On my local network, I can type the IP address of a computer like so: \\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx and access the shared files/printers of that computer.
But when I try by computer name, it does not let me. Any reason why?
Easiest fix is you edit your hosts file (%windows%\system32\drivers\etc) in your favorite text editor to add the other machines on your network in the following format:
IP HOSTNAME (IP and hostname need to be separated by at least one space (I use a single tab)
Save and exit and you should be good.
hosts
files?