Solved Not able to access or see a media server PC over the local network

Mark Phelps · May 22, 2023

This is a new install but the issue is networking based -- so I posted it here.

I have an old desktop running Win10 using Emby Media Server -- and I want to replace that with a Win11 Pro install doing the same.

So I grabbed an SSD and installed a trial Enterprise version of Win11. I did that because I need to make a custom ISO using RUFUS since the PC does not meet any of the hardware requirements for Win11 and did not want to spend the money for a Pro license until I confirmed it worked. I installed Emby Media Server, ran a Power shell script I wrote to configure driver sharing and tested it for a couple of days -- worked fine. It saw all the other PCs on my internal network and all of those PCs saw the Media Server. It's accessed over local Ethernet from my deskop (to load the Media Server) and over WiFi from the streaming PC.

So I got a Win11 Pro license from Major Geeks store, created another ISO using RUFUS and installed clean to another SSD. Installed Emby Media Server, confirmed it worked locally on the media server PC. Ran the same Powershell scripts to configure file sharing.

But NONE of the other PCs can see this one on the network -- even though it can see all the other PCs.

I had made a record of all the critical settings from the test setup: device name, workgroup, logon info, IP info, network settings -- and confirmed that they are all the same on this install. The media server has a static IP address and it has network discovery and file sharing both enabled, and the network is set as Private.

As I said, it can see the other PCs on the network just fine and it can get to the Internet without issue. It's just that none of the other PCs can see it. So, they can't get to the Media Server, nor can they see any of the shared drives.

I don't know what else to examine at this point.

hsehestedt · May 22, 2023

Mark,

I'm not certain what items you have already checked, so forgive me if I cover some items you have already addressed.

Go into Settings > Network & internet and make sure that you network connection shows as "Private network". If it indicates "Public network", click it to change it.

On the same Network & internet page, select "Advanced network settings", then select "Advanced sharing settings".

Turn on both "Network discovery" and "File and printer sharing".

On that same page, select "All networks".

Turn off "Password protected sharing".

NOTE: People sometimes get confused about what Password protected sharing does. This setting affects what happens when you create a share and allow "Everyone" to have access. If you turn on Password protected sharing, then a user would have to authenticate with a valid user name present on the system where the share is located. In other words, when turned on "Everyone" is equal to everyone who has a valid user account on this system. When turned off, Everyone is equal to everyone with network access regardless of whether or not they have an account on your system.

If you turn off Password protected sharing, then anyone, including people who do not have a user account on this system, can access shares that are shared to "Everyone".

Note that shares with explicit permissions are not affected. For example, if you have a share that gives "JohnDoe" access, then JohnDoe will still need a valid password even if Password protected sharing is turned off.

One more recommendation:

In File Explorer > Options > View tab, I suggest making sure that "Use Shring Wizard" is enabled. When this enabled, it will set proper NTFS permissions when you create a share. If you turn this off, you will need to manually set the NTFS permissions on files and folders in the share to allow access to the appropriate user(s).

Let me know if this helps!

hsehestedt · May 22, 2023

Taking a little detour from the main issue to add some comments about your installation of Windows:

Even without a license for Windows Pro, you can still install Pro and test it without the need to enter a license key. That would allow you to test and make certain that all works for you before activating.

TIP: Before you activate Windows, one thing you cannot do is personalization settings of Windows. You will get a message saying that you need to activate Windows in order to personalize Windows. You can work around this by making sure that you have networking disabled during the initial installation of Windows. Once Windows is installed, perform all your personalization tasks, then enable networking. Once Windows gets access to the Internet, your current personalization settings will remain, but you won't be able to change those settings until you activate Windows. But at least this will allow you to see how everything would look and verify all is good before you commit to activating Windows on that system.

Mark Phelps · May 22, 2023

hsehestedt said:
Mark,

I'm not certain what items you have already checked, so forgive me if I cover some items you have already addressed.

Go into Settings > Network & internet and make sure that you network connection shows as "Private network". If it indicates "Public network", click it to change it.

View attachment 60647

On the same Network & internet page, select "Advanced network settings", then select "Advanced sharing settings".

Turn on both "Network discovery" and "File and printer sharing".

On that same page, select "All networks".

View attachment 60648
Turn off "Password protected sharing".

View attachment 60650

NOTE: People sometimes get confused about what Password protected sharing does. This setting affects what happens when you create a share and allow "Everyone" to have access. If you turn on Password protected sharing, then a user would have to authenticate with a valid user name present on the system where the share is located. In other words, when turned on "Everyone" is equal to everyone who has a valid user account on this system. When turned off, Everyone is equal to everyone with network access regardless of whether or not they have an account on your system.

If you turn off Password protected sharing, then anyone, including people who do not have a user account on this system, can access shares that are shared to "Everyone".

Note that shares with explicit permissions are not affected. For example, if you have a share that gives "JohnDoe" access, then JohnDoe will still need a valid password even if Password protected sharing is turned off.

One more recommendation:

In File Explorer > Options > View tab, I suggest making sure that "Use Shring Wizard" is enabled. When this enabled, it will set proper NTFS permissions when you create a share. If you turn this off, you will need to manually set the NTFS permissions on files and folders in the share to allow access to the appropriate user(s).

View attachment 60651

Let me know if this helps!

The Password Protected Sharing was the issue. Turned that off and NOW, can see the shares>

Thank you very much for your highly detailed reply -- I would not have guessed this was the issue.

hsehestedt · May 22, 2023

Mark Phelps said:
The Password Protected Sharing was the issue. Turned that off and NOW, can see the shares>

Thank you very much for your highly detailed reply -- I would not have guessed this was the issue.

Glad that helped! Yeah, sometimes it just comes down to one little detail that's missing. They don't make it easy with all the settings you need to check.

Winuser · May 23, 2023

When I setup sharing on my mini pc I set it up for everyone and kept the password protected sharing turned on. The first time I accessed the folder on the mini pc from my other computer I just had to enter the user name and password of the user account on the mini pc. I also chose the remember option so I only needed to do it once. I did it that way because I couldn't get the mini pc to see the user on the other computer that I wanted to give access to. By leaving the password protection on the others on my home network need my password to gain access. MS really needs to work on networking. What works for one doesn't always work for someone else.

Winuser · May 23, 2023

I don't know if this will work with Emby Media Server or not. To get my computers to connect to the Mezzmo Media server on my mini pc all I had to do was right click on This PC and choose add a network location. This was with sharing turned off on all of my computers. I only turned on sharing so that I could get access to the media folder on the mini pc so I could add new content or make edits without having to bother my wife. The mini pc uses our tv as the monitor.

hsehestedt · May 23, 2023

Winuser said:
MS really needs to work on networking. What works for one doesn't always work for someone else.

Fortunately, there is a wealth of options available, simply because not one solution works for everyone.

Just a few examples...

We already discussed the behavior of "everyone" and how it is affected by "Password Protected Sharing". But there is nothing that says that you have to grant "everyone" access.

If you don't want everyone to have access and you don't want to give your account name and password to others, consider creating another account specifically for that purpose. For example, you could create a user called "EmbyUser" and then just give that account name and password to those users who should have access. Then, simply grant access on the share to EmbyUser. This way, you have user name and password protection, but you don't need to give your details to anyone.

You can then take that one step further and disallow "EmbyUser" from being allowed to logon locally.

The end result is that EmbyUser cannot logon to the machine locally and they can access only those resources to which you have given EmbyUser access. They won't be able to access anything else.

One final note: You would want to create EmbyUser as a standard user, not an administrator.

There is a whole lot more that could be explored here, this was meant to be just one example.

I hope that this helps!

Winuser · May 24, 2023

@hsehestedt, It just helps to show that when it comes to networking, MS has a long way to go to get it working the way it's supposed too. What I originally wanted to do was just give the user on the old desktop access to the folder on the mini pc. Even though all the setting were correct and all the needed services were turned on I couldn't get the mini pc to find the user. File explorer had no problem showing the desktop, it just couldn't find the user. I do plan on trying to get the give access to working when I feel up to the challenge.

hsehestedt · May 24, 2023

Winuser said:
@hsehestedt, It just helps to show that when it comes to networking, MS has a long way to go to get it working the way it's supposed too. What I originally wanted to do was just give the user on the old desktop access to the folder on the mini pc. Even though all the setting were correct and all the needed services were turned on I couldn't get the mini pc to find the user. File explorer had no problem showing the desktop, it just couldn't find the user. I do plan on trying to get the give access to working when I feel up to the challenge.

A disagree slightly in that I think it is working as it is supposed to. However, in my opinion, I think the implementation is simply not simple. There are too many pieces that need to be se in too many various places.

So, I think we are saying the same thing in the end, it's just that I see it as being not a problem with functionality, but a very convoluted set of steps to implement.

Winuser · May 24, 2023

hsehestedt said:
A disagree slightly in that I think it is working as it is supposed to. However, in my opinion, I think the implementation is simply not simple. There are too many pieces that need to be se in too many various places.

So, I think we are saying the same thing in the end, it's just that I see it as being not a problem with functionality, but a very convoluted set of steps to implement.

I only know what I've experienced and what I have read in post on these and other forums. I don't remember having so much trouble getting networking to work correctly on Windows 7.

britgeezer · Jun 21, 2023

hsehestedt said:
Mark,

I'm not certain what items you have already checked, so forgive me if I cover some items you have already addressed.

Go into Settings > Network & internet and make sure that you network connection shows as "Private network". If it indicates "Public network", click it to change it.

View attachment 60647

On the same Network & internet page, select "Advanced network settings", then select "Advanced sharing settings".

Turn on both "Network discovery" and "File and printer sharing".

On that same page, select "All networks".

View attachment 60648
Turn off "Password protected sharing".

View attachment 60650

NOTE: People sometimes get confused about what Password protected sharing does. This setting affects what happens when you create a share and allow "Everyone" to have access. If you turn on Password protected sharing, then a user would have to authenticate with a valid user name present on the system where the share is located. In other words, when turned on "Everyone" is equal to everyone who has a valid user account on this system. When turned off, Everyone is equal to everyone with network access regardless of whether or not they have an account on your system.

If you turn off Password protected sharing, then anyone, including people who do not have a user account on this system, can access shares that are shared to "Everyone".

Note that shares with explicit permissions are not affected. For example, if you have a share that gives "JohnDoe" access, then JohnDoe will still need a valid password even if Password protected sharing is turned off.

One more recommendation:

In File Explorer > Options > View tab, I suggest making sure that "Use Shring Wizard" is enabled. When this enabled, it will set proper NTFS permissions when you create a share. If you turn this off, you will need to manually set the NTFS permissions on files and folders in the share to allow access to the appropriate user(s).

View attachment 60651

Let me know if this helps!

I found this thread very useful - thanks. I just wish that MS didn't ruin the screen shots by moving the features around with seemingly every update