I have two PCs running Windows 7 Ultimate (32bit X86)
I use workgroup sharing and avoid home, office or public. I just want to share my workgroup files, folders and drives and configure my own permissions and security settings from a workgroup and be free of Microsofts way of doing things.
Thus far, I have no problem sharing files, folders or drives between the two, but your problem seems similar to mine.
When I open File Explorer and select "Network" I am missing the icons of the shared computers; hence I cannot double click on them to go to the sub folders that are shared. The explorer view area is blank!
Again, sharing is working, but no icons in "Network". I can type (for example) \OM\OM Office Manager to OA\Desktop and it works. But again... no icons in "Network".
When I right click "Computer" and select "Manage" and go to shares, my shared folders are right there showing all of my setup settings and configurations... but nothing in "Network".
I found a fix for my problem, but I simply want to say that I have probably covered about 200+ websites for the answer. I hate it when I don't know what exactly to type in the search bar and end up on wild goose chases.
Believe me, I have read it all and nothing worked. NOTHING... until I stumbled upon this fantastically simple solution, and I quote:
"Thanks for your reply. I solved it by restarting the 'computer browser service.'"
"COMPUTER BROWSER:
Maintains an updated list of computers on the network and supplies this list to computers designated as browsers. If this service is stopped, this list will not be updated or maintained. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start."
So I Googled it and found this:
"Turning on the Computer Browser service
Websense Setup offers the option to turn on the Computer Browser service during installation of the following components on Windows Server 2008.
*
Websense User Service
*
Websense DC Agent
*
Websense Logon Agent
If you chose not to have it started, or the installer was not successful, you must turn on the service manually.
Perform the following procedure on each machine running an affected component:
1A. Make sure that Windows Network File Sharing is enabled.
1B. Go to Start > Network and click Network and Sharing Center.
1C. Click Advanced Sharing Settings, then select Turn on file and print sharing.
Go to Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services.
Double-click "Computer Browser" to open the Properties dialog box.
Set the Startup type to Manual.
Click Start.
Change the Startup type to Automatic. This ensures that the service is started automatically every time the machine is restarted.
Click OK to save your changes and close the Services dialog box.
Repeat these steps on each machine running Windows Server 2008 and an affected component."
I did not think this would work, but I had tried everything else.
My firewall is disabled.
My router is up to date.
My Drives and everything else is up to date.
Absolutely nothing that anyone can think of worked except the above configs in "services.msc"
So... good luck to someone else, because this was my fix.