Can't add folder on network share to library

rverboom said:

I found this solution on the ms site:

The "Search programs and files" box on the Start menu does not search files on network locations that are not indexed in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2

Interesting, but sorry to say, this is neither a solution nor does it really help. This is not even a workaround, let me explain why:

1) The hotfix does not allow to index contents in a network share (also not if network share that has been tweaked into a library), but just allows a sluggish file search over the network. This takes a lot longer than searching an index and other software can do this a lot better.

2) Even if you do find results on the network, the only thing you will be able to do is search for the NAMES of the files but absolutely not the content. That makes it more or less useless and does not help anyone further.

I have tested this on 2 PCs running Windows 7 64 Bit SP1 (with the latest updates installed) and can confirm that files are only found when searching for the name but no chance when searching for the content.

The hotfix seems to be quite old anyway and I can't install it on both PCs as it says it wouldn't be applicable for my system - I assume it is already part of the later Windows Updates.

I summarize that we had another interesting track but are still where we have been from the beginning of this thread: network drives / UNC shares cannot be added to the search index of Windows 7.

sic

I'm experiencing this problem on my new laptop. My old laptop worked perfectly. The only difference I can see is that I'm now on 64bit Windows 7 whereas before it was 32bit.

My remote share is a Linux box running Samba. The libraries feature works perfectly from my old laptop but I can't get it working on my new laptop. I've made a video to show you where it goes wrong with the "This network location can't be included because it is not indexed" error.

YouTube - This network location can't be included because it is not indexed - Windows 7 error

I'm stumped and tried lots of workarounds (mklink, unc path, net use drive mapping) and I'm at a loss to understand what has changed between the 32bit version and the 64bit? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

All I want to do is use native Windows software on my laptop to play my MP3s across the network, I don't want to store them offline (defeats the object).

Is this the same problem people on this thread are facing?

I would suggest that you read the whole thread first rather than asking what this thread is about (like others did who have contributed to the discussion).

Whilst the original discussion related to the topic "can't add folder on network share to library" (that seems to be your issue), the last part of the thread was relating to the indexing (Windows Search) of network drives (be it as part of a library or not).

Anyway, read the thread yourself and you will understand.

I read the whole thread and I don't understand the problem I'm facing....hence my post.

I thought the title of this thread was related to my problem.

jimbobwin, the problem is that after XP (Windows NT v5.1*), Microsoft "DID" something to the system whereby one PC can map a drive to a share on another PC/server. It is somehow tied in with Libraries, but it seems impossible to get a sensible story as to what exactly the problem is. For some users, everything works OK, for others it does not. This thread, on this forum has not been able to come up with a satisfactory solution to everyone's problems in this area. Microsoft themselves do not seem to be aware of the problem, so the chances of a proper fix seem to be as remote as ever. Good Luck!
* Vista is NT v6.0 "Windows 7" is actually NT v6.1

@Jimbo:

I do not think you have read the thread completely or properly.

If you have issues adding a network drive/UNC share to a library (which I think is the issue you are describing), then you would have found the free Win 7 Library Tool (Zorn software) that does this. Yes, it has been mentioned in this thread multiple times. Did you try that?

I am just interested in the search issue (which will apparently never be fixed) and use the Win 7 Library tool to manage libraries. I do not really need the libraries under Windows 7 though - they were suggested as a potential workaround to the search issue which was a red herring though.

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

@Michael:

I do not agree at all.

Windows 7 Home users neither have the offline option available nor is this what most users would want, even if they were able to.

If I have a NAS holding 2 TB of data as the maximum, then I do not want to replicate all the data to my local disks - I want to create a fulltext index of my documents, that's it. Apart from the fact that "make available offline" would obviously generate a lot more network traffic than the indexing ever would!

Windows Search under XP and VISTA was able to do it, other tools such as Copernic Desktop Search can do it in no time and there's no reason to claim it would no longer be "useful" to do this. Who says that? Just you?

What do you mean "Yes, this does make more sense than indexing a whole 1TB of information"?

It is my decision whether I want to index 1 TB or 2 TB of data and if my hardware and network is able to handle the load (I say yes, no doubts at all) - this not a concern for Microsoft and not for you, but just for the individual customer.

Also I think we know by now how we can add non-indexed folders to a library. Still, this hasn't anything to do with indexing of UNC drives.

Interesting reading all "theories" here. The answer here is much simpler than many think. First, what was the original question? It was how to add networked locations to libraries. Not about indexing or not. I do understand some are confused about the message that a location cannot be added to a library because it is not indexed. Still, the issue is to add locations, not how to index them.

What do we KNOW works with libraries (as default)?

1. You can add any networked location (share) that resides on the sharing box under c:\users. You cannot add a networked location that is anywhere else, eg. c:\secrets. Please note there that you CAN add any new subfolder to c:\users, share it, and then on the "client" add it to a library. So, there must be something special about everything under c:\users. File permissions? No, I tried that. To be frank I don't know yet what it is. Testing still going on.

2. The "funny" part. Like someone pointed out MEDIA CENTER (on the "client" machine) can add ANY networked location to libraries! How do you do it? You simply add the networked location into Media Center under "Music", "Pictures", "Videos", "Movies" or "Recorded TV" (doesn't matter what type of files are in the networked location). What happends? Media Center will show the networked location (files) in the Media Center library, but ALSO will it show up in Windows Explorer in the same library. eg. "Music".

What does this mean? Media Center can do it, but not Windows Explorer! Why? Well, that the next step I am going to figure out.

For people on eg. domains that want to add eg. the personal "home" folder on the server to the client's library, can do it with help of Media Center. Unfortunately Media Center do not have "Documents", so you can only choose among "Music", "Pictures, "Videos", "Movies" and "Recorded TV".

So to make it simple, could we now just concentrate on why Windows Explorer cannot add the shared locations to a Library, when Media Center can. As an option answer the question why Windows Explorer can only add network locations to libraries, where the network location resides on the "server" under c:\users.

I figured out how to with Windows Explorer add any networked location:

Even if the properties for a folder says (aprox - I use German Windows) "Allow this folder to be indexed", it does not mean it is indexed! To index something you need to open (aprox) "Indexing Options" in control panel. Here you see some locations / folders by default. One of the is c:\users ... :P
Lets say you have a folder c:\secrets, which is shared as \\MYBOX\Secrets, and you want "clients" mahcines to be able to add it to their libraries, simply add this folder (c:\secrets) to the indexing in Control Panel on the "server". Voila! Can be added to libraries on the "clients", and it doesn't say that (aprox) "some library functions are not available"!

Think this is solved(?). At least if the "server" is running indexing like on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 (R2?), etc.

PS. If someone figure out why Media Center can add unindexed locations to libraries, I am most interesting to know. I have some work to do now ...