Windows cannot access \\KEN-PC, yet \\KEN-PC\SharedFolder works

Hi all. I'm been having a specific sharing issue for a while now which I've tried to fix several times but have never been successful no matter how many solutions I've tried from other posts I found.

I have a up-to-date Windows 10 PC with several shared folders. If I try to access this PC from another Windows 10 computer on the same private network and same workgroup by clicking on it in the Network section of an explorer window or by typing it into the address bar I get the message:

Network Error
Windows cannot access \\KEN-PC

You do not have permission to access \\KEN-PC. Contact your network administrator to request access.

For more information about permissions, see Windows Help and Support

Yet I can access the shared folders on that PC by typing the full path, such as \\KEN-PC\SharedFolder.

Under the properties of the shared folders, for Sharing I put Everyone with Read/Write access and for Security I have Everyone with Full Control. None of my PCs have passwords (for the time being until I can figure this out). Turning off the firewall doesn't help. In the Advanced Sharing Settings I have Network Discovery, File and Printer Sharing, and Public Folder Sharing turned on. I have Password Protected Sharing turned off. In Services, I have Function Discovery Provider Host and Function Discovery Resource Publication running.

I began to notice this problem after I had switched PCs. I built a new PC then cloned my boot drive to the hard drive in the new PC and activated Windows with a new product key. I also created a new user, deleted the old user, and finally created a new user with the same name as the one I just deleted (rebooting between each step). I did this because I know from past experience that strange stuff can happen when using a cloned profile, so whenever I need to switch boot drives I like to create a fresh profile. I don't know if any of this is relevant

I have shared folders on other Windows 10 computers and I can access them just fine. For instance, if I'm on my KEN-PC and I click on KEN-LAPTOP in the Network folder then I see all the shared folders on my laptop (exactly how it's supposed to work!). If I'm on my KEN-PC and click on KEN-PC in the Network folder then I see all the shared folders. But if I'm on my laptop or my wife's laptop or our file server PC and click on KEN-PC then I get that error message.

After a bunch more research and trying various suggestions I finally found a suggestion that worked:

In HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
I changed:
restrictanonymous from 1 to 0
and
LimitBlankPasswordUse from 0 to 1

The solution came from:
Network Error - you do not have permission to access.... Solved - Page 3 - Windows 7 Help Forums

To connect to a PC you have to connect to a share doing \\kenpc isn't a share \\kenpc\c$ is

Connecting to \\KEN-PC is supposed to show all the shared folders on that PC. After all the permissions and settings, the thing that finally got it to work was changing the registry entry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa restrictanonymous from 1 to 0.

Samuria said:

To connect to a PC you have to connect to a share doing \\kenpc isn't a share \\kenpc\c$ is

I’m having this problem can you explain what you mean by \\kenpc\c$

primehalo said:

Connecting to \\KEN-PC is supposed to show all the shared folders on that PC. After all the permissions and settings, the thing that finally got it to work was changing the registry entry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa restrictanonymous from 1 to 0.

Thank you this worked for me on W11, you're a life saver!

Just to add, had to reboot for it to work.

Of all the countless "fixes" I have tried over the last few months, this simple registry fix worked!!!! I am on Windows 10.

Hi @primehalo

I would love to know how you can see your KEN-PC1 along with the guest-laptop and the others you have showing under Network in File Explorer!

I cannot see ANY shares on mine. Mapped network drives get added to This PC.

I am just doing a backup at the moment so won't touch registry until that has completed but I will try this Lsarestrictanonymous setting once finished. I have passwords so maybe it might add to the complexity...

- - - Updated - - -

No go! It's already set to 0!