W8.1 -64 ... has created a homegroup. W7-32 Basic sees it and there is a button to JOIN it. I click the button, .... it challenges me for p/w ... I enter p/w and it searches but that's as far as it goes. ... just sits there searching.
Computer clocks are set correctly. Firewalls are (temporarily off). Tried a NEW Homegroup on the W8 machine ... new p/w ... no change. Tried troubleshooters .. no change.
The weird thing is .. Explorer on both machines sees both machines and the shared folders etc work great.
Seems to me something is wrong ... even though everything seems to work.
Go to Control Panel/Network and Sharing/Change Advanced Sharing Center. Make sure Network Discovery is turned on for all computers. File and Print sharing is turned on for all computers. and make sure HomeGroup is managing connections on all computers.
I recently had an old XP machine on the network ... and its workgroup was MSHOME. Doesn't seem to be any way to get rid of 'workgroups'. I thought W7 and W8 used HOMEGROUPS ... and workgroup was just if you had an older machine. I'm obviously confused.
Windows Exporer .. all three machines .. allow sharing ... seems to be working fine ... just can't join a homegroup on 2 of the 3 machines.
For both computers to see/share both have to be on and not in sleep mode. How long do you let it wait to connect, sometimes it can take awhile.
Change all of the computers to the same workgroup name, you can name it anything you want or make them all Workgroup.
Go to Start/Search and type Computer Name. click See Name of Computer. click on the Change Settings link. Click the Change Button. Type in whatever you want for Workgroup name just make sure all the computers have the same workgroup name. (eg) Home, Office, Bob's etc or just Workgroup
Make sure all computers have a User Nameand Password to log into the computer. After that restart all computers.
That should be doable. I am a bit anxious about it because there are 4 devices involved .. two modems and two routers. One is a digital phone modem ... my ISP basically says 'leave it alone'. The other is what they call a MOCA modem ... and it would most likely be the one to turn off. It is a combination router/modem ... and its router has WIFI disabled. All computers .. and Tivo, and, and are Ethernet. The second router has WIFI enabled and is used for Ethernet and WIFI connectivity in the house ... smartphone, tablet. It is used as a gateway only. However, I don't predict any problems cycling them as you have advised.
(which I assume you have since you have multiple computers sharing a single Internet connection). Wait 5 min. with the power off the modem/router and turn on again. Wait 5 min. for the modem/router to initialize and the blinking lights on both boxes to stabilize unless you have one of the new all-in-one boxes like an ActionTec. Then turn on 1 computer; wait another 5 min., turn on the 2nd computer, and wait another 5 min. and finally turn on the 3rd computer.
I doubt I have an all-in-one ... but would have no way of knowing for certain.
In Windows Explorer you'll see each of the computers added to the homegroup network on your left-hand folder browse panel. Then you'll have to wait at least 30 min. for the "b-node" token to pass around and touch all of your computers and network devices (modem, router, or modem/router combo, and each of your 3 computers). This token initialization time can take longer, but usually 20-30 min. is adequate for most home user networks.
Fair enough. FWIW .. I see the computers and their shared folders in Explorer but NOT under HOMEGROUP. They show up under NETWORK (see attachment).
If it still didn't work, you most likely did something wrong in the creation of your homegroups and the usual fix for that, is to rip all that homegroup stuff out from all 3 of your computers and start over from scratch.
I have been tempted to do that several times ... but unable to 'rip all that' out because of restrictions on the W7-32 which will not allow me to do anything about its WORKGROUP. It's like it is going to be there forever ... but of course, you said rip out HOMEGROUP ... and since it is not joined to a home group, and neither is the W7-64 machine, .. I guess it would simply be a matter of creating a new HOMEGROUP with the W8 machine. Push come to shove .. that is what I will do.
[quote}That almost always fixes it. Unless one of your computers, probably the older Win7 ones have windows instabilities or possible malware on them which specifically attacks home networking files.[/quote]
Anything is possible. I am going on the premis that is not the case ... at this point.
Adding to Spunk's last post, if you still have problems, because it is using windows networking, you may also have to turn off your cable/dsl modem and wifi router (which I assume you have since you have multiple computers sharing a single Internet connection). Wait 5 min. with the power off the modem/router and turn on again. Wait 5 min. for the modem/router to initialize and the blinking lights on both boxes to stabilize unless you have one of the new all-in-one boxes like an ActionTec. Then turn on 1 computer; wait another 5 min., turn on the 2nd computer, and wait another 5 min. and finally turn on the 3rd computer.
In Windows Explorer you'll see each of the computers added to the homegroup network on your left-hand folder browse panel. Then you'll have to wait at least 30 min. for the "b-node" token to pass around and touch all of your computers and network devices (modem, router, or modem/router combo, and each of your 3 computers). This token initialization time can take longer, but usually 20-30 min. is adequate for most home user networks.
If it still didn't work, you most likely did something wrong in the creation of your homegroups and the usual fix for that, is to rip all that homegroup stuff out from all 3 of your computers and start over from scratch. That almost always fixes it. Unless one of your computers, probably the older Win7 ones have windows instabilities or possible malware on them which specifically attacks home networking files.
Keep us posted on how it goes.
Best,
BIGBEARJEDI
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