Windows 7 Computers wont show up in a network

RavenNevermore

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Sep 4, 2014
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I've been having internet problems so my ISP sent over a new router for me to set up.

My set up is that I have one computer in my bedroom and one computer in my living room, connected to my TV. I like to share files between them and I used to be able to just go to "Network" and have my two PCs both show up there and I could share my files back and forth with ease.

Well when I switched the router, I immediately went into the router, changed all the names and passwords back to the same as the original one to allow all my computers and devices to connect to it as normal. While my phones, Ipads and even two seperate computers have been managed to access the router, and connect to the internet just fine, my two computers cannot find eachother on the network. This means I cannot share files.

No matter what I do to try and fix the issue, nothing works, and I'm at my wit's end. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Note: Nothing on the computers themselves changed between routers, and they arbitrarily were unable to find eachother on the Network.
 


Solution
Here are a few things you may not have tried on the misbehaving computer(s), ignore those that you have tried:

1. In Administrative Tools > Services, make sure the Server service has been started and is set to Automatic.

2. Can you browse to the shared folders by typing Link Removed name\folder name into the Address bar of an Explorer window?

3. Have you tried ‘unsharing’, then sharing the files again and then restarting the computer. Have the two little people appeared on the icon of the shared folder(s)?

4. Make sure the date and time on all the computers is the same as this can prevent sharing.

5. Could you have exceeded the maximum number of users of a shared folder?

6. If you use passwords, they must be identical...
Here are a few things you may not have tried on the misbehaving computer(s), ignore those that you have tried:

1. In Administrative Tools > Services, make sure the Server service has been started and is set to Automatic.

2. Can you browse to the shared folders by typing Link Removed name\folder name into the Address bar of an Explorer window?

3. Have you tried ‘unsharing’, then sharing the files again and then restarting the computer. Have the two little people appeared on the icon of the shared folder(s)?

4. Make sure the date and time on all the computers is the same as this can prevent sharing.

5. Could you have exceeded the maximum number of users of a shared folder?

6. If you use passwords, they must be identical on all the computers.

7. Shut down the computer(s) and switch off the router for a few minutes. Switch on the router, wait until all the lights have stabilised then switch on the computer(s).
 


Solution
Determine the IP address (IP config /all) and the netBIOS name of each computer (properties of "computer") and then open a command prompt and ping each from the other by IP address and computer name.
Make sure Network Discovery is turned on on both in the Network and Sharing Center.
Give it a few minutes sometimes up to 45 minutes and netbios name information should propagate
 


1. The Server is indeed Automatic
2. I cannot browse files this way: Windows cannot access \\Computername\filename (blah blah blah) Error code 0x80004005
3. I have tried this, and it hasn't worked.
4. The date on the computers is the same
5. I just have the two computers on the network. Just a small home network.
6. I don't use passwords
7. I will try the resetting everything one by one and we'll see if that works and I'll report back.

My living room PC (we'll call it LivingRoomPC) Can ping my BedroomPC by the command prompt with 0% loss.
My BedroomPC has some problems pinging the LivingRoomPC.
-When I ping by computer name I get the message: "Ping request could not find host LivingRoomPC. Please check the name and try again."
-However when I ping LivingRoomPC's IP adress i get: "Reply from (x.x.x.x) Destination host unreachable." 4 times. 0% loss

Network discovery is indeed turned on on both computers.

EDIT: Just shut everything down, started up the router, waited for all the lights to turn on and then turned on my other two computers. No luck.
 


Last edited:
Make sure you look into any firewall issues. Try turning the firewall off to test if this allows the PC's to communicate. Don't forget to turn it back on.
 


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