Network error message - Windows cannot access \\[computer]. You do not have permission...

Question

All the computers on my home network have access to each other except one which can access the others but is inaccessible to all of them.  They get the "Windows cannot access \" error message when they click on it in network file explorer.  The problem arose a month or so after I installed a new Linksys router a couple of years ago.  Since then, I have made all the recommended changes in various services under services.msc and made sure that both SMB 1.0 client and server are checked  under Windows features.  However, nothing has worked.

A laptop on the network does have access to a single folder on the inaccessible computer in two ways.  One is via mapping and the other via a specific program that uses the files in that folder.  Right after I changed the router and before the inaccessible computer abruptly became inaccessible, I used that program on the laptop to access the files on the presently inaccessible one.  Even after the inaccessible one became inaccessible, the laptop's program was able to access those files via its own File/Open choice.  Moreover, after the other one became inaccessible, I was able to map a drive to it, and the mapped drive still works.  However, since then I have been unable to map to any other drives on the inaccessible one from any other computer on the network, including the laptop.

Any suggestions?  Thanks.

Answer 1

To compound the confusion, I checked the services settings on the Windows computer on my network which responds most quickly and most reliably.  It is about 10 years old.  All of the services mentioned in the post are set at Manual!

Answer 2

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that you are facing issues while accessing PC over the network. I will certainly try my best to assist you with the issue.

I would suggest you to check advanced sharing settings and see if the sharing settings are configured correctly. You can refer the article File sharing over a network in Windows 10

If you have any third party antivirus installed, please try disabling it and see if you’re able to access the PC.

Note: If you disable the security software or firewall, the system might be temporarily exposed to security threats and risks. Please make sure to turn it on after performing the steps.

In addition, you may want to refer the suggestions by Roohi_Taj replied on January 8, 2019

Let us know how it goes, if the issue persists, we will certainly assist you further.

Regards,

Prakhar Khare

Microsoft Community – Moderator

Answer 3

More information - I am, in fact, able to map drives and folders on the inaccessible computer from the other network computers.  I just cannot access those drives and folders from the other computers using File Explorer.

Answer 4

Thanks.  As I have worked on this problem in the past, I  have done everything you suggested and everything Roohi_Taj suggested without any success.