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[seekermeister]

If it comes down to that, I will get rid of it, but only as a last resort. I have posted a question regarding this on the Outpost Forum, so I will wait and see what they have to say. Since I have OSS, which is a suite including both firewall and AV, I would have to replace the AV, even if I used the Windows firewall. I know that some recommend MSE, but I just finished uninstalling that a couple of days ago, because of problems that it was creating. The network is important to me, but not enough to make any rash decisions.

 

[aem]

Getting back to using/testing static IP for the problematic machine. Is it still needed? If so, a sig in my tut (please don't do all steps, just what is applicable) is good reading.

In this case, you just assign static IP to the interface of tcp/ip4 that is connected to the router. Wouldn't hurt to try direct connection from pc to pc if you want. If still no good, something is blocking ping into the machine.

 

[seekermeister]

I changed some LAN settings in the firewall, according to a recommendation on the Outpost Forum, and now both computers can ping each other successfully. However, that doesn't seem to have changed much in terms of the Homegroup sharing issues.

Both rigs have the same password entered, they both see each other on the full map of Network and Sharing Center, but Homegroup says that I have no items being shared. I checkmark all of the items to be shared, and click finish, but nothing changes and it doesn't retain those settings.

As before, when I run the Homegroup Troubleshooter, it says that there are network problems, but it can't fix them. I then found that there is a function in the personal folder to select items to be shared, but when I select Homegrooup (Read/Write) nothing happens that seems to indicate a change. I've noted that the Nobody option at the top of the sharing options displays a padlock next to it, but I'm not sure if that indicates the current or potential status. When I select Specific people, it opens a window for that purpose, but it already shows that I'm sharing with the Homegroup.

To call Homegroup "easy" is an oxymoron. Still looking for the answer.

 

[chev65]

It is easy, you made it difficult by installing an untested A/V with a firewall before you had Homegroups working. I tried to tell you to completly uninstall Outpost but unfortunatly you did not follow instructions to do so. :sarc:

There are quite a few A/V's that simply will not work properly with Windows 7 and Homegroups. In fact both ZoneAlarm and AVG cause endless problems with Homegroup sharing also. I think it's safe to say that we can add Outpost the list of A/V's that do not work properly with Homegroups.

 

[seekermeister]

Outpost is highly tested, outside of the W7 Homegroup, and I will not yet say that it doesn't work properly, just because it requires making some manual changes in settings. So far as I can see at this point, the AV portion of Outpost has not been an issue, it has been the firewall that has intervened.

All of that aside, disabling the firewall does permit sharing of files so the solution to the problem probably lies in Outpost...unless there is a way to increase it's compatibility within W7?

It sounds as though you are proposing that everyone must use the Windows firewall for the Homegroup to operate. If that is the case, then I would say that Windows 7 has not been designed in a fashion that permits the flexibility that many people (incuding myself) would expect.

At this point, I'm more interested in making the system work my way than MS's way. I'm not yet convinced that is not possible.

 

[chev65]

What your looking for in that case is a way to configure the Outpost firewall to allow for Homegroup sharing to work properly. The problem is that I haven't clue on how to do that. I would think that the Outpost forum would have a procedure to allow for Homegroup sharing through the firewall.

There are some download links on this Msoft page that outlines the firewall setup requirements to allow for Homegroup sharing. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...30-673D-45A0-8446-69C36E6F5C13&displaylang=en

 

[seekermeister]

I am posting on the Outpost Forum already, but since this forum is where I began my search for the problem, I have continued doing so in hopes of it providing at least part of the solution. The links that you provided may be just that, but I don't know yet, because I'm posting this before downloading the MS files. I'll see how it goes.

 

[seekermeister]

Something that throws me for a loop is how and why WMP is involve in the HomeGroup? I understand that there is a WMP Network Sharing Service involved, which is enabled, but this seems like an unlikely function for a media player. More than that, this apparently involves a Media Center Extender, which I have no idea if it is installed by default, or is something else that I need to download?

 

[seekermeister]

It seems that the problem is now solved, I had some help on the Outpost Forum that might be of use to someone with similar problems on a different firewall:

Home Networking With OSS - Outpost Users Support Forum

 

[chev65]

I marked this as solved days ago because I realized that the Outpost firewall was the cause of this problem right from the start. I can't believe that all you had to do was too disable than enable Outpost to fix the problem. That no doubt enabled the Auto detection feature so that the Outpost firewall could see the Homegroup and then create rules to allow it to work properly. Glad you got it fixed.

 

[seekermeister]

I marked this as solved days ago because I realized that the Outpost firewall was the cause of this problem right from the start.

A problem is never solved, until it is solved, regardless of the cause.

 

[chev65]

I'm just glad you figured it out because from the looks of it those guys at the Outpost forum were just about useless in regards to helping you.

 

[seekermeister]

I wouldn't say that, because they did tell me things that I needed to know, even if it wasn't directly the answer to my question.