i'm at my wit's end here. i have two computers here. both have windows 7 and were networked via the homegroup feature. basically, i just share my music files from one computer to another. it also allows me to use the printer that's hooked up to my desktop to be used from the laptop. this was set up like 3 years ago. haven't had a problem viewing the files from one computer to another in all that time. a couple days ago, i was trying to access the music files on my desktop from the laptop and, all of a sudden, it asks for a username and password. ummm, there is no username or password. nothing works, and now the printer doesn't show up on the laptop either. i've set all the permissions to allow, and everything open to sharing. i've disabled any and all available passwords. i've used every combination of username and password before and after doing all that. i've scoured the internet and seen numerous people with the exact same problem. there's been suggestions that work for some, but not others. none of 'em work for me. i've even gone so far as to rename my computer, rebooted, renamed it back, rebooted again, and still no dice. what's weird is that it works perfectly fine from the desktop. i can view all shared folders on the laptop. it just doesn't work the other way around. i've left the homegroup and created a new one 5 or 6 times. i've even switched it up and hosted the homegroup from the laptop instead of the desktop. same problem. i've checked to make sure that the driver for the wireless controller on the laptop is current. now, i know i could just skip the homegroup feature and create my own local area network. i would've done that a long time ago, but the problem is that i don't actually have my own wireless router. the wifi i get at home is through my at&t u-verse hub. so when you try to set up your own network, it just sits there, searching for a device that doesn't exist. anyway, my main point is that i haven't changed anything, and it worked a week ago. why is it now asking for some phantom username and password when it didn't a week ago? if anyone has heard of this issue before and is aware of a fix, i'd be all ears.