The options to join a domain are grayed out on both computers. It says "You cannot join a computer running Windows 7 Home Premium to a domain." Both computers are members of "WORKGROUP"
I created a new Homegroup from the laptop and was able to join it by password from the desktop. However, on both computers it still says there is no one else in the group. I can see laptop from the desktop and vice versa through the regular network, however I can only access files on the laptop from the desktop and not the other way around. When I try to create a new Homegroup from the desktop, the laptop cannot even see it to join.
When I try to access files on the desktop from the laptop, I get the following message: "Windows cannot access //HPDESKTOP. Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise, there might be a problem with your network. To try and identify and resolve network problems, click Diagnose." We have run all of the Windows diagnostics and "Fix Its", which have done nothing.
Both of these machines were previously connected through Homegroup with no problem until we had to do a factory restore of the laptop.