How to make different computers see network the same way.

stanhilliard said:

I set the Windows 10 computers to "turn off password protected sharing" according to the link above. Now, when I click on a Win10 computer name in Win98 Network, a new message is produced...
"\\computername is inaccessible. This request is not supported by the network"

Yes, I've just tested that with Windows '95 connecting to a Windows 10 PC and I get the same message. This is due to not being allowed access to IPC$ that provides the list of shares on that PC. Apparently you need to be signed in on your '98 PC with the same username and password as an account on the Windows 10 PC you want to browse. See this thread...
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/for.../ipc-password/

However, you don't need access to IPC$ to be able to map a drive. On my Windows '95 PC I can map a drive letter to \\computername\\sharename without a password being asked for or any other problems. You can see in this screenshot that I have mapped E: to the Users share on a Windows 10 PC and have full access (actually, Read access, because that's what I gave the EVERYONE group on this W10 PC for the Public folder in Users). Despite that, clicking on the same PC to list its shares still gives that error message.




PS: good to know my old '95 box is still in working order :)

stanhilliard said:

... with the third computer (Win10 Home) the setting "turn off password protected sharing" is not persistent. The setting switches back on when I save and reopen the page...

That is not how it's supposed to be. On my Win10 Home machine I can turn off password protected sharing and it stays turned off the next time I open the advanced sharing settings to have a look.

I can't reboot at the moment to test if the setting survives that because it is half way through some lengthy video processing. I'll report back later, but I'd be surprised if it reset itself.


Edit: I have done a Restart now. As expected, password protected sharing remained turned off on my Win10 Home.

stanhilliard said:

Nothing worked for me. I found four different methods ... all failed.

Do you have any 3rd-party AV or similar that's possibly 'protecting' these settings? It should be as easy to turn off in Home as in Pro. Do you have anything installed on the Home that isn't installed on the Pro machines?

stanhilliard said:

I have Kaspersky and Malwarebytes on all three Win10s. I turned them off on the Home but "turn off password protected sharing" is still not persistent.

I don't use anything other than Defender on my 10 Home.

There seems to be something that is unique to this Home PC. Apparently Kaspersky includes 'Registry Guard' and Malwarebytes (paid for or 'trial period') protects against Potentially Unwanted Modification (PUM). Check to see if either has different settings on the Home PC from the Pro ones.

That Kaspersky setting doesn't appear to be a significant difference. Anything else installed only on Home that could account for this?

There's always a possibility that the install of Home is 'broken' in some way (you did mention problems with 'sleep' settings before). You could try...

sfc /scannow - Run SFC Command in Windows 10
Dism's RestoreHealth - Use DISM to Repair Windows 10 Image

...and if they don't fix it, an in-place repair upgrade will reinstall Windows while keeping all your installed apps and documents.

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade