Windows sharing stopped after upgrade to Pro and other systems affected?

RodBarnes

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Dec 8, 2011
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I have four Windows 11 systems (all upgraded from Windows 10 originally), all using the same credentials (my MS account), and all connected to my home LAN. Each has a folder set up for sharing to all other systems and after the upgrade to Windows 11 all have continued to successfully access the folders on all other systems -- emphasizing that this has been working for a long time; like months and years if you count the time before the upgrade to Windows 11.

NOTE1: Why is Windows networking so difficult? It just seems really unreliable. Over the years, I've had it work successfully and then stop working with no clue why. Then, after jiggling things around and fiddling with everything it begins working again -- until it decides to stop again.

NOTE2: If someone has a recommendation for a RELIABLE replacement for Windows networking, I am definitely up for that...

These are the systems:
  • A - Windows 11 Pro, desktop
  • B - Windows 11 Home, desktop
  • C - Windows 11 Pro, NUC
  • D - Windows 11 Home, laptop

Recently, I upgraded system B to Windows 11 Pro. Since then, I've had issues with the sharing to/from all of the systems. At bottom, I've listed the specific directions that do or do not work but, generally:
  • B cannot see any other system following the upgrade to Pro.
  • B can be seen by all other systems following the upgrade to Pro.
  • A cannot be seen by any other system though nothing was changed by me on this system.
From my investigation:
  • When I attempt to access any share from B, it prompts for the credentials but fails authentication.
    • Again, these are the same credentials used on all systems; i.e., that account exists on all systems and the shares are set up for access by that account.
  • All systems can still ping each other by name or by IP.
  • Of course, each system can still see itself.
  • All systems have the "SMB Direct" enabled and the old "SMB1.0" disabled. (This is now done by default on Windows 11 systems.)
  • Shutting down B (the one that was upgraded to Pro) didn't change anything.'
  • Disabling the firewall on all systems didn't change anything.

Specific connection test:
A -> A: YES
A -> D: YES
A -> C: YES
A -> B: YES

B -> B: YES
B -> A: NO
B -> C: NO
B -> D: NO

C -> C: YES
C -> D: NO
C -> A: YES
C -> B: YES

D -> D: YES
D -> B: YES
D -> C: YES
D -> A: NO
 
Solution
It sounds like you are experiencing network sharing issues on your Windows 11 systems, particularly with system B. Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try:
  1. Ensure that all systems are on the same network and workgroup. You can check this by going to the Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Computer Name tab. Under "Workgroup," ensure that all systems have the same name.
  2. Check that network discovery is turned on. You can do this by going to the Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change advanced sharing settings. Under "Network discovery," make sure that it is turned on for all systems.
  3. Make sure that file and printer sharing is enabled. You can do this by...
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Since you are presumably not on a domain when you authenticate to a share on a machine, lets call it MACH-001 you should be using a local account username (let's call ours UserAccount for example) So when authenticating to shared folders on that machine try using MACH-001\UserAccount for the username. Does that help?
 
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Thanks; I can give a local account a try. However, I've been using my MS account (same on all computers) for a long time with no issues.
 
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I added a new local user on all the systems of the same credentials and then granted that user access to the shared areas. As expected, using those credentials granted access to the shares from all systems to each other system.

However, I should not have had to do this. These shares have been working fine for over four years relying upon upon the primary account credentials on each system to access the shares since: 1) each system has this same primary account, and 2) the shares on every system are accessible by the primary account (by default). This new user will never be used for local login only for remote login (accessing the shares). There is nothing special about an MS account over a local account in this regard; the use of the email address as the account name and granting MS ability to rely upon that account is the only difference. It should not affect access to network shares; at that level, it is just a user account.

It's always exciting when things that have been working one way for a long time decide to stop working that way with no clues. In my experience, Windows Shares has regularly exhibited individuality in this area.

But, I'll consider this closed for now.
 
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If you create your accounts as local accounts first, then change them to MSFT ones I believe the old Machine\Username auth still works. Or you can use the real local username as shown by "echo %username%" and your MSFT password.. I believe that will work better than trying to use your Microsoft Account email and password.
 
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Interesting... But, as I noted, these have all been using MSFT credentials for primary login, all the same on every system, and that account was created as an MSFT in the beginning; i.e., I did not create them as local and then change them. It just isn't clear to me why anything changed that would cause this to stop working after four years. As noted in the original post, the only change to the environment was upgrading one of the systems to Pro -- but it was on a completely different system where share access began failing.

In any case, your information is good to know for the future -- the next time Windows Sharing decides to stop working.
 
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BTW: I did look to see if there was some "remote access" flag that may've been tripped and might prevent remote access to the shares but did not see anything like that. Just the general "remote access" for RDP and such.
 
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It sounds like you are experiencing network sharing issues on your Windows 11 systems, particularly with system B. Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try:
  1. Ensure that all systems are on the same network and workgroup. You can check this by going to the Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Computer Name tab. Under "Workgroup," ensure that all systems have the same name.
  2. Check that network discovery is turned on. You can do this by going to the Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change advanced sharing settings. Under "Network discovery," make sure that it is turned on for all systems.
  3. Make sure that file and printer sharing is enabled. You can do this by going to the Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> Change advanced sharing settings. Under "File and printer sharing," make sure that it is turned on for all systems.
  4. Ensure that the Windows Firewall is not blocking the network sharing. Try disabling the firewall temporarily to see if it resolves the issue. If it does, you can add exceptions for the sharing services.
  5. Check that the sharing permissions are correct. Right-click on the shared folder on each system and go to "Properties -> Sharing -> Advanced Sharing." Make sure that the "Everyone" group has Read/Write access.
 
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Solution
Please read what you wrote again as it makes no sense. Are you using ChatGPT to post this?
 
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Mike said:
Please read what you wrote again as it makes no sense. Are you using ChatGPT to post this?
Click to expand...
I had the same reaction. Those are very generic recommendations (lifted from some other site?) and most only apply to setting up Windows Shares not an existing set of shares that stop working.
 
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