Resolved: loss of connection to files on network.

[wychburygirl]

Hi everyone this the first time, I have used this forum, and I wondered if anyone could help me with this following network problem.

I set up a small office network a couple of months ago and all the computers on the network could see and access files from the host computer. Then today after intalling a new external hard drive on the host computer, the other computers on the network lost their file sharing connectivity to the host.

I don't want this external hard drive to be accessible on the network, but I want to save data that is regularly used through network activity to this drive.

The strange thing is that the host computer can access other shared files which are permanently based on other computers in the network. But no matter what I do, i.e. refreshing the permissions on the files of the host. The host machine will not appear on the other networked computers.

Can anyone offer assistance with regards to getting this connection re-established. There was not a loss of Wifi activity when the dissappearance of connection happend.


Many thanks in anticipation of reply (fingers crossed!)

[johnwill]

Did ANYTHING else change on the "host" computer? Can you PING the host by name from the other computers? If not by name, how about by IP address?

Start, Run, CMD to open a command prompt:

Type the following command:

IPCONFIG /ALL

Right click in the command window and choose Select All, then hit Enter.
Paste the results in a message here.

[wychburygirl]

Thanks for the advice, will try this and paste message.

[wychburygirl]

Further to my last message. I decide that incase the wifi had been distrupted and the connection was lost, to re-boot the router. This worked in the sense that the computers on my network could again see the host computer files.

However, when one of the networked computers tried to access a host computer file, a message popped up saying the path couldn't be found, and did they have permission to access that file.

I then went back on to the host computer and looked at the sharing tab on the files I wanted networked. The boxes for sharing and file altering were ticked, but again just to see if it would make a difference, I removed the sharing facility, then put it back on again. After I done that I re-booted the host computer.

When the host was back online the network computers could see the host computer and access the host computer files with no problems.

John thanks for your advice it helped me to look at the router as possible way to restore nework connections.

[johnwill]

Glad you got it going.