I've got two Windows 7 Ultimate x64 machines, one desktop and one laptop. Both machines have identical advanced sharing settings (everything is enabled except password protected sharing and media sharing is turned on). When I installed Windows 7 on the laptop I did not provide a password for the user account, but I have since added one. Both computers have shared files and neither computer is part of a HomeGroup. From the laptop, I can connect to the desktop and see the shared files and folders with no issues, one odd thing is that although password protected sharing is disabled (on both), it still asked for a username and password, but supplying the credentials of the administrator account on the desktop worked fine. However, when I try to access a shared folder on the laptop from the desktop, it asks for a username and password, but tells me that the "network password is not correct" when entered. I know it is correct, I even went so far as to type it into a text file, save it to a flash drive, copy it from that text file into the laptop to set the password, then copy it from the text file into the password field on the desktop, but it still says it's wrong. I'm going nuts here trying to figure out why this is only letting me go one way, please can anyone help me out with this!

Hi, 1. Disable firewalls; 2. Make sure that the NTLM authentication levels are the same; 3. Make sure that Guest account is allowed to access the shared folders; 4. Run net sessions to check the active sessions. Then run net sessions delete to delete active sessions. Restart. Net session http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490711.aspxIvan-Liu TechNet Community Support

1.cheak the share folder permission 2.enable guest account

There is no guest account, it's disabled on both computers. The only firewall is the Windows firewall, and both computers are set to treat the network as the "Home" network. On both computers, all the shared files and folders have the Read permission for Everyone, since accessing the desktop's shared files from the laptop works, it should work the other way around. That said, I don't know what NTLM is (a Google search revealed what the acronym stands for), but I do know that I never had to do anything related to NTLM on the desktop (I know that I didn't because I would remember the acronym). All I did to share the files on the desktop was right click -> Properties, Sharing tab, Advanced Sharing, check "Share this folder", then click OK. Running net session reveals only the laptop's connection to the desktop using the desktop's username. Since I posted this I've removed the password from the laptop's user account, but in the Advanced Sharing Settings page, I've set it to turn off password protected sharing, so it shouldn't ask for a password at all.

I think you could add a Windows credential via Manage your credentials option in Control Panel. How to use Windows 7 Credential Manager http://techrena.net/windows-7-credential-manager/Ivan-Liu TechNet Community Support

I'm not sure why this was marked as an answer. Clearly I've entered the credentials into the dialog box when it asks for them, but they don't work. I don't see how manually adding the credentials in the control panel would change anything. I'm still only able to access files one-way, from the laptop to the desktop, I cannot view the laptop's shared files from the desktop.

Turn off the Windows firewall and antivirus first. Tpye "\\IPaddress"(without quotes) in Windows Start menu search dialog box, meanwhile you'd better double check the 139 port is enabled.Ivan-Liu TechNet Community Support