Hi all I have 5 computers on a home network the main computer running windows 7 64 bit. all the computers on the network all worked with eachother all having accesss to the printer on the main computer. there is also a network drive on the router and all computers have access to this as a mapped drive. My problem is that my laptop has all of a sudden decided thit it will not connect to the main computer or the network drive. It does show the computer in the Network map but will not connect to it. the laptop is running windows 7 32 bit and I cannot print as the printer is connected to the main computer. I have uninstalled my McAfee and the windows security stuff makes no difference ....HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as its driving me nuts now note that if i use cmd and ping the computer ip address i get reply if I ping the computer name i dont get a reply says could not find host

If you try to reach the main computer with \\maincomputer'sIP , do you get a list of shares, including printers? Is your router servicing DHCP? Even though you ping the main computer's IP and get a reply, are you sure it's the correct NIC who is responding to your ping? (see MAC address)

sorry I am a bit new to all this can you please explain what to check sorry Question is there a way to re install all the network services and clients in windows 7 as i think this is just something simple like a corrupted client or network service Terry

Hi, Here are some suggestions you can try: 1. Temporarily turn off firewall and antivirus program on the problematic machine and the main machine. 2. Write down the IP address of the main machine. Click Start button on the problematic machine and type \\IP address of the main machine, and then press enter. Can you access the main computer now? 3. Clear hosts file and DNS cache a. Click the Start Button, type "%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc" (without quotation marks) and press Enter. b. Right-click on the file "Hosts" (without quotations) and choose Delete. c. Click Continue to confirm the deletion and verify the administrator permission. d. Click the Start Button, type "cmd" (without quotation marks), in the search result list, right click on Cmd.exe and select Run as administrator. e. Click Continue button to verify the administrator permission. f. In the popup window, type: "ipconfig /flushdns" (without quotation marks) and press Enter. Thanks, Novak

Hi Novak thanks for the reply all the network computers show in my network list but I cannot connect to any of them from my laptop on wifi, if i use the \\ ip address it does not connect. I had uninstalled the McAfee and stopped the remaining windows firewall and still no joy!!!! it did used to work and I had access to the printer on the main computer and access to a mapped network drive with no probs. it just stopped one day when I put the laptop on, If I go to my net work map and d/click on the main computer it comes up with "windows cannot access \\LIVINGROOM-PC" error 0x80070035 Network path not found. I have done all you said above still no joy AHHHHHHHHH!! Thanks Terry

try this: Reinstall and Reset TCP/IP (Internet Protocol) Click on Start button. Type Cmd in the Start Search text box. Press Ctrl-Shift-Enter keyboard shortcut to run Command Prompt as Administrator. Allow elevation request. Type netsh int ip reset in the Command Prompt shell, and then press the Enter key. Restart the computer. note: if you're using manually assigned TCP/IP settings, take notes as this will reset to the default 'automatically obtained'

Hi Fred Have just done this still no connection to the other computer, still have internet access thought LOL Thanks Terry

Please compare all TCP/IP settings on all computers: are they all configured DHCP?

Hi Yes they are all DHCP along with the router ant they all have the same workgroup name.....the only difference is my laptop has windows 7 ultimate 32 bit and the main has windows 7 Home premium 64 bit . all the others have vista on them Thanks Terry

Hi all here is an update I was just about to start saving all my info on my laptop with a view to format it, but decided to see if windows could repair its self so did a re install from my windows disk buy doing it as an upgrade. It has kept all my work and programs and has also sorted out the problem as I now have access to all the computers on the newwork and the network drive... just wanted to say thanks for all the help...:-) I dont know what it was but hay all well Regards Terry