Share via

How do I add Network drive folders to a Library?

Anonymous
2009-11-05T14:19:26+00:00

My music and photos are on a Netgear Readynas Duo with 2TB of disk.

This makes them available to all computers in my home network.

Now i want to include music and pictures in my libraries on my new Windows 7 computer.

Win 7 says the folders must be indexed, but there is no way to do this.

The suggestion to make files available Off line will not work with this amount of data.

Do You have any suggestions to solve this problem?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

  1. Anonymous
    2009-11-20T16:18:46+00:00

    Kermit_If,

    You may want to check to see if the folders are missing system permissions.

    To add the System permission to a folder

    1.       Right-click the folder, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.

    2.       If you don't see System listed under Group or user names, click Edit.

    3.       Click Add, type System in the box that appears, and then click Check Names.

    4.       Under Matching names, click System, and then click OK until all of the open dialog boxes you've opened are closed.

    You'll need to rebuild the index once you've made this change.

    I hope this helps.

    Lisa

    Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

    Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

    Was this answer helpful?

    6 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

40 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-25T08:02:15+00:00

    DMT49,

    Man I was feeling your pain when I read your posting .. I was like **** yeah! This guy's going through the same thing as me! Well, there is a bonafide solution to what you're trying to accomplish: To add a non-indexed UNC as a library 1. Use the mklink command in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Example: mklink /d c:\users\john\home \server\home\john (This will automatically create the directory symbolic link C:\users\john\home and link it to \server\home\john) 2. Go to the folder C:\users\john, and right-click Home, then click Include in Library, then click Documents. 3. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library.

    Yes, this does make more sense than indexing a whole 1TB of information -- OR, making it "available offline" for that matter. Microsoft really needs to pull their head out of their rear-ends. I mean, do they ever truly stress-test their operating systems before releasing them to the public? Someone needs to go rattle some cubicles and slap some heads in the software engineering dept!!! I think these guys are asleep!!!!!

    Michael Bryan Network Intelligence

    Was this answer helpful?

    7 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-11-05T14:43:58+00:00

    Actully

    On: 

    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itpronetworking/thread/afb904c1-1c61-4aae-b6b1-5cf525b9f8de/

    A workaround that worked most of the time for me... where there is no indexing and no 'offline ' and no extra files being made... and it worked for most of the libraries.

    Now Im working on creating brand new libraries and even this technet idea isnt working for anything else..  But it did for all previviously setup libraries.

    Despite Microsofts own experts, they are wrong, its doable per above as proof.

    I had 10 libraries of which 6 are now libraried to a network drive.

    they are not indexed and therefore not 100% supported..but I dont care for the extra support needs and wont likely ever need it..

    Im using Win7 home premium that came with the tower.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-02-09T23:33:11+00:00

    Still unable to add network folders to libraries.  I have been reading all these solutions for hours and tried them all.  None are working.  Unable to add System under Group or user names, Network folders have no options for indexing or accessing offline, etc. Why is this so complicated? 

    I have a simple home network...just me and my spouse.  All I want to do is use a network drive as a file server.  This has never been a problem with previous versions of Windows.  Just redirect My Documents to a network folder.  You're done.  I never use indexing because I rarely ever need to search for files.  When I do, a short delay does not bother me.  Why on earth is it necessary to index a network drive before adding it to a library.  I just don't get it.  Apparently, Microsoft assumes everyone using a network is a Fortune 500 IT professional, with 10,000 TB of data, requiring extreme security.  That's OK, I guess, but why can't you provide a few simple alternatives for normal, non-professional users.  I suppose "Libraries" is a cool idea, but so far I'm convinced the restrictions and incumbrances far outweigh any benefit.

    Please excuse my venting, but I have been at this all day and am extremely frustrated.  Can anyone please tell me I'm all wrong and steer me toward a solution that actually works.

    Thanks

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2009-11-08T18:56:20+00:00

    Hello and Thank You for Your advice.

    I have too much data so I tried the second alternative.

    Unfortunately my network units (S: and T:) did not show up even when i clicked the "Show all locations" button.

    So there was no way to select any folders to indexate.

    Best regards

    Kermit_If

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments