New
#1
5 desktops can't discover each other - ethernet
Small non-profit office environment. I'm their volunteer IT support.
5 desktop systems, 4 are Lenovo C560, 1 is HP Pavilion 24-b214.
All systems are ethernet connected to an Archer C7 V5 router or to a
non-managed switch connected to that router.
All systems use Windows 10, version 20H2. Most are Home edition; some may be Pro (I'll check), but as the only Administrator I don't know how they got that way. I'm seldom in the office. Automatic updates are installed promptly.
We have good connections to the internet; no performance concerns. All systems have at least one non-Admin account; some have several. All were set up as local-only, but one user seems to have acquired a Microsoft account as well.
There is only one network share in use that I know of. System4 contains a QuickBooks Company Files folder. System6 can access that folder via a share, set up years ago, mostly by someone else. I'm about as ignorant about sharing as you can get, but it has worked for some time and still does.
A personnel change has necessitated providing the same access from SYSTEM1 to SYSTEM6. I'm floundering, in spite of reading reams of stuff, including the excellent tutorial here.
Rather than continuing to blindly follow step-by-step instructions to "try this", which has been unproductive so far, I'd like to try to understand how things are supposed to work, followed by why they don't in my case. So I'll start with a simple premise: in our environment, using File Explorer, and selecting Network, I should usually be able to see, under the Computers category, all 5 computers, regardless of any shares, which account I am using, which computer I am on, etc., provided they are all turned on. True, False, or Depends?
If you think Depends is correct, here are some settings recently made on all 5 systems (only a few of which are changes from what has been present for months):
.. Workgroup = WORKGROUP
.. Private network, for which:
.... Network discovery: ON
.... Automatic setup new devices: CHECKED
.... File sharing: ON
.. All networks:
.... Public folder share: OFF (the Company Files folder is NOT in Public on SYSTEM4.)
.... Encryption: 128 bit
.... Password protected sharing: OFF
.. optionalfeatures:
.... All boxes related to SMB 1.0 are UNchecked.
.. services:
.... Start Function Discovery Provider Host - Automatic start (side question: why do some folks recommend Automatic (Delayed start?)
.... Function Discovery Resource Publication - Automatic start
.... SSDP Discovery - Automatic start
.... UPnP device host - Automatic start
So given all these settings, shouldn't I be able to see all 5 computers from any one of them? Bonus: isn't this ability a prerequisite for sharing to work?
There's one anomaly I'm aware of, Network Name. SYSTEM1 and SYSTEM2 have the same network name and I've read that is a Bad Thing. To complicate things, the navigational path to view the Network name seems to vary from one system to another and often doesn't agree with the instructions I'm trying to follow.. There's also a Computer name, Full computer name, and Description (in System Properties, in a tab called Computer Name...) and Adapter name. Is there a reliable way to find which name shouldn't have duplicates so I can correct it if necessary?
Is there somewhere a Network Discovery flowchart that shows what steps Windows goes through to find out who is out there, along with instructions for verifying that each step completed successfully or a log to examine if it didn't? Or am I dreaming?
Thanks in advance for any enlightenment you can provide. I want to do this with a scalpel, not a shotgun.