Win10 computer suddenly not able to access ONE of the computers on my

As of three weeks ago, my Win10 laptop suddenly thinks it doesn't have permission to access ONE of the other computers on my home network. It had been working until then. [Note: most of this post is copied from the post I made in the Microsoft Community windows forum shortly after the problem started - no responses in the three weeks it was posted there, and in fact apparently I am the only person who has even viewed the post. I'm editing this lightly as I go, but most of the text is what I posted a few days after the problem started.]

There are three computers on the home network (occasionally one more but not right now). The three computers are this Win10 laptop, one Win7 desktop, and one Win7 laptop. All three computers are supposed to be able to have full access to the shared folders on the other computers. All three computers have successfully had full access to the shared folders on the other computers for the past year until just suddenly.

Both laptops are connected to the same wi-fi router which is wired to the desktop.

Suddenly the Win10 laptop won't access the Win7 laptop. It just says


The help link provided is, of course, completely useless.

Each of the computers on the network shows all three computers in the Network - just as they always have.

The Win7 desktop still has full access to both the Win10 laptop and the Win7 laptop.

The Win7 laptop still has full access to both the Win10 laptop and the Win7 desktop

The Win10 laptop still has full access to the Win7 desktop but no access at all to the Win7 laptop.

I have checked the sharing permissions on the Win7 laptop and I cannot find anything that has changed or anything that would prevent the Win10 laptop from accessing the Public folders on the Win7 laptop.

I know that I have not changed any settings on any of these computers anytime recently - certainly not in the last few days prior to the sudden problem.

Since the original post, the only thing new is the forced update to Windows version 10.0.19041 which of course broke several programs and settings and which turned on "Password protected sharing" (which had been off -- and is now off again). Other than temporarily breaking network access to the Win 10 laptop from the two Win 7 systems (now fixed), the latest update hasn't changed the problem in this thread.

The Win 10 laptop still has no problem having read/write access to the shared folders on my Win7 desktop, but it still refuses to access anything on the Win7 laptop - not even the "public" folders.

dalchina said:

Hi, networking seems fragile in Win 10.

Here's a checklist/ range of approaches in this scenario, some of which you will probably have tried. Please work through and advise the outcome:


How to Fix the Windows 10 File Sharing not Working Problem? - Appuals.com

Thanks. There are a couple of items on that checklist that I haven't tried yet, so I'll give them a try later today.

dalchina said:

As the forum prompted you: full Windows build please.

Yes, the forum prompts me to tell it what case my LAPTOP has, what Keyboard it has, and several other questions that go beyond irrelevant to absurd and a few that continue on to ridiculous. I answered the questions that I had answers for (whether I thought they made sense or not). If there is any relevant question that I haven't answered, let me know - although you will probably have to tell me where to find some of the answers.

dalchina said:

Hi, no idea about those (silly) parameters being asked- I joined some years ago so haven't been thru the process. But time after time- and when it does matter- and to save us so tediously typing the same question (memo to self, get phraseexpress up and running again) this is what you see when creating a new thread:


- and many don't even specify laptop/tablet/desktop or model - and just OS: Win 10

So you mean it is important to know that I am running Windows version 10.0.19041

By the way, I didn't use the directions to get that, I simply copied and pasted it from my original post that started this thread

dalchina said:

Actually winver tells you the full build number - 19041.??? the ??? changes with updates applied.

As MS breaks things and maybe fixes them with upgrades and updates, whch you can read about in the article per update per build in the News section, issues can be update dependent.

Basically we as respondents don't want to have to so tediously and boringly waste time trying to extract such basic information time after time after time- we do have lives to live as well.

Point made?

10.0.19041.508 today

which has nothing to do with what it was four weeks ago when the problem started, or even what it might have been 2 days ago when this thread started.

I have read a number of similar topics but not the same. I have 6 Win 10 PC's that as of version 2004 have sharing issues. Below I list the Machine Name, Win Version and the machines seen in File Explore > Network >Computer
previously mounted shares no longer work.

Dev 1903 master browser All computers
Data01 2004 Data01
Gamer 2004 Gamer
Deborah 2004 Deborah Dev
Hearth 1909 Hearth Dev
Master 1903 Master Dev Deborah

I have shares on many of them that are not visible but primary concern is seeing Data01.

With
Function Discovery Provider running
Function Discovery Resource running
SSDP Discovery running
UPNP Host running
SMV1 set on

Can I roll back versions of the OS or do I need other items corrected?
Help welcome.