An apparently simple task, you would think?  Despite extensive Googling{tm} I can't make it work 😞

 

Following instructions, I've Shared a folder on the Win10 PC.  I've tried to add the Win7 laptop as a sharer but despite following the syntax - \\<name of win7 pc>\<name of win7 pc user> Win10 keeps telling me it can't see win7pc.  I've also checked in win10 network neighbourhood and whilst I can see the win7pc and even win7pc\user I can't connect to either.

 

Help!

 

Just put the folder in a cloud account?

Make sure windows firewall has the options ticked for filesharing on the host, also make sure the network type is set to private, if it's public it'll not let sharing happen.

If you've shared the folder on the win10 pc then you'll need to point the win7pc to that (so \\<win10pc>\sharedfolder on the win7 pc)

Might also be worth checking that the username and password on both pcs is the same, or if they're different then make an account on the win10 pc that's the same as the account on the win7 pc.  You don't need to use it, you just need it to be on there and have access to the shared folder.

On 23/06/2022 at 21:42, MikeTheThinker said:

Win10 keeps telling me it can't see win7pc.

I think, if I'm reading correctly, that you're trying to access a folder on the Windoze 10 machine from the older Windoze 7? If so, that may be your issue; Windoze 7 doesn't actually know that Windoze 10 even exists as a thing.

Two PC, one running W7 and another running W10. Close to each other- just run a CAT5 with reversals on the send/recieve pairs. Within WIFI RANGE, USE WIFI. On same PC- I have two partitions on same HDD, one for W10 and another for XP, with a separate HDD as a store ( all set up in NTFS).

I just have a NAS drive connected via Ethernet to a port on the router; this can be accessed by my W8.1 PC, W11 tablet, macOS MacBook and iOS iPhone.

Hi,

 

The info by @dreema below is sound advice,  Follow that and you'll be well on your way.

 

On 03/07/2022 at 07:55, dreema said:

Make sure windows firewall has the options ticked for filesharing on the host, also make sure the network type is set to private, if it's public it'll not let sharing happen.

If you've shared the folder on the win10 pc then you'll need to point the win7pc to that (so \\<win10pc>\sharedfolder on the win7 pc)

Might also be worth checking that the username and password on both pcs is the same, or if they're different then make an account on the win10 pc that's the same as the account on the win7 pc.  You don't need to use it, you just need it to be on there and have access to the shared folder.

 

Some clarification though please:

 

You say you are trying to access a share on the windows 10 machine, but the information you provided indicates that you are then trying to connect from the Windows 10 machine back to the windows 7 machine?  Which way round are you trying to go?

 

Assuming you are trying to access a shared folder on the windows 10 machine from the windows 7 machine, the information below is all based on that, if it is the other way round, then swap the details around.

 

You say that the windows 10 machine can see the windows 7 machine, that'g good, but it looks like the windows 7 machine can't see the windows 10 machine?  I'm assuming this is in network neighbourhood.

 

I would check that they can talk to each other by pinging between them.  Bring up a command prompt (It'll be in something like Start, Programs, Windows Administrative Tools, or just enter "cmd" in the run box). 

 

Type "ping nameofwindows7machine" from the windows 10 machine, and "ping nameofwindows10machine" from the windows 7 machine (without the ""'s)

 

You should see 4 good ping responses. 

 

If you get "Ping request could not find host X." then you have a DNS issue so cannot talk between them using the windows hostnames, in this case, you'd need to find the IPAddress of the windows 10 machine.  In the same command prompt, type "ipconfig" (again without the quotes) and you should see something like:

 

Ethernet adapter blah blah (or Wifi adapter blah blah):

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::xxxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx%57
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.4
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :192.168.0.1

 

The IPv4 address is what you are after, ping those from the alternate machines (so ping the Win7 IP from Win10 and vice versa).

 

If you then get 4 good responses from each machine, use the IP in the share name \\IPofwindows10machine\networksharename and try that.

 

Another thing that can trip people up is NTFS permissions.  Creating the share will grant access to the share, but not the file system underneath.  You also have to grant the windows7 user (as dreema suggested, if it doesn't exist, create it on the windows 10 machine) access to the folder via the Security tab in the properties for the <name of win7 pc user> folder that you have shared on the Windows 10 machine.

 

Hopefully this will all set you on the right path to sorting it out.

 

Stephen.