Win 10 Explorer not showing Network drives

Win Explorer shows my network as < empty > on one of my PC's

A little background info. I have 2 PC's and 2 laptops connected on my home network, all running Win 10 and up until a few weeks ago, everything worked fine. Have not added any new software or changed any settings unless inadvertently. Basically, it was working in the morning and not working later in the day.

So now -
Recently, all three other machines can see my PC as a Network drive, and can access it. However, on my PC, the Network listing shows as empty.

I've reviewed the Network and Local Services settings of one laptop and my pc but could not find anything relating to networking that was different.

I then setup some Network Locations using the " \\Laptop\Users " setup. This gave me an Explorer entry under My Computer as Laptop but clicking on it showed only a Default and Default.migrated folders. The URL bar showed > Network > Laptop > Users




Just for fun, I clicked on Laptop in the URL bar and lo and behold I had access to all the Laptop folders, which could now be navigated, AND, in the left hand pane, the highlight dropped from Laptop to Network. However, clicking now on Network said < this folder is empty >







So, I have a feeling that my network and sharing settings are fine, it's Explorer 11 that's acting strange.


Any assistance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Graebeard

Thanks Bro67.

I've tried it with both SMB 1.0 and its sidekick SMB Direct On and Off with no difference. My other computers have SMB 1.0 On and the SMB Direct Off, and I tried that as well. No difference. What bothers me is that all my machines can actually connect and share files except that on my pc, I can't see the other computers under Network, but only if I go through the \\server\users process, then backup into the \\server part. That indicates to me that somehow File Explorer is missing something that it had previously.

Thanks Bro67,

If you look at the pictures I had posted, you can see that my shares work just fine if I go in via the URL line. Using File Explorer like that demonstrates that Networking and Sharing is working. What is NOT working properly, is that when the Right Pane shows the folders on the remote pc, the NETWORK in the left pane shows nothing. So, File Explorer's Left and Right panes are not sync'd and that's why I'm focused on File Explorer settings and not Network settings.

Thanks Bro67 and everyone else for at least looking to help.

I found the answer in the following. Apparently a gremlin or line bump corrupted the Registry to cause the problem. I guess the ## denotes a REM and essentially hides the network computers.

=============================

https://social.technet.microsoft.com...tpronetworking

{ scroll down the thread several pages for this }


Check the following registry key - \HKEY)CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2
Delete anything with ## in front of it. Then restart the computer
If I ever have an issue with disconnected drives or drives with red X's against them showing up. Deleting these keys usually resolves it.

Edited by GMTeacher Saturday, November 14, 2015 1:51 PM
Proposed as answer by Notori0us Friday, January 22, 2016 7:24 PM

Friday, November 06, 2015 3:00 PM

=============================================

Thanks everyone

Graebeard

I realize it is an old thread but I have the same problem and hopefully solved it easily. I've had two PCs networked "forever" (sadly, since HomeGroup, and MSFT WIN chgs seem to precipitate my mapped drives either disappearing or not connecting). One PC always manages to see the other but the other periodically loses either the ability to see or is unable to connect. It has not been the SMB version, my sharing settings are fine, I've change the relevant services settings to automatic start (about 6 of them, life "File discovery"?).

Anyway, deleting the whole MountPoints2 key (ie and underneath) has allowed me to connect to the network drives that I have previously mapped, but I have to delete the key every power up and then reboot. I also still do NOT see the other computer under file explorer's network location.

What I did so I did not have to keep deleting the MountPoints2 key was I renamed the mapped drives. This actually changes the "##" REM key denoting the mapped drives (adding a new "string value" line titled "LabelFromReg" - the "LabelFromDesktopINI" is blank, and I wonder if that was a problem?). I am guessing renaming the mapped drives also changes keys under the computer name I am working on, but I can not confirm this (it might be correcting prior entries).

Nonetheless, this renaming of mapped drives, and even then renaming back to the original, seems to have permanently solved my "cannot connect" problem.

I still wish I could see the other computer under the file explorer network section because it appears to show up as a media player device - but following googled instructions for fixing this has never worked. Good luck.