Local Private Network - Can't Connect to It

• We’ll create a test share on the laptop (instructions in STEP B). Then from MAIN‑PC you’ll run:
  net use \192.168.1.71\PublicShare

• LanmanServer must be Running. If not:
  Set‑Service -Name LanmanServer -StartupType Automatic; Start‑Service LanmanServer

• If you do NOT see C$ listed, admin shares are disabled. Paste the output.

• If no lines show 0.0.0.0:445 or :::445, the Server service isn’t listening for SMB.

• If value = 0 admin shares are disabled. To re-enable (if it is 0) run (Admin PowerShell/CMD):
  reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters" /v AutoShareWks /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
  Restart the Server service:
  net stop lanmanserver
  net start lanmanserver

• Turning off password‑protected sharing allows guest/anonymous access only if Windows is configured to allow insecure guest auth — modern Windows restricts this for security. If you want true passwordless access across Win11/Win10, the easiest secure approach is to create identical local accounts (same username/password) on both machines and use those credentials.
• If you must allow guest access, Windows requires enabling insecure guest (registry) on the client and server — I can show that but it lowers security.

• You can always access by IP as above \192.168.1.71\share. If you want the laptop to appear automatically in Explorer’s Network neighborhood, ensure Function Discovery Resource Publication (FDResPub) is Running on the laptop:
  Set-Service -Name FDResPub -StartupType Automatic; Start-Service FDResPub

• net share
• reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters" /v AutoShareWks
• Get-Service LanmanServer,LanmanWorkstation,FDResPub,fdPHost,SSDPSRV,upnphost | Format-Table Name,Status,StartType
• netstat -an | findstr /i "445 139"
• Get-SmbServerConfiguration | Format-List

• Create an identical local user glenn with same password on both PCs (I can give the one‑line command), or create the PublicShare folder and test mapping that (net share PublicShare... as above).

• On the laptop: whether LanmanServer is Running, whether netstat shows LISTENING on 0.0.0.0:445 (or :::445), whether Get-SmbShare lists PublicShare, and whether File & Printer Sharing firewall rules are Enabled for Private profile.
• On the main PC: whether Test-NetConnection to port 445 has TcpTestSucceeded = True. If False → firewall or server not listening. Also whether net use \192.168.1.71\PublicShare succeeds or returns a different error code (e.g. 53 vs 67 vs 5 vs 1326) — each means something different.

• If Server service is Stopped on the laptop:
  Set-Service -Name LanmanServer -StartupType Automatic; Start-Service LanmanServer
• If port 445 is not LISTENING:
  Check LanmanServer is running; if it is, check SMB server config: ensure SMB server is enabled (Get-SmbServerConfiguration) and that SMB1 is not forcibly disabled if using legacy devices (we prefer SMB2/3).
• If Firewall is blocking:
  On the laptop, enable File & Printer Sharing for Private:
  Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceAlias "Ethernet" -NetworkCategory Private
  Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "File and Printer Sharing"
• If name resolution is the issue (nbtstat shows nothing), use the IP UNC (\192.168.1.71\PublicShare) — that bypasses NetBIOS/SMB name resolution.

• Create the Everyone share (as above) and turn Off Password protected sharing on the laptop (Control Panel → Network and Sharing Center → Advanced sharing settings → All networks → Password protected sharing = Off). That plus the Everyone share allows access without credentials. If still blocked, the firewall or Guest/anonymous access policy may be preventing anonymous SMB — in that case we can create a local matching simple user on both systems (same username & password) and use that to map.

• Use double backslashes in UNC paths: \192.168.1.71\PublicShare (not \192.168.1.71\PublicShare). A single leading backslash will give ERROR 67.
• You created PublicShare & granted Everyone full control — good. Now we need to either connect as a user (recommended) or enable truly passwordless sharing (less secure).

create local user (change password to something you’ll type)​

add user to Users (not admins)​

give NTFS rights​

give SMB share rights​

• Control Panel → Network and Sharing Center → Change advanced sharing settings → All networks → Turn off password protected sharing.
  Also ensure the following policy (Local Security Policy) allows anonymous access:
• Run secpol.msc → Local Policies → Security Options → "Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console logon only" — set to Disabled (less secure).
  And enable guest/anonymous sharing (messy, I can give exact registry/policy steps if you want — but I don’t recommend this).

• Ensure PublicShare has Everyone access (you already did) and Password Protected Sharing is Off on DELL. Then from MAIN‑PC try \192.168.1.71\PublicShare (it may still prompt; use Cancel — sometimes Explorer tries cached credentials).

• ERROR 67 earlier was likely either malformed UNC or SMB server unreachable. Your DELL outputs show SMB listening and share created, so the failing point is most likely authentication or cached bad credentials on MAIN‑PC — the matching local user approach bypasses passwordless/guest complexities and is the fastest reliable test.

• Create temporary test user on DELL (B1) — I can paste the 4 commands again so you can copy/paste. (Fastest and secure.
• Try passwordless (I’ll give steps & warnings) — less secure.
• Or run Test‑NetConnection on MAIN‑PC and paste the output so I can verify port reachability.

• Control Panel → Network and Sharing Center → Change advanced sharing settings → All networks → Turn off password protected sharing.

add the PublicShare name to NullSessionShares (allows anonymous access to that share)​

read current value (may be absent)​

check result​

• In Explorer address bar or Run box type:
  \192.168.1.71\PublicShare
• Or map via CMD (should not prompt if anonymous allowed):
  net use \192.168.1.71\PublicShare

additionally, check Security Event 4624 (successful logon) around the test time​

• This makes the share available anonymously. If you only need this temporarily, afterwards revert:
  • On MAIN‑PC: remove AllowInsecureGuestAuth by setting to 0 or deleting the value:
    reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters" /v AllowInsecureGuestAuth /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
    Restart-Service -Name LanmanWorkstation
  • On DELL: remove the PublicShare from NullSessionShares (set NullSessionShares to whatever it was before, or delete the NullSessionShares value), disable Guest account:
    net user Guest /active:no
    Restart-Service -Name LanmanServer

• Some ISPs / routers may have SMB filtering — but your netstat and services show SMB is listening, so this is purely Windows auth/guest policy. The NullSessionShares + AllowInsecureGuestAuth combination is the standard way to allow fully anonymous shares between Windows workgroup machines when you must avoid credentials.

• These steps enable anonymous (guest) access to the share — this reduces security. Only do this temporarily while you need passwordless access on a trusted LAN. After you confirm it works, I strongly recommend reverting (I provide revert commands).
• Run the DELL block on the Windows 10 laptop (DELL-LAPTOP). Run the MAIN block on the Windows 11 machine (MAIN-PC).
• Copy/paste each block as a whole into an Admin PowerShell prompt.

--- Begin DELL-LAPTOP commands (run in Admin PowerShell) ---​

1) Add PublicShare to NullSessionShares (anonymous share list)​

ensure we don't duplicate entries​

$currentArray = @($current)
if ($currentArray -notcontains 'PublicShare') { $new = $currentArray + 'PublicShare' } else { $new = $currentArray }

2) Ensure Guest account is enabled​

3) Ensure the folder exists and Everybody has full NTFS rights​

4) Ensure the SMB share exists and grant Everyone full access​

5) Make sure LanmanServer is running (restart to apply registry changes)​

6) Quick verify: list shares and SMB config​

--- End DELL-LAPTOP commands ---​

--- Begin MAIN-PC commands (run in Admin PowerShell / Admin CMD) ---​

1) Enable insecure guest SMB on the client (allow Windows to use anonymous guest auth)​

2) Restart the Workstation service so registry change takes effect​

3) Remove any cached credentials for the laptop (so Explorer won't auto-send a bad cached login)​

4) Try to access the share (will not prompt for credentials if anonymous access works)​

Use Explorer:​

Or try mapping from the command line:​

If you want to check SMB port connectivity first, run:​

--- End MAIN-PC commands ---​

• From MAIN‑PC, Explorer should open the PublicShare folder and you can read/write files.
• On DELL‑LAPTOP, confirm the anonymous session (optional):
  Get-SmbSession | Format-Table -AutoSize

1) Remove PublicShare from NullSessionShares​

2) Disable Guest account (optional)​

3) (Optional) Remove the PublicShare share if you created it and want to delete it​

(Optional) remove the folder if desired​

Remove-Item -Path 'C:\PublicShare' -Recurse -Force​

4) Restart server​

Remove AllowInsecureGuestAuth​

• The above opens an anonymous share on DELL and allows the client to accept insecure guest SMB auth. Use only on trusted LANs and revert when finished. The safer long-term method: create a dedicated local account on the DELL and use it from MAIN‑PC (or create identical local username/password on both and use that). I can show that method if you prefer.

• Exact output of Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 192.168.1.71 -Port 445 (from MAIN-PC), and
• Any new 4625 or 4624 event log entries from the laptop after your attempts.

• SMB is listening and the share PublicShare was created successfully (netstat showed 0.0.0.0:445 and net share shows PublicShare).
• The PowerShell attempt to set NullSessionShares failed because Set-ItemProperty doesn’t accept a PowerShell object array the way I used it earlier (the registry value must be written as a REG_MULTI_SZ). The share exists, but the NullSessionShares registry value didn’t get written (so anonymous sessions won’t be allowed yet).

--- Start (DELL - Admin PowerShell) ---​

1) Set NullSessionShares properly (REG_MULTI_SZ) so anonymous access to PublicShare is allowed​

2) Ensure Guest account enabled​

3) Ensure PublicShare folder and NTFS/SMB permissions​

4) Restart lanmanserver to pick up registry changes (use Force if needed)​

5) Verify​

--- End (DELL) ---​

--- Start (MAIN-PC - Admin) ---​

1) Allow insecure guest auth (client)​

2) Restart Workstation service so it picks up the change​

3) Remove any cached creds for the laptop​

4) Test SMB port connectivity to be safe​

5) Try open the share in Explorer (or map via command line)​

Explorer:​

CLI map (non-persistent):​

--- End (MAIN-PC) ---​

Also check Security log for 4624/4625 around the attempt time​

Remove NullSessionShares​

Disable Guest account (optional)​

Remove or tighten share (optional)​

• If that shows the list of shares (PublicShare, Users, IPC$), then Explorer/credentialing is the problem.
• If it fails, paste the exact error text.

• That uses the Guest user with an empty password. If the command returns success, open Z: in Explorer.
• If you get an error, paste the full error text.

Or open Control Panel → Credential Manager → remove any entries for the other computer.​

• net user Guest /active:no
• remove PublicShare from NullSessionShares registry and Remove‑SmbShare if desired
  And on MAIN, remove AllowInsecureGuestAuth if you added it.