Windows 8 won't let me turn on File Sharing or Network Discovery

Question

I've Windows 8 x64 and Comcast's Norton Security Suite installed. Norton takes over Firewall control and it's Automatic File/Printer Sharing control is On. However, it doesn't appear to be the case at all. When I attempt to browse my network (made up of three different linux boxes, macbook, and an old winxp box), I am told Network Discovery and File Sharing is off. When I attempt to turn it on, the message just keeps returning. When I go into the actual control panel to do this, my changes never stick.

Regarding the matter, Norton help files state:

When Automatic File/Printer Sharing Control is turned on, Norton Security Suite allows file and printer sharing that is configured through Microsoft networking. However, this activity requires that the computer on your network has accessed these services on your computer before you installed the current version of Norton Security Suite. Automatic File/Printer Sharing Control automatically detects if windows file and printer sharing has been activated, before or after the installation of Norton Security Suite. If your network is Protected upon installation of Norton Security Suite but you share a folder, the network trust is automatically set to Shared.

Some of the Windows 7 and Windows 8 features such as Home Media Experience work only when the trust level of the network to which your computer is connected is set to Shared or Full Trust. When Automatic File/Printer Sharing Control is turned on, it sets the trust level of the network to Shared only when the security criteria for sharing matches.

The trust level for my network is at Shared and setting the trust level to Full Trust does nothing to alleviate this issue, as I am still unable to turn sharing on. Also, turning off the firewall does nothing as well as resetting it to defaults. Everything worked fine in the beginning, and then things just suddenly didn't.

Often I find myself choosing to download things for one of my linux machines merely because I don't want to get up and turn the other machine on just to get whatever it is. Using a thumbdrive seems like just as much work as turning on the target machine and downloading what it is I want in the first place.

I don't wish to get rid of Norton, but I am open to workarounds that would allow my other computers to access the files I want shared if there's absolutely no other solution to this odd problem.