No Access To Desktop Computer In Homegroup Network

[ottiliegirl]

On October 18, 2016 I posted in this forum about trouble with a small network. The post had many lookers but no responders. Surely there must be someone on the forum who has some input to share. I am trying again to get any help I can get. I have three computers (two laptops and one Desktop) networked through Homegroup. The two laptop computers talk to each other in both directions. The desktop continually denies access asking for credentials or saying I do not have permission. Today was the first time it indicated that I might not have permission because because I have a blank password. I have never had a password on any of these computers. I am the only user and I have no system administrator. There's just me. I recently replace the desktop model because it could not update to the anniversary edition. Installing the new one went beautifully and I had no problem installing my programs and importing my data. But, once again, I have the network and credentials issue. Please somebody point me in a direction of an article or suggest how I may solve this issue. I am getting desperate to overcome this problem. File sharing is turned on, my printer is shared, my C drive is shared. What am I missing? I would appreciate any help. Thank you for listening.

 

[BretWin10]

when i had problems with homegroup I first double checked that each computer had the same Workgroup,
(right click this PC, Properties ........ check Workgroup name on all PC's)

check that all PC's/Laptops have the same Advanced Sharing Settings,
(Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Network & Sharing Center > HomeGroup > Change advanced sharing settings)
select Turn on network discovery, turn on automatic setup of network connected devices, Turn on file & Printer sharing, Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections (recommended)

goto Control Panel > File Explorer Options ..... View, check Show Hidden files, folders, or drivers

on all PC's/Laptops goto c:\windows\serviceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming\PeerNetworking
empty the folders & files in PeerNetworking ( do not delete the folder PeerNetworking)

on all PC's/ Laptops goto Homegroup
(Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Network & Sharing Center > HomeGroup)
Leave the homegroup, shutdown the PC/Laptop until all are shutdown,

turn on one (suggest you open Desktop PC first), create a homegroup,
make a note of the password, as you will need the same password for all devices, keep the Desktop PC running

start up your second device & join the homegroup,

start up your third device & join the homegroup,

if any do not show all three devices in the homegroup, shutdown all three in turn & then startup all three in turn again,

if you still have problems, come back again, there may be some other alterations to make

 

[ottiliegirl]

Thank you very much for that very in depth reply. I have started to follow your instuctions but before I go any further I want to tell you something. I am up to the PeerNetworking part. On the desktop computer there are only a few folders with maybe four or five files inside so I deleted the files and left the folders. On the laptops there are 97 items on one and 87 on the other. 58 items are folders and the rest just files. Inside the 58 folders there are more folders. Do I understand correctly that I am to delete everything that is not a folder? I do not want to go any further until I hear from you. Thank you.

 

[BretWin10]

it sounds frightening, the first time, but yes, delete all Files & folders in the PeerNetworking folder, to leave you with an empty PeerNetworking folder.

(if your still nervous, move the contents of PeerNetworking to a New Folder on your Dektop, so you keep a copy of the files & folders, but your PeerNetworking folder is completely empty)

 

[ottiliegirl]

ok, I took your advice and moved al the files and folders to a new folder. However, on each of the three machines there were a few files or folders that could not be removed because the mesage said they were open in another place. So none of them is completely emply? What to do?

 

[BretWin10]

with the ones that wont move, try a shutdown & restart, to see if they move, if not, try running the next steps with as few files & folders in the PeerNetwork folders as possible on each machine

 

[ottiliegirl]

After the shutdown all files and folders were saved to another file and PeerNeworking file is empty. I continued following insructions and successfully set up a new Home Group on my desktop. I did the same thing on the first laptop and got the message "window no longer detects a homegroup on this network. I tried the other laptop just to be sure and also got the same message "no homegroup detected. It wants me to try again. Should I?

 

[ottiliegirl]

I decided to move on with things while I waited for your answer. I left the home group again on the desktop and the two laptops, shut them all down and started over again. Every time I start the desktop and click on Home Group I get a message that "ottiliegirl created a homegroup on Desktop. Would you like to join. I shut down three times and still it tells me I have created a home group here and I should join. Something is not right, why would it invite me to join what I created. I can't seem to find a place to leave the group.

 

[BretWin10]

I was in the midst of typing, when I noticed your post #8 ..... so try this

Repeat as before
check that all PC's/Laptops have the same Advanced Sharing Settings,
(Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Network & Sharing Center > HomeGroup > Change advanced sharing settings)
select Turn on network discovery, turn on automatic setup of network connected devices, Turn on file & Printer sharing, Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections (recommended)

goto Control Panel > File Explorer Options ..... View, check Show Hidden files, folders, or drivers

on all PC's/Laptops goto c:\windows\serviceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming\PeerNetworking
empty the folders & files in PeerNetworking ( do not delete the folder PeerNetworking)

on all PC's/ Laptops goto Homegroup
(Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Network & Sharing Center > HomeGroup)
Leave the homegroup, shutdown the PC/Laptop until all three are shutdown,

charge up Laptop 1 & Laptop 2,

this is new
Turn on PC, goto Control Panel, Troubleshooting,
(top left) View all, right click HomeGroup, Run as administrator, click Next, click Troubleshoot network problems,
hopefully they will fix any problems or display Troubleshooting couldn't identify the problem, click close (on both in turn)

In the Search bar type services.msc and search the list for homegroup listener and homegroup provider, peer network grouping, peer network identity manager.
each should be showing Status Running & Startup Type Automatic or Automatic (Trigger Start),
if not double click on them, in the general Tab set Startup type to Automatic,
Service status (below) should show Running, with Stop enabled,
if its showing Stopped, click on Start

next - Allow Full Control to MachineKeys and PeerNetworking folders,
Find: C:\Program Data\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA .... right click on MachineKeys Folder, choose properties,
Security Tab, Group or user names, (you should be listed as Administrator)
[right click Taskbar, left click Task Manager, goto Users Tab, you should be listed there also]
if you are listed, in the Security Tab, click on yourself to highlight, then click Edit,
click on yourself again to highlight, then check the box Full control,
(this should automatically check Modify, Read & execute, List folder content, Read, Write ... if not check them manually)
click OK, ignore the error notice & click Cancel, click OK on the Windows Security notice,
click ok on the Permission for MachineKeys, ignore the error notice & click Cancel, click OK on the Windows Security notice, click ok on the Permission for MachineKeys,
in the MachineKeys Proprties box highlight your name & it should show Full control etc checked (Special permissions will NOT be checked)
click OK to close the MachineKeys Properties

next Find: C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming .... right click on PeerNetworking Folder, choose properties,
Security Tab, Group or user names, (you should be listed as Administrator)
[follow steps above to give you Full Control]
setup Homegroup on Desktop

close down Desktop PC ...... switch off Modem/Router ...... make a coffee
switch Modem/Router back on ...... drink coffee ..... turn on Desktop PC ...... check the charge rates on Laptop 1 & 2
if above 75% select laptop with highest charge, switch on Laptop,
repeat from this is new above for first Laptop [join Homegroup on Laptop], then repeat for second Laptop

 

[ottiliegirl]

While I was waiting for your response I was poking around and came across an interesting post with info similar to your earlier post. It recommended I go back into the PeerNetworking and get rid of two files beginning with id.stores? (I think). The end result is that after shutting down it allowed me to create a new home group. Yeah!! So with your permission I am going to save your last suggestion for now and see if everything works. So, I now have all three computers in a homegroup. But you said look for all three under homegroup but there is only one "ottiliegirl" under homegroup because all three computers have me as a user. All three computers show up under NETWORK and all seems to be well. I do believe everything is working well for the moment and I thank you for taking so much time with this issue. I am extremely grateful. If anythng shows up in the days ahead I will return to your latest post and carry on.