AVG Anti Virus Software

The problem is more about my w8 laptop not recognising me as administrator I think.
The folders I want from W10 are showing up in the 'network' on W8 but when I click on them a pop up tells me that I am not authorized to view the files within and tells me to contact the 'network administrator' for permission.

What does it say when right-clicking on a W.10 folder under the 'Share' tab in Properties?

It says that the folder is shared !
I have managed to invent a workaround by copying and pasting individual files in the 'Public' folder which I am allowed access to.

If it says shared I can't think of anything else to try apart from maybe using the network trouble-shooter (already tried?). Being able to use the 'Public' folder is at least something though.

The drives on my computers are shared but half the time I forget they are and still end up transferring files using a USB stick.

Yes it's a tricky one this...there used to be a windows prog called 'Homegroup' where you could share files between your networked machines but Windows 10 dropped it....it is still there on my W8 laptop but no longer on my W10.... I'm wondering if that may be interfering and stopping me accessing the files and folders from W10.
I know I am heartily tired of trying to solve the problem.

Hard to keep trying when a problem goes on for a long time. Maybe give it 15 minutes every now and then when you haven't got much else to do. One of those periods of time could finally bring a result.

The computers basically work OK and that's a plus.

In your circumstances where the problem is driving you crazy, I would upgrade the Win 8 laptop to Windows 10 if the machine meets to Ram and storage requirements so both machines are singing off the same page.

How to upgrade to Windows 10 for free | TechRadar  (I have not ever had the need to try this - so cannot confirm it works)

I tried to upgrade to w10 when it was first released, but it stalled half way through and froze my machine and I had quite a job to recover it.....I won't try again !
It's handy though because I have some older picture editing programs that won't run on W10 so I can use them on my older W8 machine.

AlanHo wrote:

How to upgrade to Windows 10 for free | TechRadar  (I have not ever had the need to try this - so cannot confirm it works)

It's not for sure the unofficial free upgrade is still going but I think it's still available. Just hypothetical since Malcolm doesn't want to upgrade but a clean installation of W.10 with a W.8 key could work (since the upgrade method stalled).

I did an in-place upgrade on a second-hand HP laptop I bought. It successfully upgraded and activated. This was as a very long time after the free upgrade period had expired too.

In the end, I did a clean installation on that computer using the Media Creation Tool as a way of getting rid of all sorts of unwanted software and junk. The installation went well and was activated. No key necessary because the computer had registered on the MS servers from the first installation.