Our LAN consists of a single dedicated file "server" running Windows 8.1 Pro. We have various other Windows versions on the network, 7 Pro and above including 10 Pro. I'm the admin, and I set up a trial of Hamachi using the 8.1 server PC and my Windows 10 laptop. There didn't appear to be any problems getting everything working. Unfortunately, I've found that it only partially works.
First, I seem to only be able to get the two computers connected if I am actively logged into the server computer. I'm assuming this is because Hamachi doesn't run as a service when the computer starts, but rather as an application when someone logs in at the server console (or even via LogMeIn). If that's true, is there a way to start Hamachi and its functionality without having a user actively logged into the server PC?
Second, if I'm logged in (as Admin in my case) on the server and start Hamachi on my laptop, the computers appear to connect successfully. However, I can seem to only get access TO my laptop FROM the server - e.g. I can browse my laptop's shares from the server side, but I can't browse any shares on the server side which is really what I need to be able to do. For this to work, do I need to uninstall everything and re-install in the reverse direction, making my laptop (what I've thought of as the 'client') the server instead?
Any suggestions for making this Hamachi setup more useful would be greatly appreciated.