Changed Computer Name and now Network and HomeGroup doesn't work

[Caracol]

Hi there.

I have 2 computers and the networking and homegroup between them was fine (could share files, print remotely, etc).

Then I decided to change the name on one of them and everything has got very screwed up and I desperately need help! (I believe the homegroup problem emanates from the network problem)

If we say the original PC that created the homegroup was called OLDNAME and I wanted to make it NEWNAME. Then I went to the other PC and found that now nothing worked. So, rather than play with everything, I went back to the original and renamed it OLDNAME again... but alas, this didn't fix things. (Yes, I did do reboots after the renames).

The strange thing now is that when I try to connect to the homegroup from the second PC it says there is a homegroup managed by "name" on NEWNAME (even though the name is OLDNAME again) and whatever I do, this doesn't change. If I try to join it, after about a minute it comes back and says it can't connect.

To access files from PC2 to OLDNAME, I have had to change all the permissions individually to be able to see them. If I try to print I'm told that the active directory domain server can't be accessed.

All this is down to a simple change of computer name that screwed something and doesn't want to go back to the way it was.

A beer or two for anyone who can help me fix this!

Thanks

Brian Cleveland

 

[chev65]

To fix the Homegroup permission problems you might try leaving the Homegroup from both machines and then create a new one. Changing the computer name will break the Homegroup sharing permissions so this may be the only actual problem you have so it might be worth while to try doing this first.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43980-homegroup-leave.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/43961-homegroup-create.html

Changing the computer or User name can cause problems with file associations which aren't very easy to fix. Besides changing the User name you would also need to change the account's user profile folder name in C:\Users, the link below shows you how. This may not apply in your case.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/147545-user-profile-folder-change-user-account-folder-name.html

If you can't leave the Homegroup there is a way to fix it.

The fix for this problem seems to be Deleting the file idstore.sst under C:\windows\serviceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming\PeerNetworking

Once everything at peer Networking Grouping is running you may also need to do this...

Start the Task Manager
Click on the service Tab
Find the "HomeGroupProvider"
and then stop the service.


You may need to go back into services and enable Peernetworking again after the fix. Don't forget to restart all machines making the adjustments.


If you don't want to go through all that I would suggest you use the system restore feature to go back to a point in time to before the changes were made. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html

 

[Caracol]

Thanks for the suggestions.

In relation to the homegroup, I've actually left/joined recreated, etc. several times all to no avail.

If I create a homegroup from OLDNAME, the other PC can see the it, but can't join it. (And it says it is on NEWNAME even though the name has been changed back). If I try troubleshooting it says that the problems are network related.

If I create a homegroup from the second PC, OLDNAME never sees it and always gives me the option to create a homegroup.

I haven't deleted the iddstore.sst file yet, just wanted to ask what it is. I also have a file marked iddstore.sst.new, what is this? What are the implications of deleting this file? I don't like deleting things I don't understand without knowing I won't be completely shafted!

Thanks

Brian

 

[Roderunner]

Hi Brian, heres how mine is set. View attachment File sharing.pdf

 

[chev65]

Thanks for the suggestions.

In relation to the homegroup, I've actually left/joined recreated, etc. several times all to no avail.

If I create a homegroup from OLDNAME, the other PC can see the it, but can't join it. (And it says it is on NEWNAME even though the name has been changed back). If I try troubleshooting it says that the problems are network related.

If I create a homegroup from the second PC, OLDNAME never sees it and always gives me the option to create a homegroup.

I haven't deleted the iddstore.sst file yet, just wanted to ask what it is. I also have a file marked iddstore.sst.new, what is this? What are the implications of deleting this file? I don't like deleting things I don't understand without knowing I won't be completely shafted!

Thanks

Brian

It's perfectly safe to delete that file, it's often times the only way to get Homegroups working again.

System restore would be your best bet here unless you want to go through the procedure for changing the User account name association.

 

[Caracol]

I didn't mention it because I didn't want to cloud the issue, but I tried a system restore and it failed, and when I tried to undo it, I got a blue screen... so at this point I don't have a viable restore and am waiting to fix this problem before setting another one.

Anyway, I deleted the mentioned file on the main system (do I need to delete it from both?) but it changed nothing, the homegroup situation is still as stated previously.

I've had a quick look through the registry (but changed nothing), and there are various mentions of NEWNAME related to networking even though the name was changed back to OLDNAME. Why is this? Could it be an issue?

Thanks