Unable to Open Libraries in Homegroup
Hi. Another poster experienced the same problem. It appears as though I've successfully created a Homegroup between a desktop and a laptop. I can see the libraries that I've selected to share on the desktop from the laptop in Windows Explorer, but I'm unable to open any of the libraries to see the files and folders inside. The same occurs when I try to open the libraries that I've selected to share on the laptop from the desktop. I've tried leaving and re-joining the Homegroup several times. The Homegroup Troubleshooter is unable to arrive at a solution. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
March 7th, 2010 7:35am

Are you using two different usernames on the two different machines?Often the solution to networking permissions problems involves either ensuring you're using the exact same username (and password) on both machines or setting up new users on each machine to match the one from the other machine.-Noel
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March 7th, 2010 8:40am

Thanks Noel. Yes, the username and password that I'm using on both the desktop and laptop are identical.
March 8th, 2010 5:11am

What do you have set for the share permissions? You should have "Everyone" by default, but what permissions do they have?
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March 8th, 2010 8:35am

Hi,What is the exact error message?Click on the shared files and select PropertiesClick on Sharing tabClick box for "Share this folder on the network"It will then go through the sharing process.Also you can try turning off firewall and log on the PC as administrator and take ownership of the folder. The following link is for windows xp, but also apply to windows 7 in general.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421
March 8th, 2010 10:50am

I have set all permissions to read/write.
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March 8th, 2010 6:26pm

I'm running Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 on both the desktop and he laptop. When I disable the firewall on both PCs, I can access all shared files correctly through the Homegroup. Is there a way of creating an exception in the firewall? Thanks.
March 8th, 2010 6:40pm

No doubt there is a way...However, is something wrong with using the Windows 7 firewall? It's been beefed up quite a bit since Vista.-Noel
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March 9th, 2010 1:54am

Hi,Sharing a folder or file creates a Windows Firewall exception for File and Printer Sharing.The default scope is to allow access from any computer on the network, including computers on the Internet. Unless you block incoming connections on these ports using a hardware firewall, firewall server, or other Internet-sharing device, your computer will be vulnerable to attack from the Internet as long as your Internet connection is active.Configure firewalls on all machines to allow the Local Area Network (LAN) traffic as trusted. For people who use Windows Firewall, turning on Window's File and Printer Sharing as above will take care of this for you. See belowGo to Control Panel>All Control Panel Items>Network and Sharing Center. Click on "Change advanced sharing settings".in the Advanced Sharing: Turn ON network discoveryTurn ON file and printer sharingTurn ON sharing in the Public folder sharing sectionTurn ON password protected sharing
March 9th, 2010 1:21pm

The default scope is to allow access from any computer on the network, including computers on the Internet. Unless you block incoming connections on these ports using a hardware firewall, firewall server, or other Internet-sharing device, your computer will be vulnerable to attack from the Internet as long as your Internet connection is active. Magon, I don't know if you meant it to be, but that's a bit too simplistic. I believe you may be recounting information for prior versions of Windows. Enabling File and Printer sharing now enables only the Local subnet entry by default in the Windows 7 Firewall with Advanced Security.The Windows firewall is much more complex than it used to be in prior versions. That's why I made my comment: Try the Windows 7 firewall before assuming it's not good enough.I will agree that it is ALSO a good idea to have a router between your computer and the wild Internet, so that incoming connection attempts are blocked.-Noel
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March 9th, 2010 3:12pm

Hi Cawsey, I had the same problem and also running Kaspersky Internet Security 2010. I managed to over come it by changing firewall settings in KIS. Try this and see how you get on. Open Kaspersky and click on the settings tab in the top right corner. Then in the protection list click on "Fiewall" and then "settings". The under "Filtering Rules" expand the "Packet Rules" list by clicking on the + sign next to it. Then in the list check to see that "Local Services (TCP)" and "Local Services (UDP)" are allowed. If they are not they will have a red circle with a line through it. To allow these right click on it and choose Allow from the choices. They will then have a Green Tick next to them. Click "OK" and with any luck it should work for you. -Mark
June 13th, 2010 8:02am

Hi everyone, I have the same problem. I am using AVG free and it doesnt have a firewall. To be sure, I shut down AVG and then tried sharing files. Still does not work. In my advanced sharing settings I have Turn ON network discovery Turn ON file and printer sharing Turn ON sharing in the Public folder sharing section Turn OFF password protected sharing I am able to see the libraries shared on homegroup but I am not able to open the libraries. I am using different username and passwords on both and I cannot change that. This is how I shared my library: On the homegroup settings, my library is checked for sharing. Then in the library properties->security, I added everyone as user who has read& execute, folder listing permissions. I dont want to give write permissions and I dont see how this solve my problem.
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October 15th, 2010 10:08am

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