Can't see computer on network

[Mark Tilly]

Hi there,

I have a desktop and a laptop at home which I use for work. I need to access the desktop files using the laptop, and vice versa.

I had it working before (i.e. I could see and access the laptop via the desktop and vice versa) but it's stopped for some reason. I can't see either computer on the network!

I've ticked all the relevant file sharing settings (I think) but they just wont appear the network folder.

I had an issue a month or two ago where I'd set up a PIN on the laptop, rather than a password, and having read other forums, this is apparently an issue. Once I removed the PIN and just had a password on each computer, they could 'speak' to each other again. But there's definitely no PIN/password issues now as I've not changed them since.

Can anyone help please?!

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Trouble]

Open a command prompt and ping one from the other, back and forth. Use the IP address and then the NetBIOS name.
See if that shakes anything loose.

 

[Mark Tilly]

Open a command prompt and ping one from the other, back and forth. Use the IP address and then the NetBIOS name.
See if that shakes anything loose.

Excuse my ignorance but I'm not sure I know how to do that! I pinged my IP address and it showed this:

Does that tell me anything?

 

[Trouble]

That is likely your public ip address on the outside edge of your router / ISP provided device.
You can do an
ipconfig /all
on the individual computers which will most likely produce something in a private range 192.168.###.### or similar
that is the ip address that your computers use to communicate inside your LAN.

 

[Mark Tilly]

OK so I think I get what you mean - I did ipconfig on both the desktop and the laptop, then pinged the IPv4 address of each one....and I got the same result as above. Request timed out 4 times. Does that mean they're simply not communicating with each other?

 

[Trouble]

Can you provide an example of the results you obtained from performing an IPCONFIG /ALL
On both machines.
IT could mean any number of things, if the ip addressing schema is coming from multiple sources then perhaps they are not even on the same subnet.
I've seen it before.... one is getting information from one router and the other another.
One may be on the 192.168 subnet while the other may be on the 10. or 172.16. subnet.
Everything has to be in the same range and then the proper mask applied by sub or super- netting to make them part of the same local area network.

 

[Mark Tilly]

OK, so this is what I get on the laptop:

 

[Mark Tilly]

...and on the desktop:

 

[Mark Tilly]

Just to say - I did have these working exactly how I wanted only a few weeks ago. So I know it CAN work...it's just decided to stop working for some reason.

The only thing that has changed recently is that I upgraded windows on the desktop computer from 32 bit to 64 bit. But that shouldn't stop the two machines communicating should it?!

 

[Trouble]

But that shouldn't stop the two machines communicating should it?!

Nope.
All looks good to me, so....
Test whether of not they can ping themselves.
On the desktop
ping 192.168.1.64
AND
On the laptop
ping 192.168.1.86
THEN test to see if they can both ping the gateway
192.168.1.254
IF that all works and they still can not ping each other by IP address, then you likely have some third party security suite in place that is causing you grief

 

[Norton]

Mark I'm not trying to hijack Trouble's assistance.
Have you attempted to to open the control panel > "Network Sharing Centre" > Troubleshoot problems ? Hopefully It will diagnose and a repair your current problem or the very least point you to a solution for repair.

 

[Mark Tilly]

When I ping desktop from laptop I get:

Pinging 192.168.1.86 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.86: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.86: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.86: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.86: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.86:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

When I ping gateway from laptop I get:

Pinging 192.168.1.254 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.254:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2ms, Maximum = 3ms, Average = 2ms

 

[Mark Tilly]

When I ping laptop from desktop I get:

Pinging 192.168.1.64 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.64: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.64: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.64: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.64: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.64:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms


When I ping gateway from desktop I get:

Pinging 192.168.1.254 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.254: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.254:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 2ms

 

[Mark Tilly]

So you reckon maybe my antivirus might be preventing them 'talking'? I did install a new version of the same antivirus on each computer recently come to think of it...

 

[Trouble]

Looks good to me
1 to 2 milliseconds on everything with Lost = 0 everytime.
Now try it with the NetBIOS name

 

[Mark Tilly]

FIXED IT!

It was my Kaspersky internet security. I went into Firewall and changed the network from 'public' to 'trusted' and now I can access my files both ways.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Trouble]

That is so often the case.
Third party security suites...... gotta love um

 

[katalina]

I like Eset.
When I upgraded to W10 it messed up my Eset, something about Eset kernel is whacked. I did a re-start and it was fine.