Windows 7 Windows Network Host Name Not Working But IP Networking Is.

[DigitalGoliath]

Hello Everyone, I've been a long time browser of this forum and finally got a problem worthy of your help.

Anyways, I'm trying to setup a Windows 7 network sharing. But the main problem is when I go to explorer and network, I can see all the host names of my computer in my home group. Unfortunately when I try to browse the computer it gives me the error

"Windows Cannot access \\foo" Check Spelling of the name. Otherwise there might be a problem with your network. To try and identify problems, click diagnose.

I've tried diagnosing to no success.
Here's my network settings.

Router: 192.168.0.254
foo: 192.168.0.100 - DHCP
and desktop trying to connect to foo: 192.168.0.102- DHCP


Further investigations shows that when I right click on the network hostname from the network map. The media tab allows me to see the ip. But the file sharing tab doesn't have a properties option. So I can not check the IP. With that being said, if I type in \\192.168.0.100 (IP of 'foo' computer) the file sharing utility opens up and shows me all the shares on he foo computer with proper permissions. After that I though to check if media sharing worked via hostname, to my surprise it worked flawlessly. So my problem is somewhere correlated with the hostname and network sharing. I've gone end to end looking for the problem for many days now but being a native Linux person. I am unable to solve the problem.

Additional Information is, I am running a homegroup on the same network. Which the homegroup worked flawlessly too. Not sure if that could make a difference the though of interference crossed my mined for a second. Also both my computers are running with identical user setups, not sure if that could be anything either. But they both use the same windows username and password. Oh and while diagnosing I was instructed to remove I had an error with windows live sign in assistant, which I did. I reinstalled using 6.5 beta. But not positive if this is relevant information.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems like you're encountering issues with network sharing on a Windows 7 setup. The error message you're receiving indicates a problem with accessing a specific network location. Here are a few troubleshooting steps you can try to resolve this issue:

Troubleshooting Steps for Network Sharing Issue:​

1. Check Network Discovery Settings:
   • Make sure that Network Discovery is enabled on both computers. You can do this by going to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change advanced sharing settings.
   []Ensure File and Printer Sharing is Enabled:
   • Confirm that File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is enabled in the network adapter properties.
   []Check Network Connections:
   • Verify that all network connections are set to either Home or Work as the network location. Public network settings can restrict sharing.
   []Disable Firewall or Antivirus:
   • Temporarily disable firewall and antivirus software to check if they are blocking the network sharing.
   []Check Permissions:
   • Ensure that the folders you want to share have the appropriate sharing permissions set for the intended users.
   []Testing with IP Address:
   • Since accessing the shared folders works with the IP address, you can try adding the IP address and hostname in the hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts). Here's an example line you can add to the hosts file:

     192.168.0.100 foo

   []Flush DNS Cache:
   • Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run the command:

      ipconfig /flushdns

2. Restart the "Function Discovery Provider Host" and "Function Discovery Resource Publication" services:
   • Press Windows Key + R, type services.msc, find the services mentioned, right-click and restart them. If the above steps do not resolve the issue, you can also try:
     • Creating a new Homegroup: Leave the existing Homegroup and create a new one.
     • Disabling Homegroup: Sometimes Homegroup settings can interfere with regular network sharing. Try disabling the Homegroup feature.
     Try these steps and see if they help in resolving the network sharing issue on your Windows 7 network setup. If you encounter any specific errors during these steps, please provide more details for further assistance.