Two Windows 10 PCs having trouble seeing each other - problems

I've got a Windows 10 desktop PC and a Windows 10 laptop, both running the same (latest) version of Windows 10. They are running through the same router and both on the same workgroup ID.

I want to be able to transfer data between them easily, but for whatever reason, when I open the "Network" folder in Explorer on either machine, there is nothing in there apart from my router configuration icon. I have looked at all the settings in "Network and Sharing centre" and they are all set to the correct settings, and both on Private networks. I even tried messing around with it, setting it to public and turning off password protected sharing, and still nothing shows up on either machine.

Also, when I go to the command line and type NET VIEW, I get this:

System error 53 has occurred.

The network path was not found.

This is the same error on both machines.

Finally and what makes me think there are some problems here, I want to be able to use an app on my Android phone to connect to Windows shares and transfer files over the network to my laptop. But when I put in all the details of my laptop (IP, Windows user ID and password) it just says "Operation failed" - I don't get a list of the folder shares.

I'm tearing my hair out trying to work out how to fix this, I've tried resetting/flushing the IP/DNS, I've tried using the network troubleshooters, I've tried resetting network settings - I wondered if anybody had any suggestions? It is apparent that my PC's can't see each other and my phone also can't see the PCs.

Thanks!

First can you ping each pc from the other by name or ip. Have you setup shares on the pcs if so what folders have you shared and have you set everyone with rights?

download this app and run it on both pcs can it see the other pc and which is master browser NetBScanner - NetBIOS scanner

Samuria said:

First can you ping each pc from the other by name or ip. Have you setup shares on the pcs if so what folders have you shared and have you set everyone with rights?

download this app and run it on both pcs can it see the other pc and which is master browser NetBScanner - NetBIOS scanner

Thanks for the reply.

Yes I can ping each PC by the IP and by name, that seems to work just fine. I've got shares set up, they are just folders I've made and then done the right click > properties > sharing method of sharing them.

One thing I don't understand is I've always been sure that a PC should show itself in Network in Explorer shouldn't it? So for example, if I go to the Network folder on my machine ALEX-DESKTOP, it should show ALEX-DESKTOP in there as well as the other machines, but it doesn't even show that. It's just empty.

I downloaded the tool you recommended, and when running the scan they show the other machine (should it show the machine it is also being scanned on, or not?) In both cases they report "No" as master browser.

Edit: I have also now tried NetResView from the nirsoft website on both machines - interestingly, on both the laptop and the desktop, absolutely nothing shows when refreshing the program. It's completely empty. Going by the screenshot on the nirsoft website, I am guessing it should be showing any shared folders in here as well as systems on the network.