

hey JJKad,
the only way I know how is to unshare it from the original drive. When you went to share that drive, you had to allow those privileges, and to the best of my knowledge, that is how you remove them. I'm not sure exactly how you would in homegroup. Workgroup is a lot better in my opinion. When working in workgroup, if you delete the drive it no longer shows up as a shared drive.

 

[JJKad]

It would be nice if I could unshare from the original drive but it no longer exists. I may be forced to shrink C:, re-create D:, re-establish the folders, share them in HomeGroup, unshare in HomeGroup, (hope that gets rid of the orphans) delete the logical D:, expand C:.

There just has to be a better way especially with no assurance all of the above will actually work. Wish I could find where Win7 stores its information about these HomeGroup shares. If its in the registry, I can't find it.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll wait to learn as others have a chance to respond.

 

[ITGIRL]

I know this is going to be a really stupid question, but by any chance did you right click on the share and see if it can be deleted? Sorry if you have already tried this.

 

[JJKad]

Good question and the answer is Yes. But a right click doesn't even give the option to delete. I tried File from the menu bar and although "delete" is an option, it is greyed out.
Keep the suggestions coming, I am running out of ideas.

 

[JJKad]

OK, this is an answer to orphaned folders in HomeGroup caused by a missing drive on one of the HomeGroup members:
On the computer that had the drive that was removed,
Insert a flash drive in a USB port
Create folder(s) with the exact name of the shares that show on the other computers in the HomeGroup
Put/copy a file into the newly created folder
Open Computer Management
Click on Disk Management in the left column
Select your flash drive by single clicking on it in the middle column
Right click and select Change Drive Letters and paths
Click Change
Change the drive letter to the missing drive (you may have to change other drive letters to accomplish this/so the missing drive letter is available)
Verify that the flash drive now has the same drive designation as the missing drive
Close Computer Management
Open Windows Explorer
Navigate to the folder(s) you created above
Right click on the folder
Select Share with / HomeGroup (read write)
You should now be able to access this folder and the file you put in it on your other HomeGroup computers
Go back to the computer you have been working on
Right click on the folder(s) you created above
Select Share With / Nobody
The orphaned share(s) should no longer appear on your other computers.
You probably want ( I did) to go back to Computer Mangement and change your flash drive back to where it was.

This worked for me. YMMV.

 

[MilkyTech]

I am having the same issue. I guess I will have to recreate the path to the folder that no longer exists as JJKad did, but this is a cumbersome solution. Why "delete" is not a right click option if the shared folder has both read and write permissions, I will never understand.
Even better would be if you could "manage" your shared folders from the host computer. You should be able to click on Homegroup and see and manage every folder you have shared, not just the default libraries. It is silly that I have to go to another computer to see which folders are shared from this computer.
Boo-Hoo once again to Microsoft for this oversight.