Solved One PC on network cannot access other PC's on network! HELP!

[homerpez]

PC can no longer access ANY network shares after router change, help!

I am at my wits end with this, and I'm in desperate need of help. I just changed routers and ever since, ONE machine on my network - my main PC - cannot access any other machines under "Network". EVEN ITSELF.

COMPUTER A is my main PC.

COMPUTER B is my Media Center PC.

File sharing is enabled on both COMPUTER A AND COMPUTER B.

Both are Windows 7 64. Both are set to the same workgroup name, "WORKGROUP".

"Advanced File Sharing" on both machines is set to:
-Turn on network discovery
-Turn on file and printer sharing
-Turn on sharing so anyone with network access can read and write public...
-Media streaming: on
-Use 128-bit encryption
-Turn on password protected sharing
-Use user accounts and passwords to connect to other computers

Basically, COMPUTER A uses a username and password to connect to COMPUTER B, and vise-versa.

Please keep in mind, sharing was working FINE before I switched routers. COMPUTER A and COMPUTER B each talked to one another, with each other's password. It now only goes one way.

Switched from a "Buffalo" to a Netgear JNR3210 router, with all the configuration - as near as I can tell, IDENTICAL to how I had it set up before. Gateway is the same, router's IP is the same, even the router's name is the same. Simple DHCP for all connected devices, everything should be plug-and-play.

When I try to access COMPUTER A FROM COMPUTER B, everything works exactly as it should. I can browse the network shares, files, drives, just as I did before.

The problem now is with COMPUTER A. Whenever I go into "Network", no matter what computer name I click on, it says:

"\\XXXX is not accessible. you might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. The specified network provider name is invalid."

The names are there, but ALL the computers I try to access give me this error - even COMPUTER A itself. All shares on the network bring up this error on COMPUTER A.

I have tried deleting all the saved credentials in "Credential Manager", with no luck. Everything in "Network" still brings up this error. Yet, I can easily ping COMPUTER B from COMPUTER A and it responds.

What do I need to do to allow COMPUTER A to access my network again? So far all the remedies I tried do not work at all...

Thanks for the help, I'm really desperate here. :shock:

 

[homerpez]

A shorter question to ask (and this is just my hunch): Is there a way I could totally purge all references to any LAN connection in the registry? Basically so the machine will act like it's the first time it's ever joined a network, and will ask for credentials again as it connects to resources?

It seems to be acting like that portion of Windows is corrupted over time...

 

[bassfisher6522]

Try these couple of things first, 1. remove all passwords and see if it works. 2. Reboot router by unplugging from power source, AC outlet, for 2 minutes then plug it back in and let it boot up. 3. reset the router to factory defaults.

Restoring a Netgear Router to Factory Default Settings

 

[homerpez]

By "remove all passwords", do you mean the requirement in file sharing that lets you share public folders with everyone? Just wanted to be clear before I plunge in.

The router was rebooted countess times, though I was going to try the factory defaults on the NetGear to see how it behaves when I get home later.

The problem now, though, is on Computer A, network resources aren't accessible on EITHER router...

I welcome some more ideas,. And I'll try these out and update everyone once I do.

 

[homerpez]

OKAY... I'm back with an update. I factory reset the Netgear router, and let it auto-config itself first (before I tweaked some things slightly, like the gateway IP). In case it had cached old internal IP addresses, I used a totally different number scheme from before. I then added the rest of the network back one machine at a time, and restarted the router each time.

Now the entire network is back up and running, the internet works on ALL machines. But the problem with network access on "Computer A" STILL PERSISTS. Is seems that something in Windows is preventing it from accessing anything in "Network".

Hopefully a visual explains better what is going on:

COOLERMASTER is the problem PC. SHRIMPY is the media center PC. SHRIMPY is able to see COOLERMASTER and access all of its shared drives perfectly.

On COOLERMASTER, however, I get as far as the screen above, but when I click on ANY network resource (even COOLERMASTER itself), I get the "not accessible" error instantly. Normally, this is where it would ask for network credentials, I would provide them, and be on my way.

A tutorial online suggested that you can and should delete cached credentials to solve this, however even when I clear them (below), it still brings up the "not accessible" on everything.

As for file sharing settings, I very carefully went through and they are now IDENTICAL:

Turn ON Network Discovery
Turn ON File And Printer Sharing
Turn ON Sharing So Anyone With Network.........
Media Streaming is OFF
Turn OFF Password Protected Sharing
Use User Accounts and Passwords to Connect To Other Computers

With all things being equal, SHRIMPY can see/access network shares, while COOLERMASTER cannot.

Where should I look to next to fix this? Thanks again....

 

[homerpez]

Oh, one more thing... I discovered if re-enable "Password Protected Sharing", then I can dial into the LAN with my PHONE (Android), and access the shares on both COOLERMASTER and SHRIMPY. So this is definitely isolated to something on COOLERMASTER not allowing access to network resources, only in that direction. If I can get help with that one thing, I should be up and running again...

 

[homerpez]

Last and final update, but I decided to post this in case someone else has this issue. I'm a bit embarrassed.

THE SOLUTION: I had to re-install the protocol "Client for Microsoft Networks". This is under Network and Sharing Center, click on "Local Area Connection" beside where it says "Connections:" > Properties > Install > Client > Client for Microsoft Networks.

Somehow it managed to get deleted, I'm thinking perhaps it has to do with the router change making a new network connection that didn't include it automatically. Apparently without it, network connections are a one-way street.

Anyway, hopefully this information winds up useful to someone at some point. Take care.

 

[PhotoFM]

^^^^^^THIS WORKS!

I had this exact same problem and this fixed it instantly! THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU ARE AWESOME! Been messing with this for about 4 hours now, and this fixed it within an install of the client and a quick restart. If you dont restart though, it wont work.

 

[darius1364]

Worked

Last and final update, but I decided to post this in case someone else has this issue. I'm a bit embarrassed.

THE SOLUTION: I had to re-install the protocol "Client for Microsoft Networks". This is under Network and Sharing Center, click on "Local Area Connection" beside where it says "Connections:" > Properties > Install > Client > Client for Microsoft Networks.

Somehow it managed to get deleted, I'm thinking perhaps it has to do with the router change making a new network connection that didn't include it automatically. Apparently without it, network connections are a one-way street.

Anyway, hopefully this information winds up useful to someone at some point. Take care.

thank you very much. you just saved my A..

 

[Eugenio07]

Thank you

With years of experience as a network administrator I couldn't get my home network to work properly. It turned out "Client for Microsoft Networks" was uninstalled for some reason.

 

[emersk33]

If you get an error reinstalling client for microsoft networks you will need to uninstall your nic driver containing the files, reboot, reinstall, reboot.

 

[chris2u]

Thanks so much for the fix...Saved my bacon there!! Had been Googling stuff for hours to no avail.
Thing is that if you look at the client entry, it looks like it is already set, so you need to open it up and do it fully as described.

Another symptom of the problem is that my normally shared folders were no longer shared....And if I tried to share them, it would say that they can't be shared.!..

Cheers

 

[Itsmystuff6]

This has helped me in 2019..!!!
AWSOME
I just made this account to thank you

Last and final update, but I decided to post this in case someone else has this issue. I'm a bit embarrassed.

THE SOLUTION: I had to re-install the protocol "Client for Microsoft Networks". This is under Network and Sharing Center, click on "Local Area Connection" beside where it says "Connections:" > Properties > Install > Client > Client for Microsoft Networks.

Somehow it managed to get deleted, I'm thinking perhaps it has to do with the router change making a new network connection that didn't include it automatically. Apparently without it, network connections are a one-way street.

Anyway, hopefully this information winds up useful to someone at some point. Take care.