HomeGroup asking for "Network Password" when accessing HomeGroup Computers

Anonymous
2010-04-12T13:15:22+00:00

I've noticed this in the past week or so.  Up until then, my HomeGroup has been working fine.

I have 2 Windows 7 PC's connected via HomeGroup, one running Ultimate x64, the other running Home Premium x64.  The Home Premium computer is now asked for a "Network Password" when accessing the Ultimate computer's shared folders/libraries.  This was not an issue prior to last week.  Up until a week ago, I could simply click on my HomeGroup from the Home Premium computer, then click the Ultimate computer name as it appears within the HomeGroup, and finally click one of the shared folders/libraries and it would open the folder/library.

Settings are,

  • Advanced Network and Sharing Options are all set to default on both including Let Windows Manage HomeGroup Connections.
  • Network location is set to home on each.
  • HomeGroup password is the same on each.
  • Credential Manager shows [Computer Name]\HomeGroupUser$, correct password, and the persistence is Local Machine on each.
  • Both computers are connected wirelessly using 802.11g via a Linksys WRT400N router, each using a dynamic (DHCP) IP address.

Consequently, I can access the Home Premium's shared folders/libraries from the Ultimate computer using HomeGroup without being prompted for a "Network Password".  I can access the internet from each computer without any issues.

I have tried leaving the HomeGroup on each computer, recreated the HomeGroup on each, deleted the IDStore.sst files on each, all to no avail.  Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

ZZaR

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Internet and connectivity

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Anonymous
2010-04-13T06:24:38+00:00

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

ZZaR

Well, I seem to have possibly stumbled upon something that may have resolved my issue, at least for the time being.  This morning, I renamed my Home Premium computer's full name by removing 1 character from the existing name.  Of course, I was prompted to reboot for the changes to take effect.  I rebooted and then on the next subsequent logon, I renamed my Home Premium computer's full name back to what it was originally.  Again, I was prompted to reboot for the changes to take effect.  After rebooting, I clicked on my HomeGroup and from there I clicked on my Ultimate computer that appears within my HomeGroup.  To my surprise, the shared library icons were restored to their default appearance; documents, music, pictures, and video.  I clicked on each of the four libraries and each opened with full access (default read only) to the contents of each library.  I was not prompted for a "Network Password" this time!

If renaming the full computer name of my Home Premium computer twice, once to a new name and then back to the original name did somehow correct the issue, would this mean that the share using the full computer name had somehow become corrupt in the preceding week?  Could this be the reason for the "Network Password" prompt?  At any rate, my HomeGroup is once again functioning correctly between both my Ultimate and Home Premium computers.  Knock on wood.

ZZaR

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-08-14T22:02:08+00:00

    that is an insecure workaround, glad it worked for you.

    But to be clear this issue when not caused by a firewall or mis-configuration is 100% a bug

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-08-14T21:21:52+00:00

    Turning off password required for sharing on both my Win7 and Win8 machines worked fine.

    Thanks!

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-08-05T02:08:15+00:00

    i found out after reading a few suggestions that the reason this seems to happen is in correalation to an anit-virus protection program that usually takes over your firewall and you need to go inside the firewall settings and make a rule (as was in my case using norton) so that i can use incoming and outgoing computer-computer connections)

    Can you be more specific about the firewall settings you changed?  It won't help me directly because I use Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Firewall instead of Norton, but if I know exactly what you changed I may be able to figure out what to change on mine.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-08-05T01:12:09+00:00

    i found out after reading a few suggestions that the reason this seems to happen is in correalation to an anit-virus protection program that usually takes over your firewall and you need to go inside the firewall settings and make a rule (as was in my case using norton) so that i can use incoming and outgoing computer-computer connections)

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