Network shares stop working

Question

Network shares stop working

CTrey 40

I work with different offices/clients. None of them are on a domain, just workgroups. Since early this year, I've had issues with workstations losing network connectivity to shared folders. Sometimes it's because Network Discovery just decides to disable itself. Turning it back on usually works. I can connect via IP, but not UNC. Pinging returns the proper IP address. There aren't any special network configurations going on. DHCP/DNS is coming from the router. The only fix I have found is to flush/register the DNS, and rebooting the pc.

Any suggestions that don't require digging around the registry or changing things that shouldn't need to normally be changed?

Any suggestions are welcome.

Suporte - CRCPN Petrolina Suporte 20 Reputation points

2026-02-21T12:57:41.0133333+00:00

426

-----------COMMANDS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open REGEDIT as administrator (ADDRESS HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - Software - Microsoft - MSLicensing - delete everything (only the folders inside MSLicensing) Run PowerShell as administrator and type: set-smbclientconfiguration -RequireSecuritySignature $false set-smbclientconfiguration -EnableInsecureGuestLogons $true
Arnaud Hertz 5 Reputation points

2026-05-11T22:13:49.8566667+00:00

The best advice found on the net to access my SMB server (mycloud home by WD) from windows 11 family.

I deleted with regedit MSlicensing folders and I removed the requirement for securitysignature with powershell. I didn't succeed enabling Insecure guest login : as a matter of fact it was not necessary ! Now it's working well.

7 answers

Your answer

Suporte - CRCPN Petrolina Suporte 20 Reputation points

2026-02-21T12:57:41.0133333+00:00

426

-----------COMMANDS--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Open REGEDIT as administrator (ADDRESS HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - Software - Microsoft - MSLicensing - delete everything (only the folders inside MSLicensing) Run PowerShell as administrator and type: set-smbclientconfiguration -RequireSecuritySignature $false set-smbclientconfiguration -EnableInsecureGuestLogons $true
Arnaud Hertz 5 Reputation points

2026-05-11T22:13:49.8566667+00:00

The best advice found on the net to access my SMB server (mycloud home by WD) from windows 11 family.

I deleted with regedit MSlicensing folders and I removed the requirement for securitysignature with powershell. I didn't succeed enabling Insecure guest login : as a matter of fact it was not necessary ! Now it's working well.

Answer 1

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Answer 2

C Tremayne 15

Well, I'm not sure what happend, but I haven't had theissue for quite a while. I'm assuming MS fixed something.

0 comments

Answer 3

Adrian Womack 5

Just had a similar issue, shares from my Win 11 machine were no longer accessible elsewhere. I'd shared them to "Everyone".

Turns out after a Windows update - the "Password-protected sharing" option had been turned on. Turning it off again fixed it. (Find it under Network & internet > Advanced network settings > Advanced sharing settings).

Nnamdi Azikiwe 0 Reputation points

2026-09-27T17:47:47.5433333+00:00

You solved the problem for me. Thanks.

Answer 4

CTrey 40

Sorry for the delayed response.

There wasn't anything that happened before. About the same time, we had issues with Network Discovery turning off for no apparent reason. I don't know if those issues are related.

Carl-L 23,445 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-12T14:43:11.9333333+00:00

Hello CTrey,

Thanks for getting back to us.

I'll check to see what I can do.

I'll keep you updated.
Carl-L 23,445 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-13T13:17:36.74+00:00

Hello CTrey,

Thanks for getting back to us.

As you said, this is not always the case. However, this could be related.

Just in case, can you please go to Control Panel > System and Security > Allow an apps through Windows Firewall to see if that service is allowed?

I'm waiting for your reply.
CTrey 40 Reputation points

2025-12-22T09:12:54.74+00:00

Network Discovery is already allowed.
Carl-L 23,445 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-23T14:31:44.65+00:00

Hello CTrey,

Thanks for getting back to me.

If you can connect via IP but cannot via UNC, there is a chance that the hostname resolution is not correctly configured. If possible, could you please try to use an affected device and try to ping the hostname and the IP directly and tell me the results?

I'm waiting for your reply.
CTrey 40 Reputation points

2025-12-23T19:49:27.9833333+00:00

pinging either works with the same result. That's why it's so frustrating.
Carl-L 23,445 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-12-25T13:37:25.0333333+00:00

Hello CTrey,

Thanks for getting back to me.

Thanks for sharing this. In this case, I'd suggest that when it is possible, you should try and perform an in-place upgrade on the machine that have the shared folder to reset any configuration and let the others try to connect again. This usually will keep the data, however, you should just make a backup just in case.

I fully understand if you don't want to go with that option. I suggest that you can try to allow insecure connection to see if the affected PC can work fine. However, it will require action on all affected PC.

Please let me know your choice and we will proceed accordingly.

Answer 5

C Tremayne 15

oops wrong acct.

0 comments