The "Workstation" file seemed to be the culprit. It appears that I did not have the file WKSSVC.DLL in C:\Windows\system32. So what I did was went to a site called DLL Dump (http://www.dlldump.com/dll-files/W_4.html) and downloaded the "wkssvc.dll" file. I placed it in the necessary c:\windows\system32 folder, went back to "Services" (in the Administrative Tools via Control Panel) and double-clicked "Workstation", started it, closed it. Then went back to "set up a small network" and low and behold, all of my shared folders popped right up. I didn't have to restart or anything.
Wow. I'm in shock. Hopefully, this will help someone else in my position.