Cannot see Windows 10 PC shared drives after WiFi to Ethernet conversion

spendoza

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Nov 24, 2017
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Computers involved:
Win 10 PC (Upstairs HTPC)
-1 internal HDD
Win 7 PC (Downstairs HTPC/Server)
-3 USB Drives
-1 internal HDD
Win 10 Laptop (Administration)
-1 internal HDD

Goal: be able to use the Laptop to mess around with media files stored on the 2 PCs through my local intranet.

Problem: This weekend I got the new laptop and decided to wire in my upstairs HTPC for stronger net connection.
Before this change I was able to access the upstairs Win 10 PCs shared drive (Connected with USB WiFi) from my downstairs Win 7 PC (ethernet connection) and transfer files no problem, except every time the upstairs computer was restarted, the net connection had to be manually activated, which wiring in solved..
Unfortunately, a new issue has arose. The upstairs PC is online, but no longer visible on my local network.

I fear I have made a mess of my network sharing system, I am new to the HDD sharing thing, as I've only ever had 1 computer until recently.
I believe I did something wrong as 2 of the 3 Win 7 PC's USB drives are accessible from my Laptop, but the remaining USB HDD and the Internal HDD are visible but "require administrator access" on my laptop, despite all sharing settings being identical. (I think)


Can I salvage or should reset my shared folders and start over? Not sure how to do either and I've read far too many conflicting tutorials.
Any help that can be given would be greatly appreciated.
Any additional setup information needed will be happily supplied upon request
 
Solution
Is your router configured to limit the number of connected devices? Be sure that the number of allowed connections is sufficient to include wired and wireless devices.

Need to get the bigger picture:

Go to each computer involved and run "arp -a" (without quotes) via the command prompt.

Take a look at both the DHCP assigned IP addresses and any static IP addresses you are using. Match to the MAC so you know which device is which. Compare the results from all computers.

Create and label a simple network diagram using the IP addresses, computer names, MACs.

Then create and add in the shares you wish to establish and configure per ingtar33's tutorial.

Do one share at a time and get it fully functional and working as desired...

spendoza

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Nov 24, 2017
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On my other thread I got this from Ralston18 and will be attempting following work tonight

 


make sure your win10 pc is seeing the network as a private network. Windows 10 classifies all new networks as "public" which turns off filesharing and network discovery (and going from wireless to wired will make win10 think it's a new network).

network shares don't go away. but if the pc it's hosted on is treating the network as a public network no other pcs will be able to see or access it.
 

rgd1101

Don't
Moderator
MERGED QUESTION
Question from spendoza : "[DELETE ME, REDUNDANT] cannot access hard drives on windows 7 PC from new windows 10 laptop"











 

spendoza

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Nov 24, 2017
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well I did all the checks, and as far as I can tell everything is set up correctly, but I cannot see the Upstairs HTPC, cannot see the Laptop and can only access 2 of the 5 drives on the windows 7 PC.
Would one of you kind and knowledgeable people be able to recommend a tutorial for sharing drives? I feel like I'm missing a crucial step, but nothing seems to be out of place


UPDATE:
I can see the upstairs HTPC on the downstairs Win 7 PC's network map, but cannot see it in the "network" folder
 
ok small tutorial on file sharing (Windows, non-server environment)

1) ALL computers which will be HOSTING files must have file sharing turned on (in the Network and Sharing Center)
-it's turned on by default with home networks (windows 7/8), work networks (windows 7/8), and Private networks (windows 10)
-it's turned off by default with "public" networks (all versions of windows)

2) To share a "folder" over a network (yes you will need to specify) do the following
-create a "share" user account on the pc, give it a password you know (this will not be a tutorial on homegroups, but on network shares, so this step is needed). I suggest the user account be generic and simple, and the same on all pcs you're sharing from.
-while logged into the pc the folder is located at, right click on the folder (not shortcut to the folder, but the folder itself) you'd like to share
-in windows 7/8 click "share folder with" on the dropdown, in windows 10 click "Give access to"
-click specific people
-on the next window add the new "share" user account you just made from the dropdown menu
-give that account read or read/write permissions for the share (depending on if you want them to be able to change the contents of the folder or not)
-click the "share" button
-windows will generate the file share, and provide a "network address" for the share, that address will be \\<your computer name>\folder name

3) Adding a share as a network drive
-on each pc you want to access this shared folder you just made, navigate to the file explorer
-in file explorer go to "this PC"
-on the top "ribbon" menu select "map network drive"
-in the map network drive popup, select the drive letter you'd like it to have (I suggest you keep this uniform across devices)
-in folder you can click the browse button (this only works if file sharing is turned on, on THIS computer as well), then navigate to the pc which is hosting the shared folder, click on the pc, and all it's shared folders will be listed (if file sharing is turned off on this pc, you'll need to manually enter the network location in the format I used in last line of part 2)
---you may be prompted for user credentials to access the pc, write the username as follows NameOfThePCYouAreTryingToConnectTo\UsernameForTheShareUserAccountYouMadeInThePriorStep and the password for that share user account you created. click the box to save the credentials
-make sure the box "reconnect at signin" is checked, and click the finish button
-if you did everything right you now will have the shared folder showing up as a network drive on the other pc.

Now you can use this method for ALL the shares you need to make.
 

spendoza

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Nov 24, 2017
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Ah, I love it! So thorough! Problem encountered immediately:



User Accounts on all 3 machines, Spendoza
I get right click > Share with > advanced sharing. Properties comes up, and when I go to advanced sharing > permissions, Everyone is the only option, there are no "specific people" to share with.

I thank you for your patience with me, this whole experience is making me feel very stupid

update: That's because I am trying to share drives... How does that process differ?
 


typically you share folders not drives.
I gotta admit your series of issues are strange. That user account is ON the pc you're sharing the files from, you're logged in with your admin account and you can't share a folder with that user account? strange-

don't think I've seen that one before. Well you can chose "everyone", it will still work like I suggested, however it's not particularly secure. Just make sure password protected sharing is turned on if you do that. Else anyone could log into the folders with literally any account. At least with password protected sharing, they need to use an existing user account to access the folder.
 

spendoza

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Nov 24, 2017
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you think that's strange? I can access 2 of my HDDs from the upstairs HTPC but i cannot see the upstairs HTPC anywhere on the network but the network map
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Is your router configured to limit the number of connected devices? Be sure that the number of allowed connections is sufficient to include wired and wireless devices.

Need to get the bigger picture:

Go to each computer involved and run "arp -a" (without quotes) via the command prompt.

Take a look at both the DHCP assigned IP addresses and any static IP addresses you are using. Match to the MAC so you know which device is which. Compare the results from all computers.

Create and label a simple network diagram using the IP addresses, computer names, MACs.

Then create and add in the shares you wish to establish and configure per ingtar33's tutorial.

Do one share at a time and get it fully functional and working as desired before adding the next share.

And remember that all of your devices are communicating and exchanging information about who is who etc..

That information is stored for future reference and if there is a change or error - things can get messy.

Be methodical.



 
Solution