Windows networking in Linux.

I found Linux Mint works quite nicely in a home Windows network. It uses Samba and after an install of 'system-config-samba', I fixed my last issue.
If you are getting issues opening Windows shares, try opening the Software Manager and typing Samba then click Search.
You should then see system-config-samba as an installable option. Install it and then press ALT+F2. This will open a terminal (command-line) window. In that window type sudo system-config-samba. It will then prompt for your password, so type that in and press <ENTER>.
This will display the settings for your Samba server in a window call Samba Server Configuration. This server is what other PCs will connect to access the stuff you've shared, so you'll need to do this on each PC you want to access shared stuff on.
Click Preferences and then Server Settings.
Select the Security tab and set Authentication Mode to Share. Click OK.

Click Preferences and then Samba Users. The Samba Users window is displayed.
Click Add User,
Select a user from the Unix Username drop down. This is the local user account to use.
Enter a user name in the Windows Username dialogue. This is the user you'll use on other PCs when it asks for a user name and password.
Now enter the password that you'll use in the Samba Password and Confirm Samba Password fields.
Click OK twice.
Back in the Samba Server Configuration window, click the plus (+) symbol to add something to share. 
Click Browse to find a folder to share.
In the Share name: field, enter the name you want displayed when browsing the PCs shares from the network.
Tick Writable if you want to be able modify or delete stuff on your PC from another PC. This is probably not a good idea in most cases, especially if you have kids, haha.

Click the Access tab and tick the user you want to be able to access your stuff.
Click OK and close the Samba Server Configuration window.
Now when you browse  the network from another PC, you can double click the PC and share you want to access and once you've entered the username and password from above, you should see what is shared.
Remember: you'll need to do the above on each PC you want access stuff on.

That's it.  Enjoy  :-)