Can't connect new laptop with other computers on my home network

Question

Can't connect new laptop with other computers on my home network

BobinOhio 0

I bought a new laptop a few days ago and I can't connect the new laptop with my older PC. The new laptop is Windows 11 but the old PC is Windows 10. Not sure if that contributes to the issue.

I have spent several days trying to connect these two computers. I have had brief times where one computer (the new laptop) connected to the other (the older PC), but not the other way around. Almost all of the time they will not connect.

I have tried everything I can think of to get this to work, but it keeps failing.

I need some help with this.

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Answer 1

Michael Taylor 58,451

Please provide more information about how you're "connecting" your computers. Are you attempting to access file shares, connect via Remote Desktop, what?

Note that normally you shouldn't have any issues between Win10 and Win11. However firewalls, network sharing settings and some other security features can cause this not to work. You should probably start by checking the following:

Ensure both your machines are using the Private network profile.
Ensure that file and printer sharing is enabled for the network profile.
Ensure both machines are using the same Workgroup name.
If you're using an MS account to log into both machines then you should be fine. If you're using local accounts then ensure that you are using the other machine's local account when attempting to connect to it.
If using remote desktop then ensure the credentials you're using to connect are for the local user account on the other machine.

BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-26T14:27:13.25+00:00

Thanks for your quick response. I do not use Remote Desktop (don't think I've ever done that).

I'll double check the settings you metioned and see if that works. I'll let you know.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-26T15:24:30.9+00:00

Both computers are using private network profile.

File and print sharing is enabled on both.

Workgroup name the same? Not sure how to even find this but I'm assuming they are.

Using an MS account to log into both machines.

Don't use Remote Desktop.

This keeps happening:

I can connect to my Windows 10 computer from my Windows 11 computer, but I can't connect the other way around. I keep getting this message:

Network Error. Windows cannot access 'name of computer'
Michael Taylor 58,451 Reputation points

2025-03-26T15:47:10.28+00:00

Can you provide the steps you're using to connect to the computer? That is what I don't currently understand. If you're not using RD then it sounds like you're using file shares.

Workgroup name is under the System control panel applet and then Computer Name. The easiest way to get there is to simply search for Workgroup. The default is generally WORKGROUP.

Go to a command prompt and type ping <machinename> on your Win11 machine. If it says it cannot find the machine then this a networking issue. If it finds it then it leans more toward a security issue.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-26T16:10:25.0233333+00:00

I access my other computers through Windows File Explorer. I go to Network in the bottom left and then I click on the name of the computer I need to access.

Cannot find workgroup name using the steps you gave me. When I searched "Workgroup" it shows me info about my computer but there is no entry for "Workgroup" to be found.

I did the ping from my W11 computer to my W10 computer and it does show a bunch of ping statistics for my other computer. I also tried it from my W10 computer (the one that won't connect to my W11 computer) to my W11 and it also showed ping stats.

Not to say anything against you, but it's 2025. This really should be easier. I've spent literally hours on this since I got my new W11 laptop and I'm getting very frustrated by this whole mess.

Thanks.
Michael Taylor 58,451 Reputation points

2025-03-26T16:27:14.61+00:00
Please use the Add comment button to respond to answers. This keeps the conversation together rather than creating a new answer each time which requires others to then go back to the previous answer to understand the flow.

So you're ultimately trying to access a file share as that is what Windows Explorer is working towards. If the Win10 computer shows up then that means network discovery is on. When you click the machine name itself then that should trigger a login prompt. Do you get that prompt or is this where you get the "cannot access" message. That message means you are accessing the other machine with bad credentials.

Try this instead, right click the Network node and select Map network drive. For the folder name put in your machine name plus the file share you're trying to access (e.g. \\win10\share. Then click the Connect using different credentials button. Click Finish to trigger the credential prompt and enter your information. A new drive should be generated and you should have access to the machine.

Note that, by default, a machine has no network shares defined other than the administrator shares (e.g. C$). If you are trying to connect to the admin shares then the user connecting must be an admin on the Win10 machine.

Ultimately Windows uses SMB to communicate to file shares. There have been some security changes as SMBv1 is not secure. On newer OSes SMBv1 isn't enabled by default. On your Win10 machine run the following command in a Powershell admin prompt.

Get-SMBServerConfiguration | SElect EnableSMB*

This will list the protocols supported by the machine. Now run the same command on Win11. On Win11 most likely SMBv1 is disabled and SMBv2 is enabled. On your Win10 machine ensure that SMBv2 is enabled as well. If it isn't then enable it using

Set-SMBServerConfiguration EnableSMB2Protocol $true

Then reboot your machine and try again.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-26T20:53:04.86+00:00

Sorry, I was not aware to post in this area. I didn't even know about this forum until this morning. I was still using the old community forum.

I went away for a few hours so I turned my laptop (W11) off. Sure enough, I turned it back on and doesn't find my W10 computer (it did this morning). This is a recurring issue since I got the new W11 laptop. So I'm back to square one AGAIN.

Starting at the beginning of what you told me above...

I right-clicked on the network node and chose "Map network drive". I could not choose a folder because that area is grayed out. So I'm stuck there.

Please either dumb this down for me or hand me off to somebody else who can guide me through this in a way I can understand. I have no idea what the following terms mean:

C$

SMB

SMBv1

SMBv2

How do I get to the powershell admin prompt?

I really appreciate your attempt to help me but I'm more lost now than I was this morning, and like I mentioned, my W11 cannot find my W10 but it did this morning.
Michael Taylor 58,451 Reputation points

2025-03-26T21:14:18.91+00:00
I right-clicked on the network node and chose "Map network drive". I could not choose a folder because that area is grayed out. So I'm stuck there.

Hmm. that would be odd. It would almost seem like you aren't on a network anymore or perhaps the network connection switched to public or something.

How do I get to the powershell admin prompt?

Do the following on each of your machines:

Click on the Start Button or in the Search bar (depends on the OS).

Type Powershell until it finds Windows Powershell. Right click the application icon it shows you and select Run as Administrator.

3. Copy and paste the following into the powershell window and press ENTER.

Get-SMBServerConfiguration | SElect EnableSMB*

Take a picture of the output and upload it here.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-26T21:31:20.8766667+00:00

First pic is from the W10 computer. Below is from W11
Michael Taylor 58,451 Reputation points

2025-03-26T21:42:47.3866667+00:00

OK, that's good. Both machines are configured to use SMBv2 which eliminates a common problem of a mismatched set of protocols.

Do you have any other machines on your network besides the Win10 and 11 machines? Can you confirm that your Win 11 (?) machine that your turned off and back on is still using the private network profile and that network discovery is still turned on?

At this point you should probably check in the Event Viewer for Windows and see if you're getting any errors related to the network stuff. Ideally try to connect via WIndows Explorer and then look in the event log for any error events.

At this point it isn't clear whether there is a misconfiguration on the Win10 or the Win11 side. Do you have any explicit file shares on your Win10 machine? That would help eliminate configuration issues.

Have you tried going the other way? Can you connect to your Win11 machine from WIn10?
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-26T21:55:57.7666667+00:00

I do have an older laptop (W10) that I use, but pretty rarely. I'm not too concerned about that one.

My W11 computer that I turned off earlier is still in private network profile and network discovery is on.

I found event viewer but have no idea what to do with it. What am I looking for?

Explicit file shares? Not sure what you mean by that.

I have NEVER been able to connect to the Win11 computer from the Win10 computer. The Win11 computer OCCASIONALLY shows up in list of computers under the network setting but I haven't once been able to connect to it.
Michael Taylor 58,451 Reputation points

2025-03-27T13:55:57.39+00:00
File shares are what makes your Network clicking work. Behind the scenes Windows , historically, automatically creates "admin" shares for your drives named driveletter$. So for your C drive you have an admin shared called C$. This is what allows you to browse the file system from another computer. However, as the name implies, this is really for administrative use only and only admins can use it by default. Since you are probably and admin on your own machine it would work naturally by default.

However admin shares are a security vulnerability as anybody could gain access to your file system remotely if they can get your admin credentials. Win11 and newer OSes are starting to lock things down. My gut instinct is that you cannot connect from Win10 to Win11 because you don't have access to the admin shares anymore, for security reasons.

A quick way to test this is to create a file share so you can access it from Win10. Do the following on your Win11 machine.

Open File Explorer

Select a folder (or drive) that you want to share. Note that you don't want to use anything that is per-user such as your Documents directory. You also don't want to share system directories. If you want to have "full" access to the drive then share the drive itself.

Right click the folder (or drive) and select Properties.

Go to the Sharing tab.

Click on the Share button. IN the top section is a drop down list of all the accounts on the machine. Select the user(s) you want to have access or use Everyone to grant everyone access (this is a security risk FYI).

Once the user is added to the list then you can set the permissions (read, write, etc).

Click the share button to turn on the share.

Now go to your Win10 machine and go to the Network tab, find your computer and the new share should show up. Clicking on it should trigger a login prompt where you need to provide credentials for the account on the WIn11 machine you are trying to use.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-27T14:35:39.3633333+00:00

I went through the steps above ( I already knew how to do those steps and I've gone through them several times already). You won't be surprised to hear that I got the following message: Windows cannot access 'directory name'. You do not have permission to access. Contact your network admin to request access.

FYI. I am the ONLY person who uses these computers. I am the ONLY person on my network and my wifi. I assume I am the admin on these computers.

I have mentioned before that it's 2025. This should not be an issue anymore.

Thanks
Michael Taylor 58,451 Reputation points

2025-03-27T14:51:36.48+00:00

OK, if you are seeing the file share then networking is working correctly. Are you actually able to connect to the share and then get the error when trying to view the contents or is it failing to create the share?

File sharing is a 2 step security process. The file share itself determines who can access the share and whether they have read or write access. Once you're past that then NTFS permissions kick in. So even if you have read file share access, unless NTFS also grants you read permissions you won't be able to read anything. That is the error it seems you're getting now. Temporarily grant (on Win11) the Everyone group permissions to read the folder you shared using the Security tab of the Properties group. Then try connecting again.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-27T14:59:47.8666667+00:00

When I click on the name of the folder I want to access, I get the message I gave you above. So I can't get any farther than that messsage.

I chose 'everyone'. That's what I always choose.
Michael Taylor 58,451 Reputation points

2025-03-28T13:26:05.93+00:00

At this point I'm out of ideas. I believe the issue is a simple permissions issue between your Win10 and Win11 accounts. It could be at the share level or at the NTFS level. I'm able to communicate between Win11 and older Win10 machines so there isn't a fundamental issue in Win11 that prevents this from working. But I always use local accounts for this so not sure if that is the difference here.

Maybe someone else can provide you better guidance.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-28T13:47:09.37+00:00

Thanks for all your help. I've given up too for now. I can't spend any more time on this. As an FYI, my W11 computer connected with my W10 computer for about one hour last night, then the connection went away again.

This is an issue that really shouldn't be an issue in 2025. Microsoft is failing in a big way.

Again, thanks for reading all of this and for your help.
Michael Taylor 58,451 Reputation points

2025-03-28T13:53:09.04+00:00

If you're able to connect for a little while then the issue may be with persistence. You should consider creating a mapped drive (Network -> Map network drive) but ensure you select the option to reconnect at login. This will persist the mapped drive, and connection, across logins.

But beyond that I'm not sure why it would be fine one minute and broken the next.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-28T14:29:46.3533333+00:00

I just ran Network Troubleshooter on my W10 computer and believe it or not, for the first time, I can connect to the W11 from the W10. My previous connections have only been from W11 to W10. I now have a two way connection. Who knows how long this will last but it's progress.
BobinOhio 0 Reputation points

2025-03-28T14:37:06.7566667+00:00

Well, that didn't last long. To test this out, I rebooted my W11 and now the connection is gone again.

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Can't connect new laptop with other computers on my home network

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