Homegroup doesn't show other computers, but “Network” does

Question

I have a desktop and a laptop (both running windows 7) in my Windows 7 homegroup. The desktop created the homegroup, and the laptop joined it. Both share a few folders.

On the laptop, I have no problem accessing the Desktop's shared folders via the "Homegroup" sidebar button in Windows Explorer.

However, on the Desktop, I get the message No other homegroup computers are currently available in the homegroup screen. However, if I go to the Network page, I can see the other computer and browse its shared media. These shares were made by right clicking and choosing "Share with Homegroup".

I can access the media, so this isn't a big problem, but I'm just confused as to why the Homegroup screen denies the existence of the other computer. Has anybody else encountered and resolved this?

It occurs to me that the homegroup stuff uses IPv6, I think, and so perhaps some networking gear isn't working correctly in between. I don't have this setup anymore, so I can't verify that hunch.

Answer 1

I'm not terribly sure here. Are the computers on the same workgroup? (Control Panel -> System, shows the name and workgroup) I had this issue a lot with the Beta, but I assumed that by the RTM they had worked out the bugs in it.

Believe it or not, the solution that worked for me was simply to recreate the homegroup using a different password. That seems to reset everything about it, causing windows to like you more.

Things to check: Make sure both computers think it's a "Home" network. (Network and Sharing center lets you change the network type.) The homegroup feature needs IPv6 support from your router to work, but they can obviously see each other, so that's not it. Make sure that your laptop is set up with the proper permissions-- you can set advanced Homegroup settings and I think you can turn filesharing and discovery off for "Public" networks; make sure it's on for home networks.

If you use the same login for both computers, it's likely that one of them simply has homegroup sharing turned off. The network computers option doesn't rely on homegroup settings at all, and if the login creds were different, would prompt you for a username/pass when trying to access files on the other machine. Homegroup itself is a convenience layer so that you don't need to do that for computers you trust.

Answer 2

For me, the PC that created the homegroup didn't show up after it had been re-installed, but all others were.

I just removed from Homegroup then re-added. Thats all it took for me.

I don't Think it matters which machine creates the home group, as long as when you're re-adding, or adding a new one, that one of the PC's in that homegroup is active and visible.

Answer 3

I've had problems with 1 Desktop with manually assigned IP address, the other desktop on DHCP from the router. If you manually assign a DNS server when manually assigning the Ip address, different from the actual router DNS assignation, the other PC's can see the main desktop through Network icon, but not through Homegroup. All PC's in the Homegroup MUST be on DHCP from the router. Restart all PC's and set the homegroup up from scratch after ensuring all PC's are on DHCP - NOT manually assigned addresses.

Answer 4

Try removing the homegroup, restarting the PC and recreating the homegrup with same name and other settings. Don't choose "I am connected directly and others are in my network"; choose "all in same network." No one should be host or client.

After doing that, enable remote access, so you can have access to other PCs for their files and for full control.

Google for "remote desktop" for more information.