"Windows couldn't remove your computer from the homegroup."

I ran sfc sucessfully, but there was no change in the problem.  Also I noted that "Peer Name Resolution Protocol",  "Peer Networking Grouping",  "Peer Networking Identity Manager", and "Homegroup Provider" services are all running, but the "Homegroup Listener" service is not.  When I tried to start the "Homegroup Listener" service , I received the error code -2147467262  (0x80004002)

Mark S. Freeman

I have a laptop and a desktop which were both participaing in a Homegroup. It stopped working, so I tried to "leave the Homegroup" from both machines, intending to recreate it. Standard networking and file sharing is still working. I can see and exchange files the old fashioned way, but Homegroup functionality is not there.  The desktop allowed me to leave the Homegroup, but I receive the "Windows couldn't remove your computer from the homegroup" message on the laptop. The laptop says it is still a member of a Homegroup, but the desktop doesn't see it.  I turned off the laptop, and was able to create a new Homegroup on the desktop, but the laptop doesn't see it, even though it still says it is a member of a Homegroup.  I have network discovery turned on.  I have run the network and homegroup troubleshooters numerous times on both machines. "Peer Name Resolution Protocol", "Peer Networking Grouping", "Peer Networking Identity Manager", and "Homegroup Provider" services are all running on the laptop, but the "Homegroup Listener" service is not. When I tried to start the "Homegroup Listener" service , I received the error code -2147467262 (0x80004002). I ran sfc sucessfully, in case there were any corrupted files, but there was no change in the problem. I have also researched and tried everything I could find on the web, read all of the white papers from Microsoft on Homegroups, and the Windows 7 Resource Kit,  with no sucess. Someone please tell me how I can reset the Homegroup settings on my laptop.

Mark S. Freeman

Hi Mark,

First lets disable the services “HomeGroup Listener” and “HomeGroup Provider” and then try to leave the homegroup from both the computers.

To remove Homegroup (and stop Homegroup networking functionality):

1.    Go to Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> HomeGroup, and click on Leave the homegroup link to unjoin from any existing home group.

Note: If the home group are shared and hosted from the PC, all HomeGroup connections will be disconnected.

2.    Click on Leave the homegroup and confirm.  In the future, if you want to use Homegroup networking you can create a homegroup using this same dialog.

3.    Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools, and double click on Services. Alternatively, type services.msc in Start Search.

4.    For each of the following two services:

HomeGroup ListenerHomeGroup Provider

Do the following:

Stop the service, and then double click on the service to open Properties dialog, and set its Startup type to Disabled. Click OK when done.  In order to reinstate Homegroup functionality in the future, you will want to set the Startup type back to Manual.

5.    The HomeGroup icon and group will no longer be shown in the navigation pane of Windows Explorer in Windows 7.  Note that this does not interrupt "traditional" windows networking functionality (e.g., Map Network Drive).

Refer the following link for more information:

Change HomeGroup settings**http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Change-HomeGroup-settings**

Once both the computers have left the home group, restart both the services and try to initiate the homegroup again and check.

Regards,

Divya R – Microsoft Support.