Homegroup components missing after 17063 insider install.

[Sandra Golas]

After each insider build installs, I have to re-join my network's homegroup.  After I installed 17063, I attempted to do the same.  I found that the control panel and service entries were missing.  I tried to run the trouble shooter and got a message that it couldn't be run.  I looked at the add windows features in Programs and Features and didn't find anything.   I have licensed copy Windows 10 Pro 64 running on an Intel system with 8 GB of memory and a TB of storage.  Now I am wondering what else is missing.  Help Please,

[#2]

I'm not installing 17063 insider build, but going to offer some generic troubleshooting steps. 1) Check Windows Components and see if "HomeGroup" got uninstalled during update. 2) Run services.msc, check "HomeGroup Provider", "HomeGroup Listener" are in "manual" startup option, and "Workstation", "Server" are in "automatic" startup option. 3) Check to see if Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) contains relevant error message.

[#3]

Home groups have been deprecated, it is mentioned on the build announcement blog post,

"

A note about HomeGroup: Easily connecting to and sharing the important pieces of your digital life with those who matter most has never been easier with today’s Modern PCs and the cloud. Whether it’s connecting PCs and printers on your home network via the Share functionality in Windows or using OneDrive to share a photo album of your last vacation, Windows 10 makes connecting multiple devices and sharing content streamlined and simple. And it’s because of that evolution that with today’s build you’ll start to see us retire the HomeGroup service. HomeGroup was terrific for the pre-cloud and pre-mobile era, but today this functionality is built right into Windows 10 and apps. Starting with this build, the HomeGroup service is no longer operational in Windows 10. The user profile used for sharing and the file/folder/printer shares will continue to work.

Here are recommended alternatives to HomeGroup for you to get the best file-sharing experience in Windows 10 going forward:

• File Storage:
  • OneDrive is a cloud-first, cross-device storage and collaboration platform for all of the pieces of data that matter most in your life – like your files, your photos, your videos, and more.
  • OneDrive Files On-Demand takes cloud file storage a step further, allowing you to access all your files in the cloud without having to download them and use storage space on your device.
• Share Functionality: For those who prefer not to use the Cloud to connect their devices, the Share functionality for folders and printers allows you to see the available devices and connect them to and from other PCs on your home network.
• Easier Connection: No more remembering cryptic HomeGroup passwords in order to connect to another PC. You can now simply connect through your Microsoft Account email address across devices."

[#4]

I missed the message about the homegroup retirement.   I  have a small internal network on which I don't need or want to use the "cloud" technologies.  I am stopping the insider-preview and I am currently reverting all my windows 10 systems to the latest public release.  How do I stop update from permanently upgrading to the new windows 10 versions?

[#5]

The short answer is that you can't, I think the best you can do is delay it for a year if you are on pro or higher. This is Windows as a service and features will get deprecated over time, what are you missing from home groups that you cant do with normal network shares etc?

[#6]

For my family, some of the family members are sticking to Win7 (notebook, and with driver problem when upgrade to Win10 so need to fallback), so we need HomeGroup for file sharing.

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And regarding upgrade to latest build of Win10, my type-cover for Surface Pro 3 is non-functional after upgrading to Win10CU. After doing reinstall, not only the type-cover is not functional, the screen won't rotate too and always in upside-down position when on kickstand. I suspect it's firmware update problem (so driver in older version of Win10 won't work either) but unfortunately it's impossible to revert firmware update in Surface. And I'm not alone on the issue.

I think Microsoft should stop pushing upgrade to device if there's known outstanding hardware problem.

[#7]

I did use Homegroup but it would always not connect to a PC in the group so I am not going to miss it,I have always added my hard drives from my 2 PCs by Network drive,now if they removed that I would move to Linux. Shearing a folder on the network by right clicking on it and go down to Properties then Sharing tab,click on Advanced Sharing click on Share this folder box and click on Permissions,click on Full Control  or you add you as a user then click on Full Control and then click ok,then Apply on next box..done,you just shared a folder.. 🙂 ,then on the other PC,just add it to a Network drive and it will have a drive letter like a drive and will always connect to it when your PC boots up.Add Network Drive from This PC window and the tab at the top called Computer.

[#8]

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 wrote:

Home groups have been deprecated, it is mentioned on the build announcement blog post,

"

A note about HomeGroup: Easily connecting to and sharing the important pieces of your digital life with those who matter most has never been easier with today’s Modern PCs and the cloud. Whether it’s connecting PCs and printers on your home network via the Share functionality in Windows or using OneDrive to share a photo album of your last vacation, Windows 10 makes connecting multiple devices and sharing content streamlined and simple. And it’s because of that evolution that with today’s build you’ll start to see us retire the HomeGroup service. HomeGroup was terrific for the pre-cloud and pre-mobile era, but today...

Here are recommended alternatives to HomeGroup for you to get the best file-sharing experience in Windows 10 going forward:

• File Storage:
  • OneDrive is a cloud-first, cross-device storage and collaboration platform for all of the pieces of data that matter most in your life – like your files, your photos, your videos, and more.
  • OneDrive Files On-Demand takes cloud file storage a step further, allowing you to access all your fi...
  • Share Functionality: For those who prefer not to use the Cloud to connect their devices, the Share functionality for folders and printers allows you to see the available devices and connect them to and from other PCs on your home network.
  • Easier Connection: No more remembering cryptic HomeGroup passwords in order to connect to another PC. You can now simply connect through your Microsoft Account email address across devices."

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    What is this laziness of deprecating basic functionality that worked for years. I hate the whole concept of the cloud and the one drive in the cloud.

    Microsoft is becoming worse than Facebook.

    I just want to move data from one computer to another on my home network without logging in to a Microsoft account.

    So much for improving, please give us an explanation about sharing data on home computers without connecting to the web or better give us back the home-group functionality.