I've got 2 window's 7 ultimate laptops one has a 1TB backup disk and printer on it. everything works shared for a few minutes after I reset the machine's internet connection then, if the network connection is not used for a few minutes, next time it is used it says the machine is "offline". A network disconnect & reconnect fixes it. Never have a problem with the internet, only sharing files/printers to each other. I switched to "work" network aka workgroups for troubleshooting since "homegroups" are so hard to troubleshoot. It is, cough cough, possible I changed something long ago to limit wasted network bandwidth because I had a monthly 2GB limit and kept running out. I haven't been able to find any notes on what I might have done. Anyone have any ideas on what may be wrong?

There are too many steps in your troubleshooting that are very hard to follow. Let us make things more clear. 1. What you do not see is what you can still get aplies in shared environment. For test try to disable firewall and see, if your shares are visible and you can reach the content. 2. How are configured IP in your computers? Are there fixed of assigned IP addresses. Give us information on the output from command (for both computers) ipconfig /all 3. To reach the shared folder in workgroup configuration, you should have your user account created in targer computer Regards Milos

Tried disabling firewall/antivirus - no joy All IP address are currently dynamic though I tried assigning them by the router to our mac address. I notice my node type is broadcast, should it be mixed like hers? If so how do I change it? We can both use the network shares at first, then they say "Windows cannot access \\Fruitful-PC" Thanks for your help. ========== IPCONFIG OUTPUT ======================================== $ ipconfig /all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mark-PC Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-5B-DC-3B-A4 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1E-C2-B0-9E-37 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::2518:84ea:4059:141f%12(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.123.100(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, April 07, 2012 10:21:38 AM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, April 08, 2012 8:02:04 AM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.123.254 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.123.254 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 218111682 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-16-00-11-80-00-1F-5B-F0-7F-FC DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.123.254 0.0.0.0 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8058 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-5B-F0-7F-FC DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:344e:4a56:346f:a067(Preferred) Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::344e:4a56:346f:a067%16(Preferred) Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : :: NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled Tunnel adapter isatap.{EE0DF260-AE3E-4555-B910-9836901B8D98}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter isatap.{112BD1FB-57D9-41A8-AF93-30A2206167D3}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter isatap.{83D9C58E-9DF0-4896-8A96-FF41DB919D55}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Mark@Mark-PC ~ $===================================================================== C:\Users\Wiwin>ipconfig /all Windows IP Configuration Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Fruitful-PC Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection 2: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 06-23-4D-E3-90-1D DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-21-4F-BB-83-C2 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Atheros AR928X Wireless Network Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-23-4D-E3-90-1D DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::c9f8:af7e:c316:b0b7%10(Preferred) IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.123.101(Preferred) Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0 Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, April 07, 2012 10:37:12 AM Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, April 08, 2012 8:06:40 AM Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.123.254 DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.123.254 DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 268443617 DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-12-4E-14-37-00-1D-BA-70-15-4C DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.123.254 0.0.0.0 NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1D-BA-70-15-4C DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter isatap.{DD36781E-EF31-4F02-A23B-EFC2AD955602}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter isatap.{08F018E1-BF18-4139-8C49-12C9FD962F41}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter isatap.{8FAF7D21-BE02-4253-B96D-0ED8867DFC09}: Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #3 Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface: Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0 DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:6d:356e:3f57:849a(Preferred) Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::6d:356e:3f57:849a%16(Preferred) Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : :: NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled C:\Users\Wiwin>

Please access the laptop manufacturer website, download the Windows 7 compatible network adapter driver. If the issue persists, please check if the issue occurs with antivirus and firewall closed. If either the antivirus or the firewall is not the cause, try to disable auto-tuning. Refer to: Network connectivity fails when you try to use Windows Vista behind a firewall device http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934430v Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.