Previously, I wrote an article on how to setup and configure a Windows 7 HomeGroup. It’s a fairly straight-forward process and most people will not have issues getting it to work. However, as with any complicated feature of Windows, things can go wrong!
One of the main problems is that people simply cannot join a Windows 7 computer to a HomeGroup! HomeGroups are different than workgroups because they are supposed to make networking between Windows 7 computers super simple. Workgroups are what you had to use to share data between Vista and XP computers.
In this article, I will try to exhaustively go through all the different reasons why you may not be able to access your HomeGroup. If your problem is not solved below, post a comment and I’ll try to help you.
IPv6 Must Be Enabled
In order for to use the new Windows 7 HomeGroup feature, you have to make sure that IPv6 is enabled. You can check to see if IPv6 is enabled on your computer, click on Start and type in Network into the search box. Then click on Network and Sharing Center.
Then click on Change adapter settings in the left hand pane of the dialog:
Finally, right-click on your network connection and choose Properties. Here you should see Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) and Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) in the list and they should both be checked.
Note that sometimes the registry setting does not get updated even though you enable IPv6 via the GUI interface. So you can check the setting in the registry by going to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters
In the right pane, right-click on DisabledComponents and select Modify. Make sure the value is set to 0. If it’s set to anything else like FF, IPv6 was turned off.
Connected to Same Network
Though this might sound obvious, you need to make sure the computer is connected to the same network the HomeGroup is on. Only computers on the same subnet will be able to connect to the HomeGroup, so if you have a wireless router, it would only be the computers connected to that router.
You can check if your computers are on the same network by going to the command prompt and typing in IPCONFIG. The first 3 parts of the IP Address should be the same, i.e. 192.168.0.x or 10.0.1.x.
HomeGroup Password
Make sure that the HomeGroup password has not changed. You can check the HomeGroup password on another computer and then use that one to join the HomeGroup.
You can find the HomeGroup password by going to Control Panel and opening HomeGroup. Then click on View or print the HomeGroup password.
If you need to, change the HomeGroup password on the computer you are trying to connect to the HomeGroup.
Firewalls
Make sure any third-party firewalls are disabled like Comodo, etc. Sometimes anti-virus programs also come bundled with firewall software like Norton, McAfee Security and Kaspersky. These program can block the connections and prevent you from connecting to a HomeGroup.
Turn on Network Discovery
Make sure that Network Discovery is enabled on your Windows 7 PC. You can do this by going to Control Panel, then Network and Sharing Center, and clicking on Change advanced sharing settings in the left pane.
Make sure that the Turn on network discovery radio button is selected. It should be on by default, but if someone changed your settings, this could also cause the problem.
Synchronize Clocks
Go to each computer and make sure that all the clocks are showing the correct time. If the clocks are not synchronized, the HomeGroup feature will not work. If your computer is connected to the Internet, it should automatically pick up the correct time.
The only occasion where it would not is if you are in a domain, then the clocks should be synchronized to the domain controller. You may have to check the time server settings if that is not the case.
Windows 7 Services
In order for the HomeGroup networking feature to be working, there are certain Windows services that need to be enabled and running. If you used a program to disable services or manually disabled them, it may be causing the problem.
The services that need to be turned on are listed below:
- DNS Client
- Function Discovery Provider Host
- Function Discovery Resource Publication
- Peer Networking Grouping
- HomeGroup Provider
- HomeGroup Listener
- SSDP Discovery
- UPnP Device Host
You can turn on the services by clicking on Start and typing in “services” and then clicking on Services.
In the Services dialog, double-click on the service and make sure the Startup type is set to Automatic and click Start to turn on the service.
Set Network Location to Home
Another reason why you can’t access your HomeGroup is because it only works for home networks where you trust all the computers. If, for some reason, you chose Work, Public, or Domain, then HomeGroups will not work.
You can check this by going to Network and Sharing center and looking under Network. If it’s not set to Home network, you can change it by clicking on the link and choosing the new network location.
Router Supports IPv6
This is pretty much not an issue anymore, but just for the sake of covering all bases, you need to make sure that your router can support IPv6 protocol. If not, Windows 7 cannot communicate with the other computers using HomeGroup. Any relatively new router will support it, so unless you have a really old router, you should be ok.
If you tried all of this and still can’t connect to a HomeGroup, post a comment and I will see if I can help. Enjoy!
New instructions from F-Secure about how to configure their firewall for HomeGroup. Works with Vista Workgroup, too:
f-secure.com/en/web/home_global/support/article/kba/15216/s/is.1322/k/homegroup/p/1
I have a Netgear WNDR3700 with a hard wired PC and wirelessly connected laptop. I have been using homegroup for some time now with no problems, as I have Kaspersky Internet Security 2010, but all of a sudden a few days ago the problems started. Now when I try and access a shared folder from the laptop on my PC, it says that the network path is unavailable. I have not changed (knowingly) anything on the network, i.e. hardware or settings.
I have tried a number of fixes including those above, factory resetting the router, removing and setting up HomeGroup again (from both terminals), disabling the KIS firewall in both locations. I have checked all of the IPv6 settings, assigned static IP addresses for the connected devices, re-applied all of the sharing settings for each folder. I kept getting an error message saying the network path was not found, but now I am getting Error Code: 0x800704cf "The network location cannot be reached. For info about network troubleshooting, see Windows help." Any ideas?
Hi – I am having this problem on my two windows 7 computers. I had to reinstall windows on one computer, and since then, this computer hasn't been able to join the homegroup. I left the homegroup on both computers, and neither one is detecting it, but neither one can create a new one – I get the message "Windows cannot set up a homegroup on this computer".
I have tried all the steps above – the homegroup did work before I reinstalled Windows. Thanks.
My homegroup has been working fine between two PCs and a laptop, until this weekend when I got a new router. Now nothing is working. Any help is appreciated!
I have tried everything you suggest above to connect to HG. Both of my computers connect individually and give me their own password, but neither sees the other so I don't get the opportunity to enter the password. I have tried 2 different routers, same problem.
I have three laptops, all with Windows 7 Ultimate. All can connect to the Homegroup as I created on the only desktop that has a printer, but one cannot print. It can see the printer but it won't download the driver or says it cannot find it. Then, it fails to install the printer.
I followed all your suggestions in this article, but the bottom line, no printing.
I have a desktop and two laptops running Windows 7. HomeGroup is enabled and all 3 computers and connect to the desktop and 1 laptop. But the one laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate, while it can access the other laptop and the desktop, they cannot access it's files.
The desktop runs Windows 7 Professional and the other laptop runs Home Premium. How can I fix this?
I bought two new Win7 boxes at the same time. I tried every strategy I could find and that various tech support people could suggest to implement printer sharing through a HomeGroup. I could create HomeGroups on both boxes but neither box could see the other so neither was allowed to join the HomeGroup.
I finally tumbled to the fact that the retailer (or maybe Win7) had given both boxes the same name, "Owner." Two computers with the same name cannot be in a HomeGroup together! This may be obvious to some but it sure wasn't on anybody's troubleshooting checklist.
Hi. My PC (home network) can recognize my laptop and its folders but cannot open them. My laptop on the other hand can get full access and control to folders shared by my PC. I have tried everything here. What's bugging me is that I have a Norton Netbook internet security and I tried turning off the firewall managed by it. Yet, I had no luck. What to do?
Thanks. ^^
I have a laptop and a desktop both connected wirelessly via a Thomson TG782T modem/router. Both run windows 7 ultimate version 6.1.76. I am at a loss trying to get homegroup to work. I have followed all the firewall settings contained in Microsoft's "Homegroup and Firewall Interaction." I have checked every service mentioned in this web site and others. I have checked IPV6 etc. I have tried with windows firewall and AVG free both disabled. I can ping each computer successfully. I have run "ipconfig /all" but can't see any problems.
My current status is:
Home group – both computers can see each other but cannot access any of the shared libraries.
Network – both computers can see each other and can access files. my printer is shared (from my desktop) and works OK.
Can you help me?
Hi, Followed your instructions above, but have a problem with Peer Networking Grouping. l can change it to automatic, but when l try and change it to start, I get error 1068, the dependency service or group failed to start.
Can you please advise?
Many thanks,
Keith
My computers can both see one another. When I set up the homegroup, it says joined and the other computer says ready to job, but when I enter the password, it just keeps searching then says it encountered a problem and the troubleshooter doesn't help any. I don't understand what the problem can be. They BOTH see one another, they just won't hook up!
I tried everything. I have a PC and a laptop, both running windows 7. I'll take the password the PC gives me, go to my laptop, and there is no place to join a homegroup. It just gives me another password. I've disabled the firewall, tried everything (I think) and, still, all I get is a different password from each computer.
Help, please.
Hi. Thanks for the great article which explains a lot. I've got my Homegroup set up, but I don't understand how to set permission folders/libraries. Here's my problem:
* I have a desktop and a laptop which can see each other (fine)
* However, all users can see my libraries by default — not what I want
* I would expect to be able to change permissions on folders to "Share with… A specific user", then state that I just want to share it with my own username (which is the same on both computers)
* However, it only seems to make it available to Desktop/username; it seems to treat Laptop/username as a different user, and there's no option to add my other username in, as far as I can see.
Seems crazy that Windows has made it really easy to share my personal files with the whole world, but not to share it with just myself!
Hello.
I've been trying to network 2 computers via a cross over cable. One has Win 7 Ultimate and the other has Win XP. I am on dial-up, too. I've tried practically every fix I could find online but none work. I can't change it to home work or public. It's saying "unidentified network" and below that it says "work network." I haven't been able to change that to any thing else. I've been trying for about 3 days now. I am about to toss this darn thing out in the burning barrel.
If you can help me step-by-step, that would at least stop me from pulling what grays out that I have left.
My peer Networking Grouping is stopped and will not start. Please help.
Also view or print the homegroup password is grayed out.
Please help me.
Thanks.
I have three computers. One is wireless; two are cat5. The one that is wired connected no problem. The wireless laptop will not connect. It seems to be something with the router. I have a Belkin f6d4230 v1.
Any help would be appreciated. I did not see anything in the router that would block it.
That did not work. My wired desktop Windows 7 can not join a Homegroup, yet I can exchange files with the other computers. Fine. But, I cannot get a printer to work under any circumstances – either local or network. It was working local until I networked. What is odd is that the wireless connected laptop is on network "RexCity" and the desktop is on "Network 2," but they have the same Ipconfig 192.168.1.x.
If I could just uninstalll all the networks and get a local printer to work, that would be a start.
Is there an easy way to turn on logging so you can actually get an error message related to whatever's failing?
(I have 3 computers – one running Win 7 64-bit Ultimate, one running Win 7 64-bit Premium – wireless, and one running Win 7 32-bit Ultimate.)
The two 64-bit computers talk fine, the 32-bit computer sees the Homegroup, but won't actually join it.
I just migrated to Win7x64 and I am using ZASS. I have set up Homegroup on two laptops (win7 x64 Home Premium) and one desktop (win7 x64 Professional). Homegroup seems to work with the two laptops; I can access and modify files. On the desktop, I can access the two laptops and modify files. However, I cannot access the desktop from either laptop.
I had 6 computers, (2 desktops and 4 laptops/netbooks) all connected to Homegroup trying to share a printer. It worked for 3 or 4 days. Now nothing will print. I've removed printer, added printer, made sure the host computer that had the printer attached was on and not asleep, everything I could think of. Needed to be able to print so took my desktop back off Homegroup and set up printer to just print directly for now. So frustrating to have had this set up and working fine, made NO changes that I'm aware of, and it just stopped working. Gee…
FYI in comment earlier: I left out the fact that ALL 6 computers are running Windows 7.
3 computers all running windows 7. Two would join the homegroup. The third was on the homegroup, but then decided to be stupid.
I tried reviewing all the different settings. Finally, I just power cycled the router, and then everything worked fine.
I had a pc on my network that hosted the homegroup but it died and I got rid of it. Now all the machines on my system say that the homegroup is hosted by that computer. How can I kill all references to that machine and create a new homegroup?
Have all your existing computers 'Leave the Homegroup' and then start a new Homegroup. All these options are found in the HomeGroup settings area.
Thanks for this posting and to hvitie!. What solved the problem for me was this great advice from hvitie as I also use F-Secure Internet Security (2011):
hvitie Said,
January 26th, 2010 @12:09 pm
I use F-Secure Internet Security 2010. Homegroup started to work when I set IPv6 filtering to “Normal” in firewall settings.
I think I have tried these but I still can't get Homegroup to work. I am trying to connect wired and wireless. When both are wired it works with no problem but once I go wireless my computer can't find the homegroup. Not sure what's wrong. IPv6 has no internet connection on both computers though. I just bought my router a few months ago so it should support it. Not sure what's wrong.
Hi,
I have a diffarent problem. I use usb wimax dongle for connecting to internet on desktop which is running windows 7 ultimate. I have a Belkin 54G router and now I use that as an access poin and share the usb wimax to my HP laptot running windows 7 ultimate also and with Nokia N900 running Maemo 5 (Linux). Everything is going fine as all of my devices are getting internet connection flawlessly. Now I need to transfer files between desktop and laptop and I created Homegroup on desktop. My laptop can see Homegroup and gave me option to join but when I try to join, it says "Windows cannot create Homegroup on this computer" after giving password for homegroup. It would be very helfull if you could give me a clear step by step procedure. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this article!
By my own fault the homegroup was not working. I had to reduce some compontents out of the normal Win 7 installation package by using vLite. Stupidly i also removed the Peer to Peer component. Hence i didn't have the required P2P service available. Thanks to this, i figured out what the problem is. Well done!
I have two desktops, one running 7 Ultimate and one running 7 Professional. The one that created the homegroup (the one with Pro), can't see the 7 Ultimate one, but the 7 Ultimate one can see the 7 Professional one. All my settings are set right, I went through your suggestions one by one, and I can't seem to get the one machine to see the other. I'm doing SOMETHING right because one of them works!
Any idears?
Thanks!
I have 3 w7 cpu's on a wireless network. 2 work just fine through the "homegroup". The 3rd can open files on the other 2 but the other 2 can't open files on the third even though the files are visible. When trying to open these files through "homegroup", nothing happens, but when trying to open through the "workgroup", a user/password are requested and no user/password combination works. Can someone please help?
All was working well through "homegroup" about 2 weeks ago and no changes were made since then—it just won't work now and I have tried everything above. The first 2 cpus are still working well.
Ensure that your Computers' names are not the same. If so, change the name of one of them; then create a new homegroup in one of the devices from the beginning. To do right click on Computer icon, Properties, Advanced system settings, Computer name, Change; then restart the device.
ive already connected my pc to another pc's thats run win7 and share files and printer over them ..but when i restart one of them …homegroup is disapear and i have to create a homegroup again ..but if all pc's in sleep mode ..it will be okay ??? how can i fix it ?
Thanks a ton – enabling several services that were stopped did the trick, this gotcha was not mentioned on several other sites but it totally did the trick for me!
When i try to access files from my desktop to the laptop, or vice versa in homegroup, I get this message:"windows cannot access laptopc (from desktop). You do not have permission to access laptopc. Contact network administrator to request access. Both computers can get online.When I first installed Win7 last year, the homegroup sharing worked fine.Thanks
My homegroup is perfectly working but it stops working for a minute or two after restart it again works what may be the reason
Asseem,
I am sure since it’s so long you may have abandoned this topic. I hope not. I do not have the following in my regestry In the right pane, DisabledComponents. What I do have is: (Default), Dhcpv6DUID, and EnabeICSIPv6. None of these have anything like you suggest when I select MODIFY. However, the latter does have the #1 in the Value data field of Edit DWORD Value. Should that be changed to 0?
I’m one of the ‘simply doens’t work’ group of users. I have no problems creating and seeing all my computers in the WorkGroup. However, whenever I try to open the library folders on any of the computers to view the available files therein, I just get a ‘beep’ in response, and the folders won’t open. No error messages are generated. Again, I have no difficulties creating or seeing the members of the HomeGroup, I just can’t get access to any files. I’ve tried various suggestions on the net, to no avail. Crazy! The two computers are brand new Windows 7 HP Laptops, set up on a DLink wireless router, through the router configured as an ‘Access Point.’
I'm running Windowns 7 Ultimate 64 bit on the PC I created the homegroup on. I just bought a new laptop running Windows 7 Home 64 bit. When I click on the homegroup option all it says is "create a homegroup". There's no "join now" or anything. I had to change some of the services to "on" and automatic and then I restarted my computer. Still nothing. I've done everything this guide recommended and nothing. On my PC the homegroup is fine so I can't figure out what the problem is.Also I'm not getting any messages at all
all service started, different names on each computer, tried both wired & wireless,but when I try to join the homegroup on the laptop, I type the password and after about 5-10 minutes get the following error:
HomeGroup – Windows cannot start a homegroup on this computer.
After trying above said method also … It dint work….. Problem is with the Antivirus (In my case was using the Nod32 which used to block connectivity for Homegroup) On uninstalling the antivirus it gave a option to join the network before I could restart after uninstalling !! Not an issue with the Windows7 home group. =)
After Uninstalling… Home group was available to JOIN =)
mine is strange I am in the same subnet, I am in the same workgroup, using dhcp. I can see the other computer I can actually access it now but I can not join the homegroup it just times out. Through different configurations of trying I am back now to the exclamation saying no internet access even though I am sending it from this. I have during times had that go away but through so much troubleshooting it keeps coming back. I am not new to networking, I was an Network administrator for years I retired before Win 7 though
after all this I still get the error that windows cannot set up a homegroup on this computer, 2 win 7, 1 win xp x64 that I am not going to add to the home group, both win 7 see ea other but I still get the message. any and all help is appreciated Thanks
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesTcpip6Parameters
In the right pane, right-click on DisabledComponents and select Modify. Make sure the value is set to 0. If it’s set to anything else like FF, IPv6 was turned off.
Could not find the value….Where could it be?
I changed the name of user but it did not change in the homegroup. How do I change it in homegroup?
I have tried everything you suggest above to connect to HG. Both of my computers connect individually and give me their own password, but neither sees the other so I don’t get the opportunity to enter the password. I have a lan connected pc and laptop via router…
i have a question about this setting up home-group. i have 2 computer both win7 now the new computer can see the old one but i can’t get it to work on the old one. the old computer is using htc tethering to push internet thru Belkin router thru a bridged network on the old computer. my error say im not on a home network. is it possible that using a tether line and bridging, windows read it as a non-home network
I just bought an Acer laptop and I am trying to connect the homegroup. My desktop recognizes the laptop, but the laptop doesn’t recognize the homegroup on the desktop. I have tried all of your suggestions. My router is a new ASUS 2.4/5.0 GHz router. Both computers are running Windows 7 64-bit. Kaspersky Internet Security firewall is set to Local Network on both machines.