Sharing Win 10 Disks/Folders ON LAN With Win7 Computers

NewW10user · 1 Week Ago

When I first got the Win 10 laptop I was able to set it up for C-Disk and folders to be shared across LAN. I haven't used it in a while and now it's no longer shared. I right clicked on individual folder and the share settings including permissions are still there. But then it just loops for a minute or two. When it came back I checked "Give Access To" and it still has "everyone" in it. But I can't access it from my two Win 7 computers.

And now I also can't access the Win 7 computers from the Win 10 computer.
I also saw that Avast on the Win 10 computer has the LAN specified as "Public". But I can't find where I can change that to "Private"
All three computers are running Avast and Malwarebytes.

dalchina · 1 Week Ago

Hi, networking is flimsy and fraught with issues and tedious to configure, alas.

I right clicked on individual folder and the share settings including permissions are still there. But then it just loops for a minute or two.

This sounds odd- maybe you could post a screenshot or two? Or even a video?

In this post you will find a link to @Try3's checklist.
Why is Windows Sharing so problemactic

It may be of some help... or not.

Please remember to observe the forum prompt you saw to specify your full build number e.g. 19045.4170

Samuria · 1 Week Ago

Avast is known to give problems often Windows updates will set thing back to default there is two parts to sharing first the share folder and then you must set NTFS permissions have you done that?

NewW10user · 1 Week Ago

Thank you Samuria and dalchina. Avast was the problem for almost all of the issues. On the Win 10 computer It had changed the LAN in the firewall to NOT TRUSTED. I put it back to TRUSTED and the Win 7 computers see the Win 10 laptop. But there is still one of the three Win 7 computers that the Win10 computer doesn't see. I don't know why as all three Win 7 computers see each other and the Win 10 computer.

I'm not sure where the NTFS permissions are set. I did select Give Access To in the right click dropdown menu. I put "Everyone" with R/W permission level.

Samuria · 1 Week Ago

The PC you can't see can you ping it by name or IP can you connect via IP
\\192.168.1.?\sharename

NewW10user · 1 Week Ago

Sorry - I don't know what/where the "sharename" is.

Samuria · 1 Week Ago

When you share a folder it has a name when you browse the network it will show the name

Berton · 1 Week Ago

dalchina said:

Hi, networking is flimsy and fraught with issues and tedious to configure, alas.

Agreed. To the end of needing files, I use a NAS drive attached to my Router then Map a folder on it from any computer I'm working on whether Wired or Wireless/Wi-Fi. It runs 2 x 4TB HDDs as RAID 1 for 4TB total storage. All my downloads go to it first.

dalchina · 1 Week Ago

When you share a folder it has a name when you browse the network it will show the name

By default the share name is the name of the folder. However, it can be allocated a different 'share name' thus:

Sharing Win 10 Disks/Folders ON LAN With Win7 Computers-1.jpg

(random example)

I think that's what Samuria is referring to.

Don't overlook Try3's checklist from my post above.

I use Avast (free) - not its firewall - and haven't seen it interfere- but I have had other issues with networking and updates after which it didn't work on a couple of occasions.

MisterEd · 1 Week Ago

What do you mean by "And now I also can't access the Win 7 computers from the Win 10 computer."?
Do mean you can't see the Windows 7 computer when you open Network in File Explorer?

I have found that it is hit or miss for the network computers to see each other in my network. To get around that I have created a folder called My Network on my desktops. In that folder are shortcuts to each networked computer. To access another computer on my network I just double-click on its shortcut.

Laptop #1: Starship (Windows 11 Pro)

My Network folder on desktop