Cannot see shared computer in network and sharing center

Local area networks is one of the most powerful features available in modern computing that allow to share movies or music or data files across all the devices in your home or office. The network can be set  up for a server, share printers and scanners or just to share files among computers.

When the computers are connected together in a network you can see the computer which has shared folders in network and sharing center.

However a common problem is the inability of one computer to see shared folders on another computer or vice versa.

Usually the common causes of it is the incorrect setup.

Once the sharing has been set up you should be able to access the shared folders from another computer. Open Windows Explorer, select Network from the left pane, select the file and log in using your credentials.

However if you still cannot see the shared computer perform these checks.

1.    Make sure your computers are using the same network and IP version, i.e. IPx4 or IPx6. Most home networks use IPv4.

2.    Make sure Network discovery is enabled on all computers and make sure all the setting is the same in all computers.

3.    Make sure File and Printer sharing is enabled on all computers.

4.    Toggle Turn on password protected sharing to off and retest.

5.    Make sure you are logging in using the same account you entered when you added users to Share with.

6.    If you use Windows Defender firewall, open the Firewall app, select Allowed apps and ensure File and printer Sharing is allowed to pass.

7.    Make sure computer description is not empty. Check the computer description in system properties. 

 

For Win10 open Setting\System\About\Rename this PC in the middle.

For more info check at www.alphr.com/cannot-see-shared-folders-windows/

BCD (Boot Configuration Data) - How to set boot entry

Windows Boot Manager (BOOTMGR) is a utility that boots operating systems. If you have several operating systems, you can enable Windows Boot Manager when the computer boots and then select the target operating system.

To add more operating systems to the boot manager refer to How to Multi-Boot Two or More Versions of Windows

Boot manager started since Windows 7. This is how the Windows 7 boot manager looks like.

The boot manager has changed its look since Windows 8 and beyond.

When a new operating system has been added, the computer will start booting from the new boot manager of the latest operating system. The default boot entry will be set to the new operating system also (refer diagram below). If it is necessary to reset the boot manager back to the previous operating system.

How to set default boot entry

I am using Windows 7 as the 1st and Windows 10 as the 2nd booting option.

I prefer to use Windows 7 as the default boot manager because Windows 10 is used as software test platform. Sometimes it is necessary to reinstall Windows 10 again because some test software might corrupt the Windows 10. 

Below is the example to set the default boot manager back to Windows 7

www.backupassist.com/blog/how-to-fix-boot-issues-with-bcdboot

Make sure Windows 7 is the current running operating system. 

Open the command prompt and run as administrator. Run diskpart. Find out which volume belongs to Windows 7. For this case the Windows 7 volume is 'E'. Exit diskpart and type "bcdboot e:\windows" than enter. Now command prompt should show message "boot files successfully created".

How to remove boot entry

docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/bcdedit

BCDEdit – Guide for Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10

BCDEdit is a command-line tool for managing BCD stores and the primary tool for editing the boot configuration of Windows Vista and later versions of Windows. It is included with the Windows Vista distribution in the %WINDIR%\System32 folder

Administrative privileges are required to use BCDEdit to modify BCD.

Syntax

bcdedit /command [<argument1>] [<argument2>] ...

Open the command prompt and run as administrator. Type "bcdedit" without argument is to list the computer's current BCD configuration.

To delete a boot entry type "bcdedit /delete {identifier}"

To delete a boot entry in Windows 

How to add a new operating system to the boot manager

Insert a bootable Pendrive or DVD of the Windows version to install and restart the computer. Let it boot from the external device.

Choose all the default setting when prompted until the selection of Windows installation type. Then choose Custom - New installation and select the partition to install the Windows. Wait for the installation to be completed.

Note: After the installation the computer will use the boot manager of the latest Windows.

How to add an existing Windows to the boot manager

Boot into the default Windows, open the command prompt, run as administrator, Type "bcdedit /copy" to make a copy of the current boot entry.

Type "bcdedit /copy {current} /d "Windows name" and then pressing the "Enter" key. 

The new boot entry will be added to the boot manager. Type "bcdedit" again without any parameter to see a list of boot entry. The new boot entry is still boot to the current Windows, ie partition C:. Take note on the new identifier, device, description and osdevice . Use /set to change the setting in the new boot entry to boot from the target Windows. For example, if the target Windows is in partition K, change the device and osdevice to "partition=K:".

bcdedit /set {identifier} device partition=K:

bcdedit /set {identifier} osdevice partition=K:

bcdedit /set {identifier} description "Windows 10 Pro x64"

Restart the computer. The new boot entry should work now. 

System Reserved partition - Space not enough

What Is the System Reserved Partition and Can You Delete It?

Windows 7, 8, and 10 create a special “System Reserved” partition when you install them on a clean disk. Windows doesn’t normally assign a drive letter to these partitions, so you’ll only see them when you use Disk Management or similar utility.

The System Reserved partition contains two important things:

• The Boot Manager and Boot Configuration Data: When your computer starts, the Windows Boot Manager reads the boot data from the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) Store. Your computer starts the boot loader off of the System Reserved partition, which in turn starts Windows from your system drive.

The System Reserved partition consumes 100 MB of space on Windows 7, 350 MB of space on Windows 8, and 500 MB of space on Windows 10.

During the new Windows installation when the target partition has enough disk space but the Windows keep refusing to install because it claim the system space is not enough, reboot to the working Windows, ie Windows 7, and shrink the Windows partition or any partition by 500MB then add extra size to the system reserved partition. Now the installation should works fine.

Link for more info about Windows Boot Manager

www.reneelab.com/enable-or-disable-windows-boot-manager.html

www.howtogeek.com/howto/32523/how-to-manually-repair-windows-7-boot-loader-problems/

www.backupassist.com/blog/how-to-fix-boot-issues-with-bcdboot