Microsoft HomeGroup Does Not Work

After installing a major Windows 10 update a few days ago, Microsoft HomeGroup, which had been working, ceased to work.  It says there is a HomeGroup invitation, but there is none, or it is from a computer that is no longer on the network.  After trying to join for many wasted minutes, it says there is no HomeGroup to join, and says to go to HomeGroup and create a new HomeGroup, but there is no option to create a new HomeGroup, only to join an existing HomeGroup, which Microsoft says does not exist.  Catch-22.

When you run the HomeGroup troubleshooter, it says there is a network protocol missing, but without HomeGroup, networking works perfectly, with file exchanges among all the computers on the network.  So the network seems fine.  HomeGroup is messed up.

The Microsoft website is useless.  It simply says create a new HomeGroup, but that is impossible because there is no option to do so.

There is no option to leave a HomeGroup, since Windows thinks the PC does not yet belong to a HomeGroup.  Again Catch-22.

Other people have this issue.  See

http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/win-10-homegroup-issues/

His solution was to start without a computer that tries to join a "ghost" HomeGroup.  I don't have a computer that doesn't think there is a "ghost" HomeGroup, so none of them is able to create a new HomeGroup.

As I recall, before the last update to Win 10, HomeGroup would tell you who invited you to join a HomeGroup and tell youthat you can ask them for their password.  In this case, it does not say who created the HomeGroup, so that there is no one to ask for the password.

By turning off the internet connection, I got Windows to allow me to try to create a new HomeGroup, but when I try, Windows says, "Windows can't set up a homegroup on this computer."

A Fix for Microsoft Outlook 2010 Safe Mode Problem

Apparently Microsoft issued a defective update for Outlook 2010 that put it into Safe Mode with no way to get out.  This process fixed it for me:

http://www.slipstick.com/problems/outlook-starts-safe-mode/

I thank Slipstick for the fix.