Turn On or Off Network Discovery in Windows 10  

Ok ... on the Win10 PC can you manually access just the \\XPComputerName by going to File Explorer > Address Bar and type \\XPComputerName

Eagle51 said:

Ok ... on the Win10 PC can you manually access just the \\XPComputerName by going to File Explorer > Address Bar and type \\XPComputerName

Tried that too. I get the message "Windows cannot access 'xpcomputername'." Check spelling, etc..

In Windows XP, I can easily see Win10 by doing what you just said in Windows Explorer. But I can't in Win10. It's like something is hiding my XP machine, even though both machines can use my 2 shared printers. This is really strange. I really appreciate your time and expertise. I feel like I'm still

By the way, I went to cmd.exe & pinged my xp computer & no packets were lost.

Tried that too. I get the message "Windows cannot access 'xpcomputername'." Check spelling, etc..

Ok, can you access it by \\XPIpAddress ? (i.e. \\192.168.1.x)

In Windows XP, I can easily see Win10 by doing what you just said in Windows Explorer. But I can't in Win10. It's like something is hiding my XP machine, even though both machines can use my 2 shared printers. This is really strange. I really appreciate your time and expertise. I feel like I'm still

Yea, I hear ya .. this is an issue with Win10 that people are having. On your Win10 PC do have SMBv1 Client & Sever installed ?

Edit: That should have been SMBv1 Client & Server.

Eagle51 said:

Ok, can you access it by \\XPIpAddress ? (i.e. \\192.168.1.x)

Yea, I hear ya .. this is an issue with Win10 that people are having. On your Win10 PC do have SMBv1 Client installed ?

I think so. But I read at https://www.windowscentral.com/how-a...bv1-windows-10 that it's not secure. Also, Shawn mentioned it atEnable or Disable SMB1 File Sharing Protocol in Windows above & I'm wondering if I should disable or uninstall it.

I forgot how I did it, but I ran a status check in an elevated Powershell window & it came back enabled. I can't find it listed in services, but I must have it.

I went to XP, right clicked & chose Properties & went to "Computer Name" tab. I clicked Network ID & this time I chose home use, rather than business. I rebooted.

When I now go back to Win10/Network, I can see my XPComputerName listed...which is a step in the right direction. However, if I try to double click (or right click & choose "Open"), I get the same error message that Windows cannot access \\xpcomputername.

Should I disable smb1?

Should I disable smb1?

I wouldn't, I',m pretty sure you're gonna need it for those XP PC's. SMBv1 has been patched for Win10 (don't know about XP) against WannCry and the risk is low on a home network IMO.

When I now go back to Win10/Network, I can see my XPComputerName listed...which is a step in the right direction. However, if I try to double click (or right click & choose "Open"), I get the same error message that Windows cannot access \\xpcomputername.

Yea, as I mentioned before this is known issue with Win10 and accessing network shares by hostname (i.e. \\PCNAME). By having SMBv1 installed it also installed the Computer Browser Service(it's tied to SMBv1). If you're using Static IP's for all your PC's and you can access shared PC's by \\ipaddress ... you can just map them by IP and bypass all this mess.

People have had success fixing this Win10 issue, but with varying methods.
1. Disabling IPv6 on ALL PC's
2. Renaming the problem PC's
3. Editing the hosts file on ALL PC's and mapping the IP to PCNAME ... Must have static IP's and if you have more than two PC's this can be a PITA ... personally if you have static IP's, just map the network shares by ip and avoid this unless necessary.
4. Enabling SMBv1 (which you've already done)

Note: Since HomeGroups have been removed from Win10. You might want to consider leaving any WinXP HomeGroups you've created and disable the two HomeGroup Services .. if you haven't done so already. I really don't know if/how this affects the Win10 accessing shares by \\PCNAME.

Good Job ... glad you got it sorted out and your welcome :)

Shawn,

I'm posting for a friend who read this helpful article, and you forgot to add Windows Firewall as a required service in post #1.

Thanks.