Windows – Why can’t shared folders from Windows 8 be accessed by Windows 7

network-shareswindows 7windows 8

I have a Windows 8.1 installation, in which I'm logged in using my Microsoft account, and I'm trying to share a folder with my workgroup. I open the folder properties, go to advanced sharing, enable the "share this folder" checkbox, and set permissions so that everyone can read.

Then I go to my Windows 7 PC, which is on the same workgroup. Under network, I can see the Windows 8 PC, but when I try to expand it to see the shared folders, I get a Windows cannot access \\WIN8 error.

How can I resolve this?

Best Answer

You've not stated if any network resources are available to Windows 8, but my guess it this issues has something to do with the network setup (Private vs Public). Here is an article which may help you resolve this issue.

Highlights from the article...

If you need access to some files on a remote computer, you only have to enable file sharing. This isn’t as easy as it should be.

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If you play a little with these settings, you will notice that Windows 8 will “lie” to you sometimes when you establish a networking connection. The “Yes, turn on sharing and connect to devices” is only true if “Turn on file and printer sharing” is enabled in the Private network settings and “No, don’t turn on sharing or connect to devices” is only correct if “Turn off file and printer sharing” is enabled in the Guest or Public network settings.

If the network is set to Public and sharing isn't turned on, resources may not be available to network PCs. You will need to change the network to Private.

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