Multiple attemps needed to connect to a networked PC

I've got a strange problem with Windows networking i'm hoping someone might have some ideas how to fix. I have 3 PCs on a home network set to private. Two run windows 10 and another, windows 11. One of the PCs running 10 is on all the time with a static IP and mostly used as a Plex server though you can browse the internet on it too. The other two PCs are shut down each night or restarted periodically during the day. All are on the same private network with Network discovery on, file and printer sharing on and passwords off. They all share the public windows folders and the PC with Plex also shares a separate drive with the Plex files on it. It's set to share with "EVERYONE".

When either of the PCs that are turned off at night, or even rebooted, start up, it takes multiple attempts to access the Win10 PC/server through Windows Network or file explorer. Even though the PC, itself, shows up right away in both places. I keep getting "error code: 0x80070035 the network path was not found" when I click on it. After a dozen or so attempts to open it with that error code popping up, it will finally connect and works fine till the PC is shut down again. The kicker is it works instantly if I map a share using the Plex server's IP address instead.

Does anyone have an idea why this might happen? At first I thought maybe the network card in the PC with Plex was "sleeping" but I checked power settings on the adapter to make sure that wasn't happening. I've reset all the PCs network multiple times, reset the firewalls to default on the Plex server, tried various things online but nothing seems to help. The only thing saving my sanity is that it works right away using the mapped share and the machine's IP. It's just one of those things I'd like to know why the heck it happens. This page includes things i've tried to fix it. Attention Required! | Cloudflare

Samuria said:

windows doesnt search for pc it asks master browser and after being turned off may take 20mins to show in the mean time you can use ip ie \\192.168.1.21\sharename

So is it normal behavior to keep getting that error? The thing is is the shared PC does show immediately after bootup. I just can't access it without clicking it over and over. Even after hours online I will get the path not found error as soon as I try to access the shared PC via the Network or File explorer.

Using the IP and sharename is what I do now and is the only thing keeping me from going insane by this. I can't believe this is how it's supposed to be?

This is just one reason why I NEVER use Windows sharing. It's a crapshoot. And NetBIOS/Samba is an open invitation to a hack... You may instead want to try something like Syncthing.

Sorry I can't be of any help, but figured I'd offer a sensible alternative to file access across networked computers.

Why We Use Syncthing, The Open Source Private File Syncing Tool instead of NextCloud - YouTube


Plenty of videos. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=syncthing

F22 Simpilot said:

This is just one reason why I NEVER use Windows sharing. It's a crapshoot. And NetBIOS/Samba is an open invitation to a hack... You may instead want to try something like Syncthing.

Sorry I can't be of any help, but figured I'd offer a sensible alternative to file access across networked computers.

Why We Use Syncthing, The Open Source Private File Syncing Tool instead of NextCloud - YouTube


Plenty of videos. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=syncthing

Thanks for the link. I don't want to synch because the older desktop is what I use for storage on the network. It has a much larger hard drive than my laptop. If I have to synch everything, it defeats the purpose. I just want to be able to access those stored files so I can manage them.

At any rate, it works mapping the machine using the IP address. I was just hoping I was missing something obvious. A lot of people would simply give up thinking their network is set up wrong if they get that "no path found" error over and over. Plus the troubleshooter that pops up with the error is totally useless. It can't find any problems.

I agee that Windows networking has always been a crapshoot. I get things working and an update comes along and resets everything. I always compare it to "voodoo" whether it all works or not.

Samuria said:

This tool often helps its portable so you dont need to install NetBScanner - NetBIOS scanner
run it on all pc it often brings it to life note which is master browser

Just ran it on my laptop and on the PC with Plex. It doesn't find the computer it's being run on but only the other networked machines? It shows the PC that I leave on all the time is the Master Browser.

Off topic, but instead of Plex check out the abilities of JellyFin...

Back on topic. Maybe FTP?

Can I use FileZilla to connect my desktop and Laptop

F22 Simpilot said:

Off topic, but instead of Plex check out the abilities of JellyFin...

Back on topic. Maybe FTP?

Can I use FileZilla to connect my desktop and Laptop

I've tried Jellyfin and prefer plex.

As I've said, mapping the shared PC via it's IP works fine.

My original post was just an attempt to figure out why Windows Networking keeps giving that error. I'll just stick with my opinion that Windows Networking is like voodoo and always has been. Almost 30yrs since Windows 95 and it's never really been fixed.