Windows 10: Missing home Network

A laptop, infrequently used and a desktop suddenly had the network based on shared folders suddenly disappear after this recent update.
I can ping the laptop via command prompt using the IP address from desktop- and vice versa

I had some files that needed to go over to the laptop so retreated to the usb stick routine. That used to be a fine routine *Wink.
So I tried Homegroup and I could get a homegroup structure while all the shared folders are still in place.
All the services required are in automatic and they are running.

Then I noted that I could use \\[Computer Name] in the File Explorer address bar. BINGO the desktop shared folders displayed. I could get the laptop folders to display also and access either of these.

I'm assuming I will have to do this 'search' routine but at least its close to the original .
Both machines had that last update installed resulting in 16299.192
Its not a disaster; more of an inconvenience but aggravating that ordinary settings cannot stay in place and its so difficult to get them back.

:)

 

homegroup

I had six computers making a home group. The base computer crashed; therefore my home network crashed. As I try to re-establish a home network, the password reset is missing; the create button is missing; LocalService has no data; therefore, how do I
proceed?

 

Setting home group for a Windows 10 and another Windows 7 Home Premium

I have upgraded my laptop to Windows 10 from Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. I have a desktop with Windows 7 Home Premium. I used to have a home group setup between the two computers before upgrade.

I have problem setting home group. On this laptop, I get a message that "This computer can't connect to a home group". Troubleshooter is no help. Clicking on advance setting option, a screen shows up, in which "Turn off Network Discovery" is checked. Checking
"Turn on Network Discovery" and saving does not result in anything. The "Turn off Network Discovery" stays checked.

I believe that, if I could turn on network discovery, I will be able to set up the home group.

Any ideas. Please give detailed instructions.

I looked in the "Windows Explorer" and my Windows 7 computer shows as a part of network. Attempting to connect says that there is a network problem, some protocol is missing. The diagnosis read:

One or more network protocols are missing.

The detection details:

Windows Sockets registry entries for network connectivity are missing.

Any ideas

May be the two are related.

 

Hey Rose,
Since you can access the shares by \\COMPUTER_NAME and/or \\IP_ADDRESS ... you can map a network drive.
Map Network Drive in Windows 10 Network Sharing Tutorials

You might want to check Services for Function Discovery Provider Host & Function Discovery Resource Publication to see if they are running. If not start them and see if shares show in File Explorer > Network.

FYI ... MS is doing away with HomeGroups and it's already been removed in Win10 17063 Insiders Preview

 

Services are on and running.
Suddenly mid morning the actual desktop network contents displayed. There still is not 'talking' to the laptop but at least the shared folders are now to be seen.
The air temps are that cold here that some switch malfunctioned on the local server's tower so no internet all a.m.
Funny that MS is doing away with HomeGroups just as I tried it for the first time since the original in Win7. I am reminded why I wasn't attracted to its structure.
I'll try setting up that 'map network drive'.
Thanks

 

Hey Rose,
You may want to make sure both that both PCs are running the same SMB version. In 1709, this is SMBv2, as SMBv1 has been deprecated and may have been uninstalled.

Win10 Check SMB - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...in-windows-and

Win10 1709 / SMBv1 - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...r-version-1709

 

I had to reinstall the SMBV1 on my systems as I have a NAS on the network too , after 1709 it is removed after 15 days automatically if not used by the system.

The 2nd link above by Eagle51 is what got me going again....


KB.

 

I have a strong reading comprehension ability.Reading those microsoft support articles reduces me to almost babbling. I did discover this Network display issue has been around a long time.
In Control Panel Programs-Features the Windows feature SMB was not ticked in the desktop. It was ticked in the laptop. I could not figure out how to specifically turn on SMBv2 so I ticked the existing SMB feature box.
This desktop immediately could find itself. The laptop being on, it found the laptop.
There is another thread from the past in this forum that outlined adding EVERYONE to the computer and giving all control. I did that also.
Everything appears normal and now I can move on to a plan of attack for dealing with this Intel cpu chip issue.
Thanks for putting me on the right track.

 

It certainly isn't a "friendly" write up that is for sure .....written for IT Pros I think but I found I only needed the SMB1.0 Client re-enabled for things to be fine again after playing with different settings.

T.D.L :
FCU disables and removes SMBv1 after 15days if it hasn't been used, (eg turning on my old Synology NAS i found I couldn't connect to do a backup), But you can turn it back on in:

Control Panel>Programs and Features>Turn Windows Features on and Off>SMB 1.0/CIFS and checking just the SMB1.0 Client box worked for me.

Once you do this Win10 will no longer disable it automatically as it assumes you need it, if you it turned back on.

AFAIK this issue with SMBv1 was mainly related to WinXP and is not an issue on Win10 , so personally I was not worried about turning it back on.

For Others to try 1st Per Microsoft ..........

Explorer Network Browsing

The Computer Browser service relies on the SMBv1 protocol to populate the Windows Explorer Network node (also known as "Network Neighborhood"). This legacy protocol is long deprecated, doesn't route, and has limited security. Because the service cannot function without SMBv1, it is removed at the same time.

However, if you still have to use the Explorer Network in home and small business workgroup environments to locate Windows-based computers, you can follow these steps on your Windows-based computers that no longer use SMBv1:

• Start the "Function Discovery Provider Host" and "Function Discovery Resource Publication" services, and then set them to Automatic (Delayed Start).
• When you open Explorer Network, enable network discovery when you are prompted.

All Windows devices within that subnet that have these settings will now appear in Network for browsing. This uses the WS-DISCOVERY protocol. Contact your other vendors and manufacturers if their devices still don't appear in this browse list after the Windows devices appear. It is possible they have this protocol disabled or that they support only SMBv1.

Note We recommend that you map drives and printers instead of enabling this feature, which still requires searching and browsing for their devices. Mapped resources are easier to locate, require less training, and are safer to use. This is especially true if these resources are provided automatically through Group Policy. An administrator can configure printers for location by methods other than the legacy Computer Browser service by using IP addresses, Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), Bonjour, mDNS, uPnP, and so on.


KB

 

Thanks Rose, you're a life saver. I ticked SMB and now everything is fine. But one has to ask how do ordinary non-computer-literate people cope with a problem such as this? Everything worked fine until the latest W10 update, then one computer suddenly not appearing in the network list. Microsoft..... you have a lot to answer for!