Win10 Laptop can't see PC on the network

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arcon

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

#311125 16-Dec-2023 12:33

I've had a network problem for a couple years where my laptop cannot see the PC but it works in reverse, i.e. PC can see the laptop.

Both are Win10 Pro 64 bit. The PC is connected to router via GbE LAN, the laptop by Wifi.

Both are set to enable network discovery with file & print sharing on, password protected sharing off. Both set to same Workgroup name. I've tried sharing a folder on the PC, added a new "Everyone" user with full access, still can't see the PC or the folder.

Googled this repeatedly & there are many similar networking issues with Win10. There are a host of advanced network service settings to change but they've never had any effect.

It did used to work with the same settings, the network shortcuts are still on my laptop's Desktop from when it did, my guess is MS broke it with one of their updates :/

Any ideas?

lxsw20

3555 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#3172336 16-Dec-2023 13:32

Temporally turn off Windows firewall on both, and see if it works.

arcon

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172344 16-Dec-2023 13:54

Thanks for the reply, nope it still won't work :/

Rikkitic

Awrrr
18665 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#3172351 16-Dec-2023 14:30

I am out of my depth here but could it have anything to do with your laptop's IP address on the network? Most networking stuff is over my head but I had a problem like this in the past and I think it had something to do with that. The IP address can be assigned automatically or manually. If it is done manually, it can be given an address that is already in use. This doesn't stop the machine from working but it does stop it from being recognised by other computers. I am paraphrasing very generally because I'm not sure of the details, but what I encountered had something to do with this. Try changing the address to something you know doesn't conflict and see what happens.

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arcon

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172358 16-Dec-2023 15:06

IP is assigned automatically as it should be. I've checked the auto assigned numbers and the last digit is unique, so its all correct.

The motherboard does have a Wifi capability which is disabled currently, so I will try plugging in the aerial to see if that fixes it and for some reason its blocking LAN connection. Although I'm fairly certain that was never originally a problem.

djtOtago

1153 posts

Uber Geek

#3172359 16-Dec-2023 15:08

When a Win 10 PC first connects to a network it will ask if it is public or private. If public is picked Windows will block ports and broadcast services regardless of firewall settings.

Check both PCs are set to a private network connection.

Detruire

1772 posts

Uber Geek

#3172366 16-Dec-2023 16:19

The Windows network type being public, as djtOtago mentioned, seems likely. Even if it was set to private originally, Windows may have changed it at some point: it has done so on my (wired) desktop on occasion, without me making any changes to my network.

If that doesn't help, then there may be a setting on your router that is preventing wireless devices from connecting to wired devices and/or other wireless devices. "Wireless client isolation" is a common name for this. Having the WiFi network set to guest mode usually has a similar effect, too.

rm *

arcon

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172439 16-Dec-2023 17:09

Nope they are both set to private.

I will look into wireless isolation... however I never changed anything on the router and it was working in the past, its the HG630b so maybe it did an auto update or something :/

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Batman

Mad Scientist
29770 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3172442 16-Dec-2023 17:30

go to Run

type \\PC Name

will it connect?

fe31nz

1233 posts

Uber Geek

#3172543 16-Dec-2023 23:26

There are two different parts to the SMB protocol used for Windows sharing. One part sends broadcast messages advertising the availability of connections on a PC, and the other part uses normal TCP connections to actually connect the PCs and transfer data. It sounds like the broadcast messages are not working, so your laptop does not know that connections are available to the PC. This is fairly common with Windows and there are a host of possible reasons for it. But you do not actually need the broadcast messages to be working in order to make a connection work. You can just manually add the connection settings, worst case using the IP address of the PC. Things to try from a command prompt on the laptop:

net view

This should show you a list of devices that are advertising that they support SMB (Windows sharing) connections. It can just timeout and not show anything, or it can report some PCs that are advertising but not others. It will likely not show the PC you are trying to connect to.

net view \\<the-name-of-the-pc>

If "net view" does not show the PC, then using the name of the PC can sometimes still work, You can also try using the IP address of the PC. If it works with the IP address but not the name, then you should be able to manually set up a connection using the IP address, using something like this:

net use X: \\<ip-address>\<share-name> /USER:<user-name> <password>

Change X to the drive letter you want to map. The user-name is the name of the user on the PC that is sharing the data. Add a /PERSISTENT:YES option if you want the mapping to remain across reboots. I think if you leave off the password, you will get promoted for it. If this works, you will want to make sure the IP address of the PC does not change, so give it a manual DHCP address assignment in your router, or use a static IP address.

If you want to see all the current connections, do:

net use

If you want to delete an existing connection, do:

net use X: /delete

arcon

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172592 17-Dec-2023 10:51

Batman:

go to Run

type \\PC Name

will it connect?

"You can't access this shared folder because your organization's security policies block unauthenticated guest access."

arcon

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172594 17-Dec-2023 10:55

fe31nz:

net view

This should show you a list of devices that are advertising that they support SMB (Windows sharing) connections. It can just timeout and not show anything, or it can report some PCs that are advertising but not others. It will likely not show the PC you are trying to connect to.

net view \\<the-name-of-the-pc>

If "net view" does not show the PC, then using the name of the PC can sometimes still work, You can also try using the IP address of the PC. If it works with the IP address but not the name, then you should be able to manually set up a connection using the IP address, using something like this:

net use X: \\<ip-address>\<share-name> /USER:<user-name> <password>

Change X to the drive letter you want to map. The user-name is the name of the user on the PC that is sharing the data. Add a /PERSISTENT:YES option if you want the mapping to remain across reboots. I think if you leave off the password, you will get promoted for it. If this works, you will want to make sure the IP address of the PC does not change, so give it a manual DHCP address assignment in your router, or use a static IP address.

If you want to see all the current connections, do:

net use

If you want to delete an existing connection, do:

net use X: /delete

net view results in a System error 1231 "network location cannot be reached"

net view using name or IP address results in a System error 53, "The network path was not found"

arcon

423 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3172597 17-Dec-2023 11:07

I googled the security policies block error and the following regedit tutorial fixed it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyatMj1Z2NQ

Thanks for all the replies.