Troubleshooting Home Network Folder Sharing Issue (Win10)

Zarathuztra

Zarathuztra

Zarathuztra

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Issue: I'm trying to share a folder on my home network server PC, but nothing is showing on any of the other network PCs.

Background: We have 3 PCs on our network, 2 daily use PCs and one that is act as server and we send files to the folders that are shared on it to back up stuff. This server PC was running 2 HDDs and the main HDD with the OS failed. So I had to get a new drive and decided to set it up with a small SSD for the OS only and getting a 2nd HDD to act as storage. I previously had Windows 8 on the now dead drive. The SSD has Windows 10 Enterprise installed. After getting windows installed, I tried sharing the folder from the good HDD that didn't fail and still has a bunch of our data on it.

The folder shows that it is shared, and I manually went in to make sure it shared to "Everyone (read/write)."

For my personal PC, I chose use this time to put a fresh Windows 10 Enterprise install. So it is running the same windows version. When go to the Network folder in my windows explorer... nothing. I don't see the server PC shared folder.

Network Discovery is ON (private & public)
File and Print Sharing is ON (private & public)
Password Protected Sharing is OFF

What I have tried:
turn off firewalls on both PCs (nothing)
Unshare and reshare (nothing)
Turned ON password protected sharing (nothing), then back OFF (nothing)
After realizing I had both networks set as public, switched to private (saw the shared folder... went out, came home... it's gone)
Turn IP6 OFF (nothing), turned back ON (nothing)



Any other things I can try?
I have been at this for over a week. Last resort is to reinstall Windows on the server PC (but I'm beginning to think that may not resolve it). Before that, I'd like some feedback to help further troubleshoot this issue.
 
I would remove the permissions from the drive that survived in the original pc then re-boot everything and try and set it up again.

Deleting all know networks from all the devices and starting again from scratch might help too.
 
Windows has separate permissions for the share itself and the files. You need to make sure that both are acceptable. I notice you are using Windows 10 Enterprise. Do you have a Domain Controller? If not, you should make sure everyone is in the same workgroup or homegroup.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-setup-and-manage-windows-10-homegroup-local-network

Are you able to access the share directly? Click Start, Run, and type in \\servername\sharename, press Enter, and see if it comes up. Try this both on the server and the client.
 
Thanks for the feedback.

@APM I have tried to remove the permissions and then restore them, but it was unsuccessful. When I check the files, on the share tab of properties window. The advanced sharing window doesn't have the box checked for the files, but it does for the folder that contains the files. (is this abnormal?)

@Quartz I'm not using a domain controller. Just running windows 10 enterprise as is and trying to share the folder. I checked the link, but they have different items in their control panel than I do, "Homegroup" doesn't seem to exist in my control panel, nor when I search for it. [Click Start, Run, and type in \\servername\sharename opens up the folder as it should when on the host pc that is sharing the folder. When I attempt the same from the other pc, I get a popup, "you can't access this shared folder because your organization's security policies block unauthenticated guest access" I tried running this fix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tPcsb2Dkk0) and it made it so I could access using run application, but it still does not show up in my network tab.]

Something else I noticed.. when I right click "This PC" in File Explorer, and go to properties, and click "Change Settings" for the "Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings section" ...if I select "Network ID" on the Computer Name tab, it has "This computer is part of a business network" selected, and if I select "This is a home computer" it has me restart, but nothing seems to change.
 
Zarathuztra said:
@Quartz I'm not using a domain controller. Just running windows 10 enterprise as is and trying to share the folder. I checked the link, but they have different items in their control panel than I do, "Homegroup" doesn't seem to exist in my control panel, nor when I search for it. [Click Start, Run, and type in \\servername\sharename opens up the folder as it should when on the host pc that is sharing the folder. When I attempt the same from the other pc, I get a popup, "you can't access this shared folder because your organization's security policies block unauthenticated guest access" I tried running this fix (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tPcsb2Dkk0) and it made it so I could access using run application, but it still does not show up in my network tab.]
Click to expand...

Right. Now we're getting somewhere. Go into Credential Manager and Add a Windows Credential, and plug in the name of the server, a username local to the server, and the password for that username. Now you will be able to connect.
 
Quartz said:
A credential won't help anything show up; it just makes it possible to connect.
Click to expand...
OK gotcha, I was actually able to access (read/write) using the run program and inputting \\servername\folder before adding the credentials. Not sure if that means anything. (printer is still inaccessible just doesn't show up as an option for printing)

Is there any way to get the printer and PC visible on the Network page of file explorer as it should be?
 
Zarathuztra said:
Is there any way to get the printer and PC visible on the Network page of file explorer as it should be?
Click to expand...

Do you have all the LLDP options enabled in your ethernet connection properties?

If you go into your TCPIP settings, Advanced, WINS tab, do you have NetBIOS enabled?

I've not spotted it asked, but are you operating over Wifi or a cabled LAN? Because if it's the former, in my router settings, there's the option to isolate clients from each other. Make sure that is NOT enabled.
 
I can't see why the licence type would make any difference for peer-to-peer file sharing.

Why the OP is using Windows 10 Enterprise on a network that small, and where it came from, will probably remain a mystery.
 
I enabled on both. No change from that. I don't know specifically what to look for on the router end, the only thing I've ever bothered with on that was adding in some port forwarding but beyond that it's on the default setup. I haven't altered any DNS settings on PC or router.
 
You do need to be patient. The Master Browser needs to be elected and the browse list developed.

With regards to DNS if you run IPCONFIG /ALL at a command prompt, what do you get as the DNS server?
 
DNS server is 192.168.1.1

OK... suddenly they are there. I guess patience was needed after all. I need to confirm this is the same after I get back from work and then check that my wife's laptop can also see this. But hopefully this has solved the issue.

@Quartz Thanks for the help with this.
 
Zarathuztra said:
OK... suddenly they are there. I guess patience was needed after all.
Click to expand...

Netbios is a bit of a legacy affair and browser elections can take some time. And after the election the list needs to be populated. It's really a bit of a rabbit hole, and I'm not sure that I remember enough to explain it all correctly..
 
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