Two Windows PCs - How Do I Get Them to Talk to Each Other?

[Sir Topham Hatt]

I have two Windows 11 PCs.

They're connected to the same home network.

I have tried this for years but could never get them to reliably "see" each other so I can be on either PC and move files to either PC.

As both are relatively fresh installs, is there a simple step by step guide on how to be able to transfer files to either PC from either PC (or more specific, two particular drives on one PC)?

[Steven P. Administrators]

Open "This PC" then in the left pane click on Network, wait for it to load.. you might get a message about network shares not being enabled and then a yellow bar across the top of File Explorer will appear, click on it and select your preference (just use Private Networking) this will enable File & Printer sharing on that PC.

Go to a folder that you want the other PC to see in File Explorer, right click and select Properties > go to Sharing tab and click on Share > select from the drop down "Everyone" it will now show as a shared folder under Network > Name of your PC > Folder you just shared.

You must enable File and Printer sharing on both PCs in the Network, ensuring you select Private network for both PCs.

It also helps if you sign into these PCs using the same login credentials, but I think when you share to "Everyone" it doesn't matter, the folder will be available only on your LAN, not on the Internet. 

[+Warwagon MVC]

 

[Sir Topham Hatt]

Well:

Connecting from PC 2 to PC 1, I get a "you do not have permission" error.
Connecting from PC 1 to PC 2, I get a box asking me for credentials.  I put in the username / password for PC 2 but it doesn't want to accept it.

I have automatic logging on for both PCs.
I may not have set up PC 2 to allow connections without a username/password, which makes sense why it's asking for one.
Also trying to share a whole hard drive, not just folders on both PCs.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Sir Topham Hatt

[Steven P. Administrators]

Go here: All settings > Network & internet > Advanced network settings > Advanced sharing settings

and ensure both Windows 11 PCs look like this:

You also need to toggle on Public folder sharing in "All networks" to allow everyone access on the local network (it's off by default).

Password protected sharing is the permission that should allow your Microsoft ID that is the same on both computers to give full access to the computer, like when you navigate to \\computer-name\c$

If that did not fix your problem with "you do not have permission"

The simplest solution I can think of right now is to add a new local account on both PCs

PC 1 - new user Topham / setapassword
PC 2 - new user Topham / setapassword

Ensure that you add "full control" for the new Topham user on the folders you shared.

But, if you are logging into both PCs with a Microsoft account, you should be able to use that with the credentials box that pops up (your MS ID email, + password).

[nekrosoft13]

On 13/12/2022 at 04:08, Sir Topham Hatt said:

Well:

Connecting from PC 2 to PC 1, I get a "you do not have permission" error.
Connecting from PC 1 to PC 2, I get a box asking me for credentials.  I put in the username / password for PC 2 but it doesn't want to accept it.

I have automatic logging on for both PCs.
I may not have set up PC 2 to allow connections without a username/password, which makes sense why it's asking for one.
Also trying to share a whole hard drive, not just folders on both PCs.

On windows 10 and 11 they disabled administrative shares... so stuff like C$ doesn't work, unless you edit group policy

 

If you want to share files, you have to know user accounts and passwords on both PCs, setup a folder that you want to share (otherwise only public folder will be accesible)

and in ethernet setting, make sure you have private profile selected, not public.

 

Public is for public places, if you are sitting in mcdonalds for example, sharing of files won't work

private is for home network, if you want to share files and you trust other devices on the network.

[binaryzero]

"On windows 10 and 11 they disabled administrative shares... so stuff like C$ doesn't work, unless you edit group policy" False.

Authenticate with hostname\user, local user accounts don't need to be the same on both machines (that is bad advice, very secure... /s). Add an entry into the credential vault for each machine. If you want to understand why you're not prompted for auth and thing work when the accounts the same on both machines, google NTLM Authentication.

Don't share the entire disk, share folders. Be aware of what adding the "Everyone" group means, sure add it for share permissions, do not for NTFS permissions.

Confirm Firewall is allowing File and Print Sharing (SMB), if you enable it through windows it should add the entries into the ACLs.

Can the machines both resolve each other via hostname? (ping blah)? If so, good. Should be able to whack whack (\\) to the machine and  see shares. Map if you use often.

 

[Sir Topham Hatt]

I should have added, to make things worse, I use a Microsoft Account on PC 1 and a local account on PC 2.

It semi works now - I can see and move files from PC 1 to PC 2, just get the permissions error the other way (although very slow, only 6Mb/s but my home network can be slow).
Will check the above and see  Thanks!

[Steven P. Administrators]

On 16/12/2022 at 00:22, Sir Topham Hatt said:

I should have added, to make things worse, I use a Microsoft Account on PC 1 and a local account on PC 2.

It semi works now - I can see and move files from PC 1 to PC 2, just get the permissions error the other way (although very slow, only 6Mb/s but my home network can be slow).
Will check the above and see  Thanks!

Create a second local account on both PCs and add that new user to your folder shares. Use those credentials on both PCs over the network and you should be able to go back and forth between PC1 and PC2.

[farmeunit]

If you go to c:\Users, it will show you your "login name" even if you use a Microsoft account.  That is your "local" login.  I just actually found that out recently when I needed to use Autologin.  That being said, if you give permissions on the share to Everyone, full control, there will not be a login.  I just did that yesterday.

I was sharing drives because I needed to move games to a new install, so shared the whole thing.  

Right-click on the drive, click Sharing, click Advanced Sharing->Check "Share this folder"->Click "Permissions"->select Everyone and Full Control.  That's it.

That is NOT the secure way.  It's the way to get things done quickly.  You can disable when done.  

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 16/12/2022 at 23:07, farmeunit said:

If you go to c:\Users, it will show you your "login name" even if you use a Microsoft account.  That is your "local" login.  I just actually found that out recently when I needed to use Autologin.  That being said, if you give permissions on the share to Everyone, full control, there will not be a login.  I just did that yesterday.

I was sharing drives because I needed to move games to a new install, so shared the whole thing.  

Right-click on the drive, click Sharing, click Advanced Sharing->Check "Share this folder"->Click "Permissions"->select Everyone and Full Control.  That's it.

That is NOT the secure way.  It's the way to get things done quickly.  You can disable when done.  

Great idea checking the users folder. You are absolutely right

[+BudMan MVC]

On 17/12/2022 at 11:30, Warwagon said:

Great idea checking the users folder. You are absolutely right

I have never used a MS account.. while sure you can get a username from looking at the profile folders.. why would whoami not work?  What does that show you when you use a MS account?  Or for that matter just running cmd and seeing what folder your put into?

While I can see why MS might want you to use some account on their systems - what reason would anyone want to do that, what possible advantage is there to doing that vs just a local account?

 

 

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 18/12/2022 at 18:10, BudMan said:

I have never used a MS account.. while sure you can get a username from looking at the profile folders.. why would whoami not work?  What does that show you when you use a MS account?  Or for that matter just running cmd and seeing what folder your put into?

While I can see why MS might want you to use some account on their systems - what reason would anyone want to do that, what possible advantage is there to doing that vs just a local account?

Shows the same.

or a person could just do windows key + R and type c:\users\ and it would show a list of users in the run box

Or just click start and type c:\users\

[xrobwx71]

On 18/12/2022 at 18:10, BudMan said:

I have never used a MS account.. while sure you can get a username from looking at the profile folders.. why would whoami not work?  What does that show you when you use a MS account?  Or for that matter just running cmd and seeing what folder your put into?

While I can see why MS might want you to use some account on their systems - what reason would anyone want to do that, what possible advantage is there to doing that vs just a local account?

 

 

For a MS account (mine) whoami shows the first 5 characters of my MS email.

[WiltshireHam]

Why not get a NAS, then you don't have to keep moving files around, they're stored in one place with access from both computers!

[Good Bot, Bad Bot]

On 19/12/2022 at 13:57, WiltshireHam said:

Why not get a NAS, then you don't have to keep moving files around, they're stored in one place with access from both computers!

i was confused on the need to move files back and forth myself.  I just have a data drive in my desktop that can access with my laptop over my network. No need to be moving files back and forth.

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 19/12/2022 at 13:07, Good Bot, Bad Bot said:

i was confused on the need to move files back and forth myself.  I just have a data drive in my desktop that can access with my laptop over my network. No need to be moving files back and forth.

Regardless of why, it should work.

Yes, a file server or NAS is a much better way of doing things. But the two computers should be able to talk back and forth should he want to.

[Good Bot, Bad Bot]

On 19/12/2022 at 21:53, Warwagon said:

Regardless of why, it should work.

Yes, a file server or NAS is a much better way of doing things. But the two computers should be able to talk back and forth should he want to.

I agree that but one certainly can question the why.

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 20/12/2022 at 08:06, Good Bot, Bad Bot said:

I agree that but one certainly can question the why.

You could, but I really don't think it matters.