SOLVED Problem with a Home Network between Windows 10 and Windows 7 laptops

[morlaine]

First, let me be the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about setting up Networks or Home Groups. I don't know what the difference is and which one is preferable and why. Maybe I can find out as I work my way through this problem.

I have a wireless router, an HP Deskjet Printer, a Toshiba laptop running Windows 7, and a Toshiba laptop running Windows 10. I just got the laptop with Windows 10 on it. I bought it used and it came with Windows 8 which I upgraded to Windows 10. Everything on both laptops seems to work fine.

The problem is that I want to split the workload between the two laptops. So I want to copy about half my files to the new laptop. Silly me, I thought this would be a simple process. Not really knowing what I was doing I attempted to set up a Network so I could do that. Surprisingly, it seemed to work at least for a few hours last night and also this morning. And I was so surprised and proud of myself that I got it to work. However, this afternoon, the other shoe dropped, and now when I try to access either of the laptops from the other one, it asks me for a password. I did not set up a password on the Network, at least not that I am aware of, and it worked without it for hours. I copied files for hours with not problems. The Windows 10 laptop forces me to log in, when I start the laptop, using my MS account which requires a password but I don't think it wants that password for the Network. Does it?

One thing I did notice, when it was working and I was copying files to the new laptop, that sometimes after copying some files, one or the other of the laptops would disappear out of the Network list, in Windows Explorer, but if I waited a while it would reappear and I could copy more files. So I may have something set up incorrectly but I don't know what.

So my questions are:
Why would it start asking for a password, all of a sudden? If there are passwords, how can I find out what they are? Or how can I reset them?

Do I need to re-create the Network? If so, how? I think I accidentally created it this time and I'm not sure I could do it again without hours of work. You have no idea how many hours I've spent on this whole process. It's awful.

And if I need to re-create the Network, how do I get rid of the one I've already created?

Also, I have a USB cable with a USB connector on both ends. Can I use that or any other type of cable (I might have it) to hook the two computers together to make the copy process go faster? It seems extremely slow over the Network.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm not very techie but am good at following step-by-step instructions and will try most anything once, sometimes twice.

Thanks so much for your help. I appreciate your time.

 

[Trouble]

The Windows 10 laptop forces me to log in, when I start the laptop, using my MS account which requires a password but I don't think it wants that password for the Network. Does it?

Yep....
When attempting to access the Windows 10 Laptop from the Windows 7 laptop you need to authenticate using the Machine Name of the Windows 10 Laptop followed by a backslash \ and then followed by the user name that your are using on the Windows 10 laptop and the password for that user name on the Windows 10 Laptop, so it will look something like.....

ToshibaWin10\YourMicrosoftAccount
P@$$w0rd

Where ToshibaWin10 is the Name of the Laptop and YourMicrosoftAccount is (e-mail address removed) or (e-mail address removed) or whatever email address you have linked to your MS Account and where P@$$w0rd is the password for that account.

Check the box that says remember credentials so you don't have to do that every time you connect across the network

 

[morlaine]

Well, I've tried so many things that I can't remember everything I've tried. It has stopped asking me for a password. If it asks again, I will do as you suggested.

How do I join a Workgroup or Network? Is it automatic? At one point I got an invitation to join and when I clicked on the button to join, it said it couldn't create a Homegroup on this computer.

I read somewhere that I could not use a Homegroup if the computers were running different versions of Windows. Is that not true? From what I read I'd have to use a Workgroup. So trying to cover all bases, I made the Workgroup names and the passwords on both laptops the same.

I want to copy files from my old laptop to the new one because the old one is full and bursting at the seams. And I am having to copy the files on a data stick and move them 8 gb at a time which is what I have been doing. Not the most fun I've ever had.

When I go into Windows Explorer and under Network, I can see both computers BUT when I clicked on the other laptop I got the message that Windows couldn't access that computer. When I tried again, it said that the computer was not found on the network, even though the name was listed. Then I tried copying a file to the other computer and I got the message that I didn't have permission to do that.

I can access the internet from either laptop and both at the same time, so it isn't a router problem.

What else can I try?

 

[Trouble]

Your two computers should already be members of the same "WorkGroup" unless at some point they were changed the default workgroup name is workgroup. So.....
You do not need a "HomeGroup", I've never found them particularly useful or helpful a simple workgroup will generally suffice.
The IP addresses have to be unique and generally will be if you are using DHCP. The machine names as well, have to be unique.
Other than that, you basically either create a folder to share or share an existing folder on the properties dialog box of that share under the sharing tab you set full control to everyone (group) and under the security tab you can set the NTFS permissions as you wish.
IF the folder already contains subfolders and files, then make sure you cascade the permissions down to all child objects.

Determine the IP address of both computers as well as the machine name and then use the
ping command to ping both, one from the other by both IP address and then by network name.

 

[morlaine]

You are my hero. I posted this question on numerous sites and have followed the instructions given by everyone who responded and nothing worked. Not one of those responses mentioned anything about setting the security permissions in the properties box of any folders. I didn't know you could do that. I did as you said and now the two computers are able to send files back and forth. I am a happy camper. Thanks so much for your time, I do appreciate it.

 

[Trouble]

Glad to hear that you've managed to resolve your issue.
Thanks for posting back and updating your thread with that information.
Yes when producing "network" shares there are always two types of security involved "Share Permissions" and NTFS "Security Permissions" and they are automatically combined and the most restrictive applies.
It can get a bit complicated because it impacts both individual users as well as groups (a group the user is a member of like "Users or Authenticated Users")
So understanding those two basic concepts will help you understand and troubleshoot access and authentication to "network" shares.
http://www.techexams.net/technotes/70290/permissions.shtml
A pretty good article, worth the read if you are interested