Network a PC and Laptop

JohnSwift10

I have a windows 11 pro PC and a windows 10 pro laptop that I am trying to network together.

If I use file explorer I can see the laptop from the PC and the PC from the laptop but I can only click on and use each users folder, otherwise I get 

Windows cannot access \\W10laptop\c\Windows

or any folder other than Users

same when I try to connect to the PC from the laptop. same error message I have 3 hard drives in the pc and I cannot access them although I have went through all the settings and set the drives to share.

facade

I've never got sharing to work properly since a Windows 10 "update" years ago (when they did away with simply joining WORKGROUP) despite following dozens of suggestions, "helpful" articles & youtube videos.

What I find I have to do

1) make sure all the PCs think they are on a private network and have network discovery & visibility on.

2) make sure that all PCs have a login password and "password protected sharing" is ON. (It never, ever, works if I had no password so the PC comes straight on without logging in, and when "password protected sharing" is OFF it still asks for a password, but rejects anything....)

3) set up shared folders (sharing the root of a drive never works either), for each folder add the user "everyone" and set the access to read & write, also the folders can't be called anything sensible like "network share" "shared" "shared files" etc.

Then even after all that usually the other PC doesn't ever appear in file explorer, or if it does it rejects the username & password!!!!!!

I have a text file on the desktop with the internal IP address of the other PCs, laptops etc (e.g. \\192.168.1.187 = living room PC ).  and copy & paste the IP address into the address bar of file explorer (including the \\), then the first time I do it it asks for the user name & password for the remote computer and I'm in!

(If you can't get the IP addresses from the control panel of the router, open a CMD prompt on the PC and type "ipconfig" (enter)- you want the IPv4 address)

It is just massively, massively complicated and simply does not work how it is supposed to.

forgotmyname

Has windows networking every worked properly never mind after window 10+ updates?

Often I have had outbursts and rages as 2 computers in the middle of a file transfer can no longer see the other
system.  As you say even  going by the book and doing it all the hard way sometimes fails. 

Network discovery often forgets what computers it can see and just as suddenly remembers they are there
before it decides to have another sulk and not talk to them again.

If you have 2 network options then the problem doesnt just double it's like a 10x increase in bugs.

Why does Windows take so long to find a new device connecting to the network?  When your not in a rush
it will find it right away but it's psychic and knows when your in a rush and just then decides network?
what network?  Your NOT connected to one...

I should probably stop now before I move onto VM's... 

facade

forgotmyname said:

Has windows networking every worked properly never mind after window 10+ updates?

Often I have had outbursts and rages as 2 computers in the middle of a file transfer can no longer see the other
system.  As you say even  going by the book and doing it all the hard way sometimes fails. 

Network discovery often forgets what computers it can see and just as suddenly remembers they are there
before it decides to have another sulk and not talk to them again.

If you have 2 network options then the problem doesnt just double it's like a 10x increase in bugs.

Why does Windows take so long to find a new device connecting to the network?  When your not in a rush
it will find it right away but it's psychic and knows when your in a rush and just then decides network?
what network?  Your NOT connected to one...

I should probably stop now before I move onto VM's... 

Yes, in XP, and W7. You made sure the PCs were all a part of WORKGROUP and pretty much that was it.

At the moment my NAS drive is invisible, but I know it is there as I can connect  by pasting it's IP address into file explorer...

I can't see the other PC either. (But the other PC can see me....)

Yet sometimes phantom devices pop up in "my computer", like next door's visitor's phones, that can't actually get on my network, but just try it on and fail the password.

Moss5

Nice to know I have not been singled-out by win 11.

If I want to share a file, I email it to myself.

Win 7 and Win 10 can share on my network.

JohnSwift10

I can now see the C: drive on the win10 laptop and am now getting the error message you do not have permission to access \\W10laptop\c\Windows contact your network administer to request access.
on my windows 11 PC

HOWEVER I now have full access from that laptop to my Windows 11 PC.

So is my windows 10 laptop not configured correctly or is it my windows 11 PC?

As far as I can see I have identical networking and sharing settings on both computers.

flaneurs_lobster

Unless you are trying to network these devices as some kind of hobby project then save yourself a world of pain and just create a shared folder on a cloud service that both boxes can see. 

facade

JohnSwift10 said:

I can now see the C: drive on the win10 laptop and am now getting the error message you do not have permission to access \\W10laptop\c\Windows contact your network administer to request access.
on my windows 11 PC

HOWEVER I now have full access from that laptop to my Windows 11 PC.

So is my windows 10 laptop not configured correctly or is it my windows 11 PC?

As far as I can see I have identical networking and sharing settings on both computers.

You can't share a whole drive, I've tried before and it just doesn't work. (possibly because of the system folders?)

Try making one of the folders on the laptop shared and set permissions to "everyone" Read & Write and see if you can get in.

It will have a hissy fit if you try and share a system folder or one of the Secret Folder Names that it won't tell you, but are the sensible names you think of like "shared files".

JohnSwift10

I have a raspberry pi that I decided to repurpose as a NAS so I installed Open Media Vault on the pi.

And guess what?

I kept having problems with permissions.

When I eventually got it to work I could save files to the NAS but couldn't delete them.

The raspberry pi runs on a version of linux

Linux is just as bad as windows though my wife blames it on my age, (80) she's probably right.


I.ve decided to buy a NAS, any recommendations?