unable to view computers in workgroup or share files

I have followed through the network troubleshoot and none of their suggestions work, and wonder if there is something else I need to do, when trying to look at the computers in the workgroup the following message comes up, but who is the administrator on a home network with a cable directly connecting a laptop to a desktop pc?
"Domain is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.
The list of servers for this workgroup is not currently available"