Shared folders, network computers, flash drives, disks are not displayed on the "Network" tab of Windows Explorer. Configuring the shared folder of the main and guest operating systems in VirtualBox Sees the windows 7 shared folder

Hey! For those who are not in the subject, I'll start from afar. On computers and laptops with installed Windows in the explorer there is a separate tab "Network". This tab displays devices from Network Neighborhood. That is, by opening the "Network" tab, we can observe computers, network attached storages (NAS), multimedia devices (DLNA), flash drives and external drives that are connected to the router and configured for sharing. Simply put, those devices that are connected through one router (are on the same network) and on which the function is enabled network discovery (devices that can be found in local network) ... Our router can also be displayed there. (section "Network Infrastructure") and other devices.

Now I will explain what and how, and why I decided to write this article at all. I have an ASUS router that I connected to USB stick, and set up general access to this flash drive for all devices on the network. And what do you think, in the "Network" section on all computers this network drive appeared (it appears there as "Computer") and it didn't show up on my computer. That is, my computer did not see a USB flash drive connected to the router, or other computers on this network. But the DLNA server was displayed running on the same router. But that doesn't change anything, since I need a regular one network access to the drive.

Also, I could not access the flash drive when I typed its address //192.168.1.1 in the explorer. This address was immediately opened through the browser. And I was unable to connect this drive as a network drive. It simply wasn't on the list of available devices in the network environment.

Such a problem when Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 does not see network devices- Not unusual. It doesn't have to be a flash drive, or an external HDD that you connected to your router, as in my case. Most often, they configure shared access between computers on a local network. And in the same way, they face the problem when computers are connected to the same network. (to one router), the sharing settings are correct, but the "Network" tab is empty. Or, only the router and your computer are displayed.

Since there can be many reasons and, accordingly, solutions, I will probably start with the simplest (which didn't help me) and at the end of this article I will share the solution that helped in my case. As a result, my laptop still saw all the devices on the network. Including a network drive and another computer that is also connected to this network.

But this does not mean that you have the same case. Therefore, I advise you to check all the settings in order.

Checking the sharing settings

We will consider two cases:

When computers do not see each other on the local network.
Sharing the NAS. We can have a flash drive, or HDD which is connected to the router, or a separate drive (aka NAS).

First case

For computers to be able to see each other and appear in the explorer in the "Network" section, they must be connected through the same router. Or directly connected (by cable, or via Wi-Fi)... Simply put, they must be on the same local network.

Further, on all computers (I don't know how many you have there), it is desirable to assign the network status "Home" (private). How to do this in Windows 10, I wrote in the article. In Windows 7, just go to the "Network and Sharing Center" and change the status of the current connection there.

If after that by old computer does not detect other computers (or vice versa), then let's check the sharing settings.

To do this, in the "Network and Sharing Center" window (if you do not know how to open it in Windows 10, then see the article) click on the item "Change Extra options general access ".

And for the current profile, set the parameters as in the screenshot below.

Do it on all computers on the local network.

Articles on this topic:

As a rule, these tips solve all problems with detecting computers on the local network.

Second case

When you have problems accessing your NAS. As in my case. Windows 10 did not see the USB drive that was connected to the ASUS router. Many routers now have a USB port for connecting drives and other devices, so the topic is relevant.

You need to make sure that this drive is defined in the settings of the router, and public access to it is enabled. It is clear that on different routers, this is done in different ways. On ASUS routers for example, it looks like this:

Don't confuse sharing settings with FTP settings. In this case, the FTP server settings on the router have nothing to do with it.

Well, if other devices see the network drive and have access to it, but on a particular computer there is no access to it, then the problem is not on the side of the router. Go through the settings of the "problem" PC in this article.

Antivirus or firewall might block network devices

If your antivirus or firewall (firewall) installed on your computer does not like something, then it can easily make it so that neither you can see other devices in the network environment, nor can anyone detect you.

True, after disabling the built-in firewall in the antivirus, the problem was not solved (which means that the problem is most likely not in him), but everything seems to me exactly that in my case it was not without the participation of an antivirus.

Therefore, try to completely stop the antivirus for a while, or at least disable the built-in firewall (firewall)... NOD 32 does it like this:

To check this you need to do on all computers that will participate in the local network.

It is possible that you have some other programs installed that can monitor the network and manage network connections.

If it turns out that the problem is in the antivirus, then you need to add your network to the exceptions. Prevent the firewall from blocking the network itself, or network devices.

If you do not have an antivirus, then you can experiment with disabling / enabling the Windows built-in firewall.

Working group

The workgroup should be the same on all devices. As a rule, it is. But it is advisable to check. To do this, open the computer properties "System" and go to "Advanced system settings".

The "Working Group" will be listed there. To change it, you need to click on the "Change" button.

Once again, the workgroup name must be the same on all computers.

If you have a problem accessing your NAS (to a USB flash drive through a router), then the working group is also indicated in the sharing settings on the same ASUS router. You can see the screenshot above in the article. It should be the same as on the computer.

Problem with accessing network share via SMB1 on Windows 10 (my solution)

Let's go back specifically to my problem. Everything that I described above has been checked and rechecked 10 times already. I did it a couple of times, but Windows 10 never saw other computers on the network, and most importantly, the shared folder in the form of a flash connected to the router did not appear in the explorer. And on other devices on the network, everything was determined without problems. Including my laptop.

I read somewhere that you can try to open the shared folder through the Run window. Pressed the key combination Win + R, entered the address of the network folder //192.168.1.1 (aka the address of the router).

I didn't get access to the drive, but an interesting error appeared:

You cannot connect to the shared folder because it is insecure. This shared folder uses the legacy SMB1 protocol, which is insecure and could put your system at risk of attack.

Your system must be using SMB2 or later.

This is already interesting. At least something.

SMB (Server Message Block) - network protocol, which is responsible for sharing files, printers and other network devices.

I started looking. And it turns out that Windows 10 has dropped the SMB1 protocol. For security. And the Samba software package installed on my router runs over the SMB1 protocol. Therefore, Windows 10 does not see it. But other computers that also work on Windows 10 were also not displayed on the "Network" tab for me.

Since I could not update the protocol to SMB2 in the router settings, I decided that I needed to somehow enable SMB1 support in Windows 10. And as it turned out, this can be done without any problems. As a result, after connecting the "Client SMB 1.0 / CIFS" component, everything worked for me. The system saw shared folders on computers on the network and a network folder configured on the router itself.

How to enable SMB1 in Windows 10?

Search for and open the old "Control Panel".

Switch to Small Icons and open Programs and Features.

Open "Enable or Disable Windows components". Find the item" Support for sharing files SMB 1.0 / CIFS ". Open it and put a check mark next to" Client SMB 1.0 / CIFS ". Click Ok.

If the computer is prompted to restart, then restart it. If there is no window with a proposal, then reboot manually.

After rebooting, on the "Network" - "Computer" tab, all available devices on your network.

I would be glad if this article is useful to someone and helps to solve the problem. Do not forget to write in the comments about the results. Or ask a question, where can we go without them 🙂

The latter, despite a lot of advantages, is still inferior in many aspects. For example, unlike the paid VMware Workstation, VirtualBox is completely free. And if the virtual machine is created on 64-bit Windows, with using VirtualBox you can install a 32-bit Windows guest on it. A 32-bit guest OS will run a little faster than a 64-bit one, which will need to be installed on virtual machine based on 64-bit Windows as well.

But where VirtualBox loses unconditionally is in the process of setting shared folder main and guest OS. In the VMware Workstation program, this process, which, by the way, was discussed earlier on the site, is simplified to the utmost. While in VirtualBox program Configuring a shared folder requires several separate steps - assigning a shared folder, installing custom guest OS add-ons, and connecting the shared folder to be displayed in Explorer using the Windows command line.

Well, the road will be mastered by the one walking, so let's get down to business directly.
But first about the prerequisites. To add a shared folder, virtual machines in VirtualBox for which these folders are connected must be turned off, not paused and saved.

1. Adding a shared folder for the main and guest OS

Select a virtual machine for which you need to configure a folder shared with the main OS, if there are several (virtual machines) created. In the VirtualBox manager window, click the button on the program toolbar “ Tune».

The virtual machine settings window will open. On the left, select the section " Shared folders". On the right, we press the button in the form of a folder with a plus sign - this is a browse button for selecting a folder, which is intended to become common with the main and guest OS. In Explorer, select a folder on a real computer or create a new one specifically for working with two systems. In the window for adding a shared folder, put a tick on the option " Auto-connect"And click" OK". To protect yourself from a possible entry of malware from the guest into the main OS, you can set the option “ Only for reading". In this case, files placed in a shared folder in the main OS can be opened or copied to any other location in the guest OS. But it will be impossible to fill the shared folder with the guest OS files.

2. Installing guest OS add-ons

Now we start the virtual machine, for which a folder shared with the main OS is configured. In the menu of the VirtualBox window, select the section " Devices", And in it - the command" Mount the Guest OS Add-ons disk image».

In the VirtualBox add-ons window that opens, select the startup file.

Then follow the step-by-step wizard to install VirtualBox add-ons. In the first window, click " Next».

In the second window, also click " Next».

In the third press “ Install».

The last window for installing VirtualBox add-ons will notify you of the need to restart the virtual machine. We agree and press " Finish».

3. Mounting a shared folder using Windows command line

When the virtual machine restarts, in rare cases, the shared folder may immediately appear in Windows Explorer under the " Network". But, alas, in practice it often happens that the folder in the explorer is not displayed. And for this to happen, you need to do some actions using command line... We call the command line. If Windows 7 is installed as a guest OS, you can invoke the command line from the Start menu. If she is not in quick access, we look for it in the menu search. We call the command line as administrator.

If installed as a guest OS, the command line with administrator rights is available in the list of the context menu called on the button “ Start».

In the command line window, enter a command of the type:
net use drive_letter: \\ vboxsvr \ folder_name
In our case, the X drive is selected, and the shared folder is named “Shared_folder”. Hence, the command will look like this:
net use x: \\ vboxsvr \ Shared_folder
Enter the command and press Enter.

Now we open Windows Explorer. And in the "This computer" section with the "Network Locations" subsection expanded, we will see a shortcut to the shared folder of the main and guest OS. We click it.

If the shortcut to a shared folder is in " Network locations"Is not displayed, restart the virtual machine. So that the shared folder in the guest OS is easy access, we can bring its shortcut to the desktop.

That's it - the shared folder for the main and guest OS has been created. We can test it. Let's put a file in a shared folder on a real computer and open it from a shared folder on a virtual machine.

Did this article help you?

Updated - 2017-02-15

You have created your own with Internet access . Now is the time to take full advantage of the network. And there are not so few of them. But first, we'll look at how to make a shared folder.

You will not run with a flash drive from computer to computer. Having a local network is just ridiculous and inconvenient. A local network is created in order to share resources. Can be shared all tough disk, but you can create a separate folder and store documents in it for general use.

You will have your own file server with file hosting. Moreover, this folder will be opened from your computer, and you do not need to search for it throughout the network. Everything is quite simple and does not require any material costs. It is enough to set up the sharing of this folder .

How to make a shared folder

We have already created a small one, and now we can make a folder common for all computers.

Create a new folder on any computer in the network and name it “ My files"(You can call it your own way). We click on this folder with the right mouse button and in the drop-down menu select the item Sharing and security.

A window will open Properties: Your folder name ... In the tab Access check the boxes Share this folder and.

For Windows 7 the selection in the list will be like this: -Shared - Home group(read and write) -

V WindowsXP the following window will open.

Everything is clear with the first point, but I will explain a little about the second. The fact is that if you do not check the box Allow modification of files over the network , then the person who opened your folder on his computer will only be able to view the files, but he will not be able to delete them and change anything in them. Sometimes this feature is very useful. If you are confident in your network partner, then check this box, and if not, then it is better to secure your files.

At work I have one folder on my computer, which contains the files necessary for the programs to work. In order not to go to all the offices with a flash drive or disk. Especially if I have DVD disc, and the drive on some computer does not read it, then this is very inconvenient.

And so I sit down at someone else's computer, open my folder over the network and install the necessary program... And so that someone foolishly does not delete these files, I do not have a check mark on the item Allow modification of files ... But you can copy these files. So - see for yourself.

Now let's configure it so that other users of your network can open this folder on their computers. To do this, go to another computer and click on the icon on the desktop network environment .

A window will open network environment .

Select the entry on the left Show workgroup computers and click on it with the mouse.

The following window will open.

Select the computer on which your file sharing folder was created and open it. You certainly won't have that many computers.

Find the network folder icon. I have this " My files". And drag or copy it to your Desktop.

System administrators call this share a folder.

Now you do not have to search the network for this folder every time. The files will be stored on the computer on which this folder was created. Likewise, you can create any folder on any computer connected to your network and share files.

So we have considered the question - how to make a shared folder.

Hi admin! After installing the Fall Creators Update 1709 on Windows 10, I cannot access the network share from my computer. Interestingly, the computer stopped accessing only some network folders on the NAS and some other computers on the local network (not the domain).

When trying to open a network folder, the following error occurs:

You cannot access this shared folder because your organization's security policies block unauthenticated guest access. These policies help protect your computer from unsafe or malicious devices on the network.

An error occurred while reconnecting Y: to
\\ nas1 \ share Microsoft Windows Network: You can’t access this shared folder because your organization’s security policies block unauthenticated guest access. These policies help protect your PC from unsafe or malicious devices on the network.

I haven't updated other computers to 1709 yet, and network access works fine on them. What can be done in this case? Roll back 1709?

Answer

Most likely, the point is that as part of the gradual disabling of old insecure versions of the SMB protocol (remember the attack that was just implemented through the hole in SMB 1), Microsoft in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update ( Windows editions 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education) and Windows Server 1709 (both in Datacenter and Standard), in addition to full, by default, it also began to block access under the guest account on remote server over the SMBv2 protocol. The fact is that when accessing under a guest account, such traffic protection methods as signing and are not applied, which makes this type of access vulnerable against MiTM attacks.

In Windows 10 Home and Pro 1709, these changes were not applied.

When you try to connect like this, just such an error appears. And in the SMB client log (Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient) the following is recorded:

Rejected an insecure guest logon.

That is why when accessing SMBv2 network folders under a guest account (in most cases, the NAS includes guest access) or to balls on older OS versions (according to the published supported versions of SMB in various Windows versions SMB 2.0 is used in Windows Server 2008 and WIndows Vista SP1, and SMB 2.1 on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7).

To enable access under a guest account, you need to use the editor group policies(gpedit.msc) under:

Computer Configuration -> Administrative templates -> Network -> Lanman Workstation (Work station Lanman) enable policy Enable insecure guest logons.

Or create the following registry key:

HKLM \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ LanmanWorkstation \ Parameters “AllowInsecureGuestAuth”= Dword: 1

If this decision did not help, perhaps your NAS (or other remote device that provides access to network folders via SMB) only support SMBv1. Try enabling this protocol on the client (Windows Features -> SMB 1.0 / CIFS File Sharing Support -> SMB 1.0 / CIFS Client).

However, you should be aware that this workaround is not recommended because puts your system at risk.

In order to make a network folder in Windows XP, create a folder, for example "Network folder", right-click on it and select " Properties".

In the properties window, go to the " Access"and check the boxes next to" Share this folder"if you want network users to be able to change (add, delete) files in this folder, check the box-" Allow modification of files over the network".

This completes the creation of a network folder (it is called a "ball"). As you can see, a hand appeared at the bottom of the folder, which means that the folder is a network folder.

So that other users can see it on the network, you need to go to network environment , select " Show workgroup computers", find the computer on which the network (shared) folder is located, click on it and see the shared network folder there.

You can press "Start" - "Run" or keyboard shortcut "Win" + "R", to introduce //<имя или IP компьютера> , for example // comp, press the Enter key, all shared folders on the computer will open.

network drive .

How to make a network folder in Windows 7.

Properties".

In the properties window, go to the " Access"and click" General access".

Now you need to add the required users and grant them the appropriate access, in this example full access(the ability to change and delete files) to the folder will be for everyone. In the Add field, select " Everything", in the column Permission level choose " Read and write", press" General access".

Ready".

Then go to " Start "-" Control Panel "-"or click on the button Network connection in the Taskbar and select "Network and Sharing Center".

In the opened window Network and Sharing Center see which network is used (in this example - Working) click on "".

In the profile you are using (home, work, or general), make the necessary changes, namely:

Drop down below and:

Save your changes.

This completes the configuration of the network folder in Windows7.

A computer, click on the right " Network", select the computer on which the network folder, all shared folders on your computer will open on the right.

Another way is to press "Start" or keyboard shortcut "Win" + "R" and introduce //<имя или IP компьютера> , for example // User-PC.

For ease of use, a network folder can be connected network drive .

How to make a network folder in Windows 8.

In order to make a network folder in Windows 7, create a folder, right-click on it and select " Properties".

In the properties window, go to the " Access"and click" General access".

Now you need to add the necessary users and grant them the appropriate access; in this example, everyone will have full access to the folder (the right to change and delete files). In the Add field, select " Everything"and in the column Permission level choose " Read and write", press" General access".

A message window will open stating that the pack has become networked. Click " Ready".

After that go to "Control Panel" - "Network and Sharing Center"or click on the button Network connection on the Taskbar and select "Network and Sharing Center".

In the window that opens, see which network is used (in this example - Public) click on " Change advanced sharing options".

In the profile you are using (private, guest or public), make the necessary changes, namely:

Turn on network discovery;

Turn on file and printer sharing;

Go to the " All networks":

Turn on sharing so that network users can read and write files in shared folders.

Disable password protected sharing.

Save your changes.

This completes the configuration of the network folder in Windows8.

To use a network folder, go to A computer, click on the right " Network", select the computer on which the network folder is located by clicking on required computer, all its shared folders will open on the right.

Another way is to press the keyboard shortcut "Win" + "R", enter //<имя или IP адрес компьютера> , for example // pk2... Pressing Enter will open a window with shared computer folders.

For convenience, the shared folder can be connected network drive .

I hope now you are independent of the operating room Windows systems XP / Windows 7 / Windows 8, you can share the folder without any problems.