Windows 10: How to make different computers see network the same way.

Here is another symptom:

I shut down computers #2, #3, #4 -- left only #1 on. With File Explorer in #1 showing Network, I tried to refresh. It continued to show #1, #2, and #3. It also showed Readyshare for the Netgear R7000 router.

For 70 minutes File Explorer would not refresh with either right click or F5. After 70 minutes the refresh worked. During the 70 minutes I carried out the following operations and results repeatedly:

1 right pane #1, #3, #2 + Readyshare show - in that order.
2 left pane #1, #2, #3 + #4 + Readyshare show
3 right pane F5 --> #1, #3, Readyshare,#2
4 right pane Rc --> #1, #3, #2,Readyshare (the order changed.)
5 At 70 minutes, Rc refresh worked to remove #2, #3 but the left pane remained unchanged, I learned to refresh left pane with F5 after selecting the word Network.

The next day (Sunday 3/11) I repeated the experiment with the same results.

 

Hey stanhilliard,
If you're actually using ReadyShare / USB File Sharing with a USB HDD or USB Stick, you can make the NetGear Router the Master Browser. You'll just need to tweak your Win10 PCs a bit and I've got the PowerShell Commands to do this stuff, if you want to try them.

Note: I'm not sure what SMB vers the NetGear R7000 uses, but I'm betting it's SMBv1.

Note: I have a NetGear WNDR4000 with ReadyShare / USB File Sharing with a USB HDD and it's set to be the Master Browser and everything shows in File Explorer > Network like it's suppose to *Smile

 

Hi Eagle51,
I found a post by you with Google.
Win7 PC not seeing online Win10 PC after boot - Page 2 - Windows 10 Forums
If this is what you mean I will try it after I get a good night's sleep.

 

Yep, that's it. I forgot all about that post *Smile

 

Thanks for referring to PowerShield. I was unaware of it, but as a DOS old timer I enjoyed studying it.

I found an alternative solution for my network. All I had to do to make "Network" display the same on my four computers was to change the default Readyshare workgroup name WORKGROUP on the Netgear R7000 router to SERVICCO. That is the workgroup name on the other computers. Now, each computer can reach files on the others through this method.

However one issue remains: computer #4 (Windows 98) can display the other computers in "Network" but it cannot access them. Same with mapping. It requests a password. I don't know how to set such password. Win98's folders can be accessed from the other computers but cannot "see out."

For my purposes the current solution is a success even if the Win98 can't see out.

 

You may need to turn off password-protected sharing on all the Win10 PCs for the '98 PC to be able to connect. Turned off, protection is controlled by the ntfs permissions on the folder being shared. The simplest way to let the '98 PC see the files on the folder being shared would be to grant EVERYONE a minimum or Read permission on that folder.

*Arrow Turn On or Off Password Protected Sharing in Windows 10

 

I set the Windows 10 computers to "turn off password protected sharing" according to the link above. Now, when I click on a Win10 computer name in Win98 Network, a new message is produced:

Previous message: "You must supply a password to make this connection"
to
New message: "\\computername is inaccessible. This request is not supported by the network"

 

Yes, I've just tested that with Windows '95 connecting to a Windows 10 PC and I get the same message. This is due to not being allowed access to IPC$ that provides the list of shares on that PC. Apparently you need to be signed in on your '98 PC with the same username and password as an account on the Windows 10 PC you want to browse. See this thread...
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/for.../ipc-password/

However, you don't need access to IPC$ to be able to map a drive. On my Windows '95 PC I can map a drive letter to \\computername\\sharename without a password being asked for or any other problems. You can see in this screenshot that I have mapped E: to the Users share on a Windows 10 PC and have full access (actually, Read access, because that's what I gave the EVERYONE group on this W10 PC for the Public folder in Users). Despite that, clicking on the same PC to list its shares still gives that error message.






PS: good to know my old '95 box is still in working order *Smile

 

Using those settings my Win98 can map to folders of two of my three Win10 computers. But with the third computer (Win10 Home) the setting "turn off password protected sharing" is not persistent. The setting switches back on when I save and reopen the page. That computer also has another setting that is not working. Sleep is set to "never" but it goes to sleep anyway.

 

That is not how it's supposed to be. On my Win10 Home machine I can turn off password protected sharing and it stays turned off the next time I open the advanced sharing settings to have a look.

I can't reboot at the moment to test if the setting survives that because it is half way through some lengthy video processing. I'll report back later, but I'd be surprised if it reset itself.


Edit: I have done a Restart now. As expected, password protected sharing remained turned off on my Win10 Home.

 

Nothing worked for me. I found four different methods to turn off password protected sharing on my Windows 10 home (10.0.16299) and all failed.
The laptop computer is an HP Spectre x360 Convertible 13.

 

Do you have any 3rd-party AV or similar that's possibly 'protecting' these settings? It should be as easy to turn off in Home as in Pro. Do you have anything installed on the Home that isn't installed on the Pro machines?

 

I have Kaspersky and Malwarebytes on all three Win10s. I turned them off on the Home but "turn off password protected sharing" is still not persistent.

 

I don't use anything other than Defender on my 10 Home.

There seems to be something that is unique to this Home PC. Apparently Kaspersky includes 'Registry Guard' and Malwarebytes (paid for or 'trial period') protects against Potentially Unwanted Modification (PUM). Check to see if either has different settings on the Home PC from the Pro ones.

 

The settings for Malewarebytes are the same for Win10 Home and the two Pros.

The settings for Kaspersky are the same for Win10 Home and the two Pros except for one setting. On the "Home" the option "Monitor selected ports only" lists six more ports that the Pros: 113, 194, 1861, 6667, 6668, 6669