Windows 10: Unsuccessful Sharing PC over network Windows 10

For a long time my PC and my laptop have "seen" each other on my network so that I could work on files on one from the other. Recently I seem to have lost the ability to do that. My laptop "sees" itself and the PC "sees" the laptop. But neither the laptop nor the PC "see" the PC. I can work on laptop files using the PC but not vice versa.I've tried marking the PC to be "shared", but nothing has happened. The wizard tells me that I can't share.I've made no changes to either PC or laptop other than the routine Windows updates.Any thoughts?

:)

 

Network Sharing

Hi Arya,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

Provide us additional information to assist you better with this issue:

1. Are you trying to share the wireless network connection from Windows device to phone?
   
2. What is the make and model of the phone?
   
3. Which version of Windows is installed on your device?
   

Refer the article ‘Which version of Windows operating system am I running’
to provide the details.

If you’re referring to sharing the Wireless network connection in Windows 10, I suggest you to follow the steps mentioned below.

1. Press Windows + I key on your keyboard and click on Network & Internet.
   
2. On the network & Internet page, click on ‘Mobile hotspot’.
   
3. ‘Turn On’ Share my Internet connection with other devices under Mobile hotspot.
   
4. The default network name and password will be available under Mobile hotspot.
   
5. Enter the same password on the device which you’re trying to connect and check the status of the issue.
   

If you’re trying to share the internet connection, then refer the article
Use your PC as a mobile hotspot
for more information.

If you’re referring to ‘File sharing’, I suggest you to refer the section ‘How do I troubleshoot sharing and folders’ from the article ‘File
sharing over a network in Windows 10’.

Get back to us for further assistance on this issue. We will be happy to help you.

Regards,

Muralidhar

Microsoft Community Moderator

 

How to limit Windows Sharing to one PC on a network?

Unfortunately, without having a domain and DC using AD DS or similar, I don't believe you can do the shares how you see them on a home-grade network without simply using accounts and account authorization. You need to treat and view these local accounts as a workstation ID instead of an account logged into your computer like you are now. In that respect, this would make limited access quite easy. Give the user of that computer the ID and password to access your PC on the network and they'll have access to specific shares. You'll be a mini-network admin in no time! *Big Grin

You can have access credentials saved on the PC accessing shares, reducing the need to login every time to access the share.

Another option would be to modify the share in Computer Management. Shared Folders > Shares.

Add a $ at the end of the share name to make it invisible, so you must know the location to access it. You will see examples of this as there are some default shares within Windows already setup this way.

With that you may still want to do as suggested above by newtekie1 with permissions and/or with local accounts to restrict access still so you can assign whom has access to that share.

Beyond that I don't believe there is a way to restrict via PC ID's, because each PC is its own identity, and none are registered to a central server like a domain controller, so using the PC name/ID as a network resource on your home network in the method you want isn't realistic. But if you can manage to accept and view extra created accounts (create them in Computer management too btw...then you have one window for creating and managing accounts and shares) as a PC ID, you'll be fine me thinks.

 

Accessing files in Network Sharing PC

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



We understand your concern, as you are having issue with sharing of file within the computers that are connected in a network after Windows 10 1903 update.



In this scenario, we would suggest you to perform all the steps in all the PC that are connected in the network as suggested by Roohi Taj on January 8th, 2019 in this

post.



We await your response.



Aditya Roy

Microsoft Community – Moderator