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Windows 10 - file sharing won't work on any computer on my network
Ever since the 16xx feature updates, I've been suffering through an issue that I believe I'm the only person in existence to suffer through, for this long anyways. It involves shared folders on computers connected to my home network.
Before I describe the issue, here's the initial steps I did to set up network sharing (I did these on each computer connected to my home network):
1. Created a new folder and shared it with the network, giving "Everyone" Full Access permissions.
2. Went into Network and Sharing Center and changed Network Discovery and File Sharing on for all network types, then turned password-protected sharing off.
3. Enabled SMB 1.0 because the internet said I should.
4. Added the computers to the same exact Workgroup.
5. Changed all computers' network connections to Private.
Whenever I try to access a shared folder from a different computer, I get this error:
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
If I started typing out all the potential solutions I've tried, I'd still be typing this post when the year is 2025. I've lost count - I've been suffering with this issue since the 16xx feature updates, and no solution on the internet works for me. I've searched through Microsoft Answers, this website, Spiceworks, and an uncountable number of other forums for answers. Nothing works. Go search "Windows 10 sharing windows cannot access" on Google and look through the first 100 pages - I guarantee I've done every single thing you'd see.
Here's the frustrating part - I can access the other computers' Public folders just fine and transfer files over that way, meaning it DOES have access, despite the error message. Pinging the other computers is successful. File transfer programs like FileZilla refuse to connect to them though, stating "server rejected access" or something like that.
Additionally, this does rarely work, maybe 1% of the time. When it successfully gains access, I'm able to do everything you'd expect - delete files, copy files, rename files, move files, and set permissions on files, but 99% of the time it gives the error shown in that screenshot and refuses to do anything else.
All computers in my house are running a fully updated Windows 10 Pro x64 setup (feature update 20H2), have all the correct and latest drivers installed, don't have any viruses or malware, and have Malwarebytes Premium set up to allow network shares (I set this up during an attempted fix that didn't work). I've tried reinstalling Windows about 20 times on each of them over this long period, this made no difference.
I tried getting on the phone and in email conversations with Microsoft, but of course they hire "real people" who are only trained to do "Ctrl + C" and "Ctrl + V" (but suspiciously all call themselves MVPs or Senior Programmers) and don't actually know what they're typing, so they just end up spewing out the same solution dozens of times and can't seem to understand what the issue is. r/techsupport - despite the subreddit's name - instantly mass-downvotes my posts and never answer them.
Throughout this never-ending struggle, I've never encountered a single person who didn't eventually find a solution that worked for them. Please please please please please please please tell me there's something I'm missing here! I just want to be able to transfer files this way like everyone else! I shouldn't have to spend literal years jumping through all these hoops when it's supposed to just... work.
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