I'm currently having a problem where my computers B and C can access computer A by name (ie. \\computerA), but computer D cannot use the name.
Computer D can only access A through its IP address (ie. \\192.168.0.xxx).
Computer D is on Windows 10 and A is in Windows XP.
This isn't a huge problem, but I would like to solve it and use computer name always.
26 Answers
You should double check that your Network Discovery is enabled. Here are the steps to turn it on (based on Windows 10):
- Go to Control Panel by opening Advanced sharing settings (from Start button).
- Type network and open Network and Sharing Center and select Change advanced sharing settings.
- Turn on network discovery and Save changes.
See: What is network discovery?
It is also important, when you connect to the network, to choose type of Network location such as: Home, Work, Public, and Domain. Based on this, Windows assigns a network discovery state and appropriate configure your Windows Firewall ports for that state.
Preferably choose Home location, where Network discovery is turned on, which allows you to see other computers and devices and allows other network users to see your computer on the network.
You can change your location, by choosing option in Network and Sharing Center (either Work network, Home network, or Public network).
See: Choosing a network location
If your computer is visible through \\192.168.0.xxx), then your local network should work, so maybe you just need to re-login to the right Workgroup. If it's all about the name discovery, you should check if your broadcasting IP address matches.
Troubleshooting
In case this still doesn't work, check that:
- you've disabled any other firewall (for testing purposes, disable temporary your anti-virus),
your computer responds to pings from other computers, e.g. in command line (change IP into your relevant computer IPs):
ping 192.168.0.2 ping 192.168.0.3you're connected to the same network,
your IP is within the same range (and your network mask matches),
This is required for broadcast packets being send to the same broadcasting IP address (e.g.
192.168.255.255).All computers must be on the same local network or subnet.
computers are within the same workgroup and homegroup (could be not mandatory),
check if your computer has file sharing ports open (ports 139 and 445), e.g.
telnet 192.168.0.xxx 139 telnet 192.168.0.xxx 445If telnet is missing, install it via (run as admin):
dism /online /Enable-Feature /FeatureName:TelnetClientyou've CIFS File Sharing Support enabled in Windows Features
- re-login or restart your computer, so your computer can logs into local network
A solution that worked for me was to:
add the IP & shared name to the Client Host file
example
192.168.0.100 server
Or as a batch file (run as admin)
@echo off
SET NEWLINE=^& echo.
FIND /C /I "servername" %WINDIR%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
IF %ERRORLEVEL% NEQ 0 ECHO %NEWLINE%^ 192.168.1.100 server>>%WINDIR%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
Rem The Line Above is where you add the OP & Server name
3One way I was able to resolve this issue is by stopping and starting the computer browser service from services.msc.
- Windows + R
- Type Services.msc and hit enter
- find computer browser service
- Stop and start the service.
I know this is a very old question, but I also know that people are still having problems with this. The top answer did touch on this at the very end of their post, but I don't think enough emphasis was put on how important this really is. The issue is Windows XP runs off of SMB 1.0 and does not support SMB 2.0. Windows 10 runs off of SMB 2.0 and does not support SMB 1.0 without enabling it in add / remove programs. This is a fundamental mismatch between the two operating systems. On the Windows 10 system, hold your Windows logo key and press R, type in appwiz.cpl and hit enter. Click on "Turn Windows features on or off" and scroll down to SMB 1.0. Click the + next to it and enable SMB 1.0/CIFS client then wait till it finishes and reboot. Keep in mind, this will introduce a security vulnerability on the Windows 10 system, but you will need to do this to access any shares on that Windows XP system. From there you should be able to map up by computer name or IP address. If computer name doesn't work, it's likely a failure in your router and it will need to be rebooted. Personally, I prefer mapping everything by IP address. If that still does not work, you may need to provide credentials on the Windows 10 machine to connect to the XP machine.
I had this problem on a development domain network and the resolution was to make sure that all computers on the same were syncing time to the domain controller. Previously I had had problems with syncing time so had given up on it and set every PC/server clock manually with w32time turned off.
The solution was to sync them up to the DC as follows. The first two steps might not be needed if you have the service running already
C:\Users\Administrator.DEV>w32tm /register
W32Time successfully registered.
C:\Users\Administrator.DEV>net start w32time
The Windows Time service is starting.
The Windows Time service was started successfully.
C:\Users\Administrator.DEV>w32tm /config /update /manualpeerlist:10.5.0.2 /syncfromflags:MANUAL
The command completed successfully.
C:\Users\Administrator.DEV>w32tm /resync
Sending resync command to local computer
The command completed successfully. Note that 10.5.0.2 was the IP address of the domain controller
I believe that MS now distrusts computers where the time does not look right. This is true in accessing UNC shares as well as connecting with RDP. Prior to the fix I could connect to the IP address with UNC or RDP, but not with the computername or hostname.
I also found that I had to run the final /resync command several times before it would take effect, and some computers needed rebooting before access via unc was possible, but all resolved eventually with this method.
You may have a DNS issue if it's happening on a Work PC, I would delete your DNS record and then renew your IP address on the Computer.
