I would like to change the location of my lobraries in Win 7 to a network drive but every time I change the location, it says it cannot be used because it's not indexed, so how do I get a network drive to be indexed or if there is a way around it I'd accept that too.

Hi FSB Computers, To index a network folder or drive, you should right-click on it and select "Always Available offline". Then it can be indexed, and added to libraries as well. I wish it helps. Cecilia Zhou

This does not help with a multi-TB NAS. We do not want this files stored on our user's PCs. Since most companies will recommend that users do not store files on their local PC, how is search useful at all?Caleb

This does not help with a multi-TB NAS. We do not want this files stored on our user's PCs. Since most companies will recommend that users do not store files on their local PC, how is search useful at all?Caleb

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library===========================1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder.4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library.Cecilia Zhou

Hi FSB Computers, To index a network folder or drive, you should right-click on it and select "Always Available offline". Then it can be indexed, and added to libraries as well. I wish it helps. Cecilia Zhou In Windows Hlep and Support->Libraries: frequently asked questions You can find the following notes: If you don't see the Always available offline command in the right-click menu for a network folder, you might be using an edition of Windows 7 that doesn't support offline files. If the network folder you're trying to include is stored on a computer that's running an older version of Windows, you might be able to make it compatible with Windows 7 libraries by installing Windows Search 4.0 on the computer, and then indexing it.Cecilia Zhou

Hi FSB Computers, To index a network folder or drive, you should right-click on it and select "Always Available offline". Then it can be indexed, and added to libraries as well. I wish it helps. Cecilia Zhou In Windows Hlep and Support->Libraries: frequently asked questions You can find the following notes: If you don't see the Always available offline command in the right-click menu for a network folder, you might be using an edition of Windows 7 that doesn't support offline files. If the network folder you're trying to include is stored on a computer that's running an older version of Windows, you might be able to make it compatible with Windows 7 libraries by installing Windows Search 4.0 on the computer, and then indexing it.Cecilia Zhou

I was able to get this to work in another manor. I installed Windows Search 4 on to the file server (as mentioned in other articles to get the server to index the files.) This initially didn't work either. So i then added to the Windows Index options (on the server) the UNC path even though it was indexing the files via the local share path (d:\media). e.g. the shared folder "D:\Media" was indexed and shared but i still couldn't add it to my Win 7 Music Library. on the win 2003 with Window Search 4 installed; Control Panel --> Indexing Options --> Advanced button --> Add UNC location tab --> added the UNC of the local server share"\\server\media". Be sure to set the index option to "index now" on the tray icon, when it's done indexing try to add the UNC to your library.

I was able to get this to work in another manor. I installed Windows Search 4 on to the file server (as mentioned in other articles to get the server to index the files.) This initially didn't work either. So i then added to the Windows Index options (on the server) the UNC path even though it was indexing the files via the local share path (d:\media). e.g. the shared folder "D:\Media" was indexed and shared but i still couldn't add it to my Win 7 Music Library. on the win 2003 with Window Search 4 installed; Control Panel --> Indexing Options --> Advanced button --> Add UNC location tab --> added the UNC of the local server share"\\server\media". Be sure to set the index option to "index now" on the tray icon, when it's done indexing try to add the UNC to your library.

Every single solution Microsoft has proposed has not provided a fix to this for me. I run Windows 7, and the UNC path plug in is not supported on x64 Windows 7. I am not able to use the solution above because the sync fails each time. Additionally, I dont see the benefit of making a NAS server enabled for offline files.Why did microsoft have to change this? UNC paths worked fine in Windows XP x86 and x64, I am so frustrated now because i cannot index unc paths or add them to Media Player.

Every single solution Microsoft has proposed has not provided a fix to this for me. I run Windows 7, and the UNC path plug in is not supported on x64 Windows 7. I am not able to use the solution above because the sync fails each time. Additionally, I dont see the benefit of making a NAS server enabled for offline files.Why did microsoft have to change this? UNC paths worked fine in Windows XP x86 and x64, I am so frustrated now because i cannot index unc paths or add them to Media Player.

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library===========================1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder.4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou--------------------On my home Windows 7 Home Premium as the only user logged on as administrator I get the message "you do not have sufficient priviledge to perform this operation". Please advise, thanks.

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library===========================1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder.4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou--------------------On my home Windows 7 Home Premium as the only user logged on as administrator I get the message "you do not have sufficient priviledge to perform this operation". Please advise, thanks.

OK, I have located how to open a command prompt as administrator (why I have to do that when LOGGED IN AS ADMINISTRATOR ONLY GOD AND MICROSOFT KNOWS).So, now how do I delete the c:\share\music folder in order to use MKLINK?Nothing can be deleted from Windows Explorer, once again I'm logged in as administrator, but windows explorer says "I need administrator permission to delete this folder", I'm prompted to continue god knows why as I get a "folder access denied you need permission from PC\USER to perform this action" where USER is my name that I am logged in with!!! Thank goodness I get prompted to TRY AGAIN,, as this is also totally useless.OK, but I have a administrator level DOS prompt open right? surely I can remove the directory there. Nope, I get an "access is denied" when logged in as an administrator command prompt and attempt to use the RD command on either the parent share folder, or its subfolder, music.All I can assume is that once a folder is included in a Library that it CANNOT BE DELETED...????Could Microsoft possibly have made this more convuluted or inoperable???Can someone at Microsoft tell me how I can get GODLIKE POWERS OVER MY OWN &%@#$$ COMPUTER before I become a Macintosh????????

OK, I have located how to open a command prompt as administrator (why I have to do that when LOGGED IN AS ADMINISTRATOR ONLY GOD AND MICROSOFT KNOWS).So, now how do I delete the c:\share\music folder in order to use MKLINK?Nothing can be deleted from Windows Explorer, once again I'm logged in as administrator, but windows explorer says "I need administrator permission to delete this folder", I'm prompted to continue god knows why as I get a "folder access denied you need permission from PC\USER to perform this action" where USER is my name that I am logged in with!!! Thank goodness I get prompted to TRY AGAIN,, as this is also totally useless.OK, but I have a administrator level DOS prompt open right? surely I can remove the directory there. Nope, I get an "access is denied" when logged in as an administrator command prompt and attempt to use the RD command on either the parent share folder, or its subfolder, music.All I can assume is that once a folder is included in a Library that it CANNOT BE DELETED...????Could Microsoft possibly have made this more convuluted or inoperable???Can someone at Microsoft tell me how I can get GODLIKE POWERS OVER MY OWN &%@#$$ COMPUTER before I become a Macintosh????????

OK, found another method that seems to work, please confirm and share with others that are tearing their hair out over this convuluted index system in Windows 7:------------ Contrary to all of the posts that I've found on forums regarding adding network folders as libraries and then having them fail to index, it is possible to do this within Windows 7. I managed to fix mine today by using a combination of symbolic links and Windows Media Centre. Obviously this works best if you are trying to include a folder containing Music, Pictures, Videos or Movies etc. although you can also do this for your Documents folder if you like. To include a network folder in a library and have it indexed by Windows 7, follows these instructions: Open Windows Explorer and click Map Network Drive. Set the Drive letter and Folder then click Finish. I did this for my Music folder which is stored on my NAS, so I mapped M: to \\10.1.1.2\Music for example. In Windows Explorer navigate to C:\Users\Username, right-click My Music folder and select Properties from the popup-menu. Click the Location tab then click the Move... button. In the Select a Destination dialog click Computer, select the new M: drive, then click the Select Folder button, or just type M: in the textbox. Click OK. When asked if you want to move all of the files from the old location to the new location click No. Open Windows Media Centre and navigate to Tasks | Settings. Click Media Libraries. Select the Music radio button then click Next. Select the Add folders to the library radio button then click Next. Select the On this computer (includes mapped network drives) radio button then click Next. Tick the checkbox next to the M: network folder containing your Music, e.g. mine was \\10.1.1.2\Music (M:), then click Next. Select the Yes, use these locations radio button then click the Finish button. Wait for Windows Media Centre to finish indexing your folder. Close and re-open Windows Explorer and navigate to your Music library. You should see that it is now pointing to your network folder. If you try the search in the top-right you'll find that it is also indexed. Btw, I accidentally indexed the same folder twice while doing this so make sure you don't do the same thing! If you do you'll need to go back into Windows Media Centre and select the Remove folders from library radio button. Enjoy! Cheers, Richard

OK, found another method that seems to work, please confirm and share with others that are tearing their hair out over this convuluted index system in Windows 7: Well done Richard, this actually works! I have a sneaking suspicion that you have to update the index by running Media Center every time you've added files but at least it's better than not having the files indexed at all. I think MS is preventing us from indexing UNC paths on purpose, to make it harder for people who use Linux or NAS servers instead of Microsoft ones (where the server provides the indexing). But really for home users that doesn't make sense, most of us use NAS drives for storage these days since it can always be on without using the power that a real server would and is an easy way to share files around the house without having the main PC on all the time... I guess the argument is that it makes more sense for the server to index the files, so each client doesn't have to build its own index, and that does make sense but not for a NAS drive and Linux Samba server doesn't have the necessary Microsoft-compatible indexing feature (yet), even though Microsoft have made the protocol specification public. -- Tom

OK, found another method that seems to work, please confirm and share with others that are tearing their hair out over this convuluted index system in Windows 7: Well done Richard, this actually works! I have a sneaking suspicion that you have to update the index by running Media Center every time you've added files but at least it's better than not having the files indexed at all. I think MS is preventing us from indexing UNC paths on purpose, to make it harder for people who use Linux or NAS servers instead of Microsoft ones (where the server provides the indexing). But really for home users that doesn't make sense, most of us use NAS drives for storage these days since it can always be on without using the power that a real server would and is an easy way to share files around the house without having the main PC on all the time... I guess the argument is that it makes more sense for the server to index the files, so each client doesn't have to build its own index, and that does make sense but not for a NAS drive and Linux Samba server doesn't have the necessary Microsoft-compatible indexing feature (yet), even though Microsoft have made the protocol specification public. -- Tom

This is how I did it: Open Sync Center in Control Panel. In the left column select Manage Offline Files. In the next screen select Enable Offline Files. Reboot your PC. After rebooting browse to the folder (S) that you want to include in your new library. Right click each one and select "Always Available Offline". You can now add these folder to whatever Library you want or create a new Library for them. Once you have added them you can then go back into Manage Offline Files and select "Diasble Offline Files". The libraries you created will still be available but you will no longer have offline files enabled which in a home environment is advantageous, especially if you don't have a laptop. Hope it works for you.

This is how I did it: Open Sync Center in Control Panel. In the left column select Manage Offline Files. In the next screen select Enable Offline Files. Reboot your PC. After rebooting browse to the folder (S) that you want to include in your new library. Right click each one and select "Always Available Offline". You can now add these folder to whatever Library you want or create a new Library for them. Once you have added them you can then go back into Manage Offline Files and select "Diasble Offline Files". The libraries you created will still be available but you will no longer have offline files enabled which in a home environment is advantageous, especially if you don't have a laptop. Hope it works for you.

== This is how to search network files and index network files without having to store a copy on your own dam computer. == So after a long hard search i have found the answer to my own problem. (putting up with this for 3 months) This patch allows you to add network files to the index without having to make them "always available offline". It will add a tab in the Indexing Options menu called "Add UNC Location" this is where you add the path of the network folder. UNCFATPHInstaller.msi http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&FamilyID=f7e981d9-5a3b-4872-a07e-220761e27283 always available offline is not a real solution for network storage, you can't make 2TB available offline if you have a 200GB hard drive

craigman86, I don't know if that add-on will work with Win7 but the description clearly says it won't work in x64. I agree, "always available offline" is not an option. It's looking like it's time to return to Google Desktop Search :-( Not my fave but it's better than nothing.

craigman86, I don't know if that add-on will work with Win7 but the description clearly says it won't work in x64. I agree, "always available offline" is not an option. It's looking like it's time to return to Google Desktop Search :-( Not my fave but it's better than nothing.

My solution about 3 steps up in this thread has worked for me on 3 different Win7 machines, 2 32-bit & 1 64-bit. Once you turn offline files back off everything stays available and there are no offline files on your PC.

My solution about 3 steps up in this thread has worked for me on 3 different Win7 machines, 2 32-bit & 1 64-bit. Once you turn offline files back off everything stays available and there are no offline files on your PC.

Hi, The original question was how to index a network share but I assume that for most people this is required to add this share into libraries. As I discovered yesterday there seems to be a third way by editing the xml files that contain the information about the libraries. These files are located unter %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries I have put a few more information and a very basic command line program that adds folders to libraries onto a website: http://i-link.de/IncludeAnyInLibrary (lower half is in English language) regards, Markus

Remember, Microsoft offers a Home Server that they would like you to buy!

Remember, Microsoft offers a Home Server that they would like you to buy!

Hi, The original question was how to index a network share but I assume that for most people this is required to add this share into libraries. As I discovered yesterday there seems to be a third way by editing the xml files that contain the information about the libraries. These files are located unter %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries I have put a few more information and a very basic command line program that adds folders to libraries onto a website: http://i-link.de/IncludeAnyInLibrary (lower half is in English language) regards, Markus Thank you SO much Markus for your input to this thread. While I did not use your offering it was your input and the link you provided which led me to http://zornsoftware.talsit.info/?page_id=37&did=2 which you cited in your page. THANK YOU! In less time than it took me to type this I had my NAS folder mapped into my libraries and .... THANK YOU (again!)! http://zornsoftware.talsit.info/?page_id=37&did=2 - It works, it's simple, it's free and best of all... it's NOT MICROSLOTH.

Hi, The original question was how to index a network share but I assume that for most people this is required to add this share into libraries. As I discovered yesterday there seems to be a third way by editing the xml files that contain the information about the libraries. These files are located unter %AppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries I have put a few more information and a very basic command line program that adds folders to libraries onto a website: http://i-link.de/IncludeAnyInLibrary (lower half is in English language) regards, Markus Thank you SO much Markus for your input to this thread. While I did not use your offering it was your input and the link you provided which led me to http://zornsoftware.talsit.info/?page_id=37&did=2 which you cited in your page. THANK YOU! In less time than it took me to type this I had my NAS folder mapped into my libraries and .... THANK YOU (again!)! http://zornsoftware.talsit.info/?page_id=37&did=2 - It works, it's simple, it's free and best of all... it's NOT MICROSLOTH.

I've also struggled with this on a small network with Windows 7 clients and a new Server 2008 R2 server. I wanted to include various documents, pictures, etc...into each workstation's library. The main frustration I had was understanding what an "indexed network location" really means...after fighting with indexing services and playing with indexing options on the workstations, I found something that worked. It would be great if Microsoft could actually document this somewhere! 1) On Windows 2008 R2 server, do NOT install the indexing service! It's a Server 2003 version that is not recognized by Windows 7 clients. Instead, install the "Windows Search Service" - you can only pick one or the other so make sure you select Windows Search Service - it's one of the roles under File Services. 2) The install wizard should ask you which folders/drives you want to index - choose any data drive (recommend NOT selecting the system/boot drives) that contains files you want to include in your Windows 7 library on the workstations. If you missed this during the install, you can go back to CONTROL PANEL and type "indexing" into the search box to find the indexing options and customize it there (exactly the same way you do with Windows 7). 3) As soon as the drives have been added, you can now include any locations on those drives in your Windows 7 workstation libraries (even before the server finishes indexing). You will no longer get any warnings that "some locations are not indexed"...everything works as it should! Three steps that wouldn't be hard for Microsoft to document somewhere! Good luck...

My network contains several Terabytes of information. My local drive is 250GB. How can my local drive hold several terabyes of information? The whole reason to put things on the network server is utilize the server's larger disks. The local PC workstations don't have such resources -- they are not servers.

My network contains several Terabytes of information. My local drive is 250GB. How can my local drive hold several terabyes of information? The whole reason to put things on the network server is utilize the server's larger disks. The local PC workstations don't have such resources -- they are not servers.

This will fix the issue for Win 7 32bit machines: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&FamilyID=f7e981d9-5a3b-4872-a07e-220761e27283 Or This will work for 32bit & 64bit: http://zornsoftware.talsit.info/ I am using this one with no problems.

This will fix the issue for Win 7 32bit machines: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&FamilyID=f7e981d9-5a3b-4872-a07e-220761e27283 Or This will work for 32bit & 64bit: http://zornsoftware.talsit.info/ I am using this one with no problems.

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library =========================== 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share 2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music 2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder. 4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music 5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou For what it's worth, this procedure worked for me on a x64 Windows 7 machine against a D-Link NAS. Thanks Cecilia!Peter

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library =========================== 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share 2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music 2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder. 4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music 5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou For what it's worth, this procedure worked for me on a x64 Windows 7 machine against a D-Link NAS. Thanks Cecilia!Peter

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library =========================== 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share 2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music 2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder. 4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music 5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou -------------------- On my home Windows 7 Home Premium as the only user logged on as administrator I get the message "you do not have sufficient priviledge to perform this operation". Please advise, thanks. You must run the command from an elevated command prompt, even when logged in as a local admin you must request an elevated prompt. Use the start menu search, type 'cmd', right click search result 'cmd.exe' and select 'Run as administrator'.

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library =========================== 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share 2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music 2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder. 4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music 5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou -------------------- On my home Windows 7 Home Premium as the only user logged on as administrator I get the message "you do not have sufficient priviledge to perform this operation". Please advise, thanks. You must run the command from an elevated command prompt, even when logged in as a local admin you must request an elevated prompt. Use the start menu search, type 'cmd', right click search result 'cmd.exe' and select 'Run as administrator'.

Looks like I'll try the third-party tool to fix this. Disappointing that Microsoft can't fix this. Does Microsoft not have any Windows 7 programmers who can fix this? Same thing with their Windows Desktop Search group. Maybe they're all stuck on Vista and no one has gotten them a copy of Windows 7 x64.

Looks like I'll try the third-party tool to fix this. Disappointing that Microsoft can't fix this. Does Microsoft not have any Windows 7 programmers who can fix this? Same thing with their Windows Desktop Search group. Maybe they're all stuck on Vista and no one has gotten them a copy of Windows 7 x64.

Well I solved this one. You need to create a batch file like: ==> mklink /d c:\share\Indexed \\mserver\PublicAll pause ==> and then right click and run as administrator. The Solution is no good for me as i don't like to have offline files. Any way there is somthing worng with the naming / language . Why should I want "non-indexed UNC path as a library" ? Every one is looking for a way to add the UNC to the index.

UNCFATPHInstaller.msi Did not work on win 7 32 & 64 . On the 32 it killed my indexing option in control panel after a reboot

UNCFATPHInstaller.msi Did not work on win 7 32 & 64 . On the 32 it killed my indexing option in control panel after a reboot

I'm using a third-party tool (Win7 Library Tool) to fix this flaw in Windows 7. Maybe someday MS Windows 7 developers will fix this. Many great things about Windows 7, this is not one of them.

I'm using a third-party tool (Win7 Library Tool) to fix this flaw in Windows 7. Maybe someday MS Windows 7 developers will fix this. Many great things about Windows 7, this is not one of them.

THE VISTA ADDIN DOES NOT WORK WITH WINDOWS 7. SEE KB918996. THE ADDIN ALSO DOES NOT WORK WITH 32-BIT WINDOWS 7, FORGET 64-BIT. IT WORKED ON 32-BIT VISTA.Anonymuos

THE VISTA ADDIN DOES NOT WORK WITH WINDOWS 7. SEE KB918996. THE ADDIN ALSO DOES NOT WORK WITH 32-BIT WINDOWS 7, FORGET 64-BIT. IT WORKED ON 32-BIT VISTA.Anonymuos

I tried this but it did not work. Windows Media Center says there are no items in the library yet. Windows Media Player also says there are no items in my music library. Also, when I go to my music library in Windows Explorer, it says some library features are unavailable due to unsupported library locations. Hard to believe Microsoft would make it impossible to add music files from a network location.....but then again maybe not considering it is Microsoft!

I tried this but it did not work. Windows Media Center says there are no items in the library yet. Windows Media Player also says there are no items in my music library. Also, when I go to my music library in Windows Explorer, it says some library features are unavailable due to unsupported library locations. Hard to believe Microsoft would make it impossible to add music files from a network location.....but then again maybe not considering it is Microsoft!

Finally! Someone who understands why the proposed solutions are not solutions at all. Why would someone want a 'non-indexed location' in a Library? Why indeed?! This is the epitome of missing the point. I want my network locations indexed, and could care less if they are in a Library. Who gives a ____ if they are in a Library if they are not indexed? That is like asking the librarian for a book and they take you to a room with jumbled piles of books and say...well, it is somewhere in here...good luck! When I hit the Start key and start typing in a file name, I want files on my network locations to show up as results. Having it otherwise is simply retarded. I had this functionality with XP, using WDS 4. Is there really no one at M$ that understands that we use fileservers which are not Windows based, both at home and in enterprise?

Finally! Someone who understands why the proposed solutions are not solutions at all. Why would someone want a 'non-indexed location' in a Library? Why indeed?! This is the epitome of missing the point. I want my network locations indexed, and could care less if they are in a Library. Who gives a ____ if they are in a Library if they are not indexed? That is like asking the librarian for a book and they take you to a room with jumbled piles of books and say...well, it is somewhere in here...good luck! When I hit the Start key and start typing in a file name, I want files on my network locations to show up as results. Having it otherwise is simply retarded. I had this functionality with XP, using WDS 4. Is there really no one at M$ that understands that we use fileservers which are not Windows based, both at home and in enterprise?

Well MS have release hotfix KB2268596. Try installing the hotfix, add the EnableSearchingSlowLibrariesInStartMenu DWORD reg value, then install the UNC addin and try rebuilding the index. Does that now return search results from the network in places like Start search?Anonymuos

Well MS have release hotfix KB2268596. Try installing the hotfix, add the EnableSearchingSlowLibrariesInStartMenu DWORD reg value, then install the UNC addin and try rebuilding the index. Does that now return search results from the network in places like Start search?Anonymuos

The hotfix KB2268596 does not help at all with us many (more every day) using Windows 7 64-bit, since the UNCFAT addin page states clearly that 64-bit is not supported. Nevertheless, I did install the hotfix and created the DWORD value, but these do not appear to change anything. NAS drives are still not available for indexing, although, quite uselessly, they are in the Library (added with the "Windows 7 Library Tool".

The hotfix KB2268596 does not help at all with us many (more every day) using Windows 7 64-bit, since the UNCFAT addin page states clearly that 64-bit is not supported. Nevertheless, I did install the hotfix and created the DWORD value, but these do not appear to change anything. NAS drives are still not available for indexing, although, quite uselessly, they are in the Library (added with the "Windows 7 Library Tool".

How do I undo this? I started down this path on a Netbook and then realised that I didn't have Media Center, but when I tried to undo what I had done, I couldn't change the location of 'My Pictures' back to it's default - the 'location' tab had disappeared. Regards David

How do I undo this? I started down this path on a Netbook and then realised that I didn't have Media Center, but when I tried to undo what I had done, I couldn't change the location of 'My Pictures' back to it's default - the 'location' tab had disappeared. Regards David

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library =========================== 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share 2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music 2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder. 4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music 5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou Hello Cecilia, I am trying to find this MKLINK.EXE and searches keep talking about using it but I can't find it in my new Windows 7 or Windows 2008 installations? Is this part of 2008 or some extra install? thanksHector Santos, http://www.santronics.com Via Wildcat! Live Exchange NNTP Gateway http://opensite.winserver.com

Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library =========================== 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share 2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music 2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder. 4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music 5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou Hello Cecilia, I am trying to find this MKLINK.EXE and searches keep talking about using it but I can't find it in my new Windows 7 or Windows 2008 installations? Is this part of 2008 or some extra install? thanksHector Santos, http://www.santronics.com Via Wildcat! Live Exchange NNTP Gateway http://opensite.winserver.com

Never mind. I found it. MKLINK is a new COMSPEC SHELL command. Not an exe for W7/2008/VISTA.Hector Santos, http://www.santronics.com Via Wildcat! Live Exchange NNTP Gateway http://opensite.winserver.com

Never mind. I found it. MKLINK is a new COMSPEC SHELL command. Not an exe for W7/2008/VISTA.Hector Santos, http://www.santronics.com Via Wildcat! Live Exchange NNTP Gateway http://opensite.winserver.com

This works great...Very clever solution. Thanks, jon

This works great...Very clever solution. Thanks, jon

here's how i resolved it: on the server: Enable Windows Search Service 4.0 Start Indexing the local shared folder on the client: Open Start menu Right click 'Documents' Select Properties click 'include a folder' in the address bar type the UNC location (\\yourServerName\yourFolder) - I had been trying the Mapped Network drive location - M:\My Documents click 'include folder' click 'OK' please send any feedback thanks GRI

brooksbank, thanks for the instructions. My question regarding this solution is where the index file lives and where the indexing takes place? Seems that the server is doing the work, which is perfect, and that the client computers are simply accessing the index file created by the server. Is that correct? Thanks DYY

brooksbank, thanks for the instructions. My question regarding this solution is where the index file lives and where the indexing takes place? Seems that the server is doing the work, which is perfect, and that the client computers are simply accessing the index file created by the server. Is that correct? Thanks DYY

No silcott1947, the zornsoftware, (as it stated there does NOT index mapped drives)

No silcott1947, the zornsoftware, (as it stated there does NOT index mapped drives)

There is still no working suggestion for solving the topic of this thread for 64 bit win 7. There are however several suggestions how to get non-index mapped (e.g. samba drive) into the library which don't help much. Is there really no way to index a mapped samba folder on windows 7 64-bit? This actually worked very nicely in XP.

There is still no working suggestion for solving the topic of this thread for 64 bit win 7. There are however several suggestions how to get non-index mapped (e.g. samba drive) into the library which don't help much. Is there really no way to index a mapped samba folder on windows 7 64-bit? This actually worked very nicely in XP.

here's a solution... that indexes the contents of a folder on another networked computer - WITHOUT MAPPING THE NETWORK... I don't like to spend a lot of time screwing around with the "mindboggling" os conflict stuff of Microsoft with Windows 7, Vista, xp-pro, etc. THIS WORKS FOR ME... but since I'm just an "average user," I can't always explain the "intuitive" computer solutions to problems that I come up with in a sequential "step like" manner... This SOLUTION may be useful in resolving other networking conflict issues when you are using various hardware and software. The TWO computers I'm using for this example: a gaming Windows 7 x64 laptop, and an XP-Pro desktop. (I also have a Vista laptop, and another desktop with XP-home... but I don't use those that often - so I don't really care if this "solution" works on those, etc.) Anyway, I'll tell you the steps I did, though, I don't really understand "how all this works" - it just does. Some points first, before I give you a "step by step..." 1. I can always access ALL NETWORK LOCATIONS AND FILES from my "Windows 7 x64" laptop. 2. I often can't access all network locations, etc. from my XP-Pro desktop... sometimes I can, but I don't know what I have done to cause this... and it's not to important to me... as long as MY MAIN LAPTOP can access everything on the network all the time. (This probably has something to do with WIN 7 being "backwardly compatible" with previous hardware/software like XP but NOT THE REVERSE, etc. So, whenever I'm doing something "involving my network" ... I try to work "top-down" from the superior WIN 7 system, etc. OK... here's what I did... "experts" can figure out "if this is useful to you" and whether it has "other potential uses, etc." here's a rough sketch of the "problem I was having" and the solution. I often jump between two computers on my network... the win7 laptop and the xp pro desktop... and I wanted to have a "notepad file" that I use as a daily "do list," and I wanted to have it's contents change and be in sync, no matter which computer I had updated the notepad file on. Now, I know THAT CAPABILITY is simply a matter of having it shared on the network. Now I originally created the notepad file on the xp desktop. Then, I went upstairs and found the shared folder I had put it in from the desktop... and, of course, I could "change the contents of the file in sync" between the two computers... Now, the problem came in when (from my laptop I could NOT INDEX the "shared folder on my desktop.") I tried MAPPING the network drive, and IT WOULDN'T do it...(some kind of issue between win7 and xp, etc.) ANOTHER COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH occurred to me... AND THAT WORKED...so here's what was involved... and it INDEXED THE "SHARED FOLDER ON THE DESKTOP COMPUTER" without "mapping the network." ...why this works... YA GOT ME... BUT IT DOES! HERE'S HOW IT WORKS: (all below is for WIN 7 X64 networked with older systems like XP... this method may work in other cases, too) 1. I created a "notepad" file on my xp desktop. (called the file "bingo.txt") 2. Created a "folder" and named it "bingo" also. (made this a "shared folder" and put the "bingo.txt" file in it) 3. Did a "network locations" search for this folder and put it in with the other shared folders/files in the "desktop network" location. 4. Went upstairs to my "win7 laptop" a. pressed the Start button and entered "favorites" (without the quotation marks) into the little "search" rectangle that appeared just above the Start button. The "Favorites" folder appeared at the top of the list. I clicked on it and the Favorites folder opened... then I "right clicked" on the "Recent Places" folder and created a "shortcut" on my desktop. b. Now, whenever I click on any folder or file including the "shortcut to bingo.txt (which is on my win7 laptop for quick access)...well, the NETWORKED FOLDER: "bingo" suddenly shows up in "Recent Places" as a shortcut. THESE SHORTCUTS CAN BE DELETED since that's all they are ... JUST BE SURE you are still in the RECENT PLACES FOLDER. For example: I clicked on a "shared network folder" and almost deleted it by accident... NOT REALIZING THAT I WAS NO LONGER IN THE "Recent Places" folder...so, make sure before you delete. It's of course OK to "select all" and delete all the shortcuts that accumulate over time in the "Recent Places" folder, etc. Also I set the "sort" on the Recent Places folder to date/time, so that the "most recent" place I have been "is always at the top of the list. c. So, far - and this is interesting - ONLY FOLDERS SHOW UP in the locations you visit then look for in the "Recent Places" folder. So, for example, when I click on the shortcut (on my win7 laptop) for "bingo.txt"... and then later check the Recent Places folder... well, only the "shared network folder BINGO appears there!" (not the bingo.txt file that's in it... I didn't click on the actual folder, just the bingo.txt shortcut, but what appears in the Recent Places folder IS ONLY THE NETWORK FOLDER) d. Now, the mystery: (my win7 computer was "indexing" in the background all this time) WHEN I DID A SEARCH FOR "bingo" ...the "bingo.txt" file was at the top of the list... I "right clicked" on it to check the properties (thinking the index has just located the shortcut on my desktop maybe)...BUT THE PROPERTIES ...showed the "networked location" on my desktop downstairs. e. IN CONCLUSION: I now have the capability to INDEX folders/files ON OTHER NETWORKED COMPUTERS from my "win7 x64 laptop" WITHOUT HAVING TO MAP THE NETWORK DRIVE!!! (maybe because the index catches the "bingo folder" being CURRENTLY ACCESSED INDIVIDUALLY when I pull up the "Bingo.txt" by clicking it's shortcut on my laptop.... you guys can play around with this... DON'T KNOW WHY the "index" didn't show "bingo.txt" (residing on my desktop downstairs) until I placed a "shortcut" to the "Recent Places" folder on my laptop desktop screen... might have something to do with the "complex index parameters" of Win 7, etc... but I don't have the time to try an trace it down, or test it, etc. ... The win 7 indexing system MAY INDEX ANY SHARED FOLDER from another networked computer WHEN IT'S BEING ACCESSED LIVE on the win 7 computer... is probably what's happening... so I didn't have to "map the network drive" but I did have to "BE ACCESSING A FOLDER from another computer" for it to INDEX THAT FOLDER... now I don't, for example, know whether the INDEX system of my win7 laptop (running in the background) might not index a folder IF IT WAS DOING SOMETHING ELSE IN A BRIEF TIME that I was accessing the folder from the other computer. Win 7 index, from my experience, does seem to give some preference to INDEXING files you have recently or are currently accessing... if that helps. anyway, hope this helps some flashrob (my website: dimestop.com if you're interested... probably put some of my fixes there, more permanently, etc.)

here's a solution... that indexes the contents of a folder on another networked computer - WITHOUT MAPPING THE NETWORK... I don't like to spend a lot of time screwing around with the "mindboggling" os conflict stuff of Microsoft with Windows 7, Vista, xp-pro, etc. THIS WORKS FOR ME... but since I'm just an "average user," I can't always explain the "intuitive" computer solutions to problems that I come up with in a sequential "step like" manner... This SOLUTION may be useful in resolving other networking conflict issues when you are using various hardware and software. The TWO computers I'm using for this example: a gaming Windows 7 x64 laptop, and an XP-Pro desktop. (I also have a Vista laptop, and another desktop with XP-home... but I don't use those that often - so I don't really care if this "solution" works on those, etc.) Anyway, I'll tell you the steps I did, though, I don't really understand "how all this works" - it just does. Some points first, before I give you a "step by step..." 1. I can always access ALL NETWORK LOCATIONS AND FILES from my "Windows 7 x64" laptop. 2. I often can't access all network locations, etc. from my XP-Pro desktop... sometimes I can, but I don't know what I have done to cause this... and it's not to important to me... as long as MY MAIN LAPTOP can access everything on the network all the time. (This probably has something to do with WIN 7 being "backwardly compatible" with previous hardware/software like XP but NOT THE REVERSE, etc. So, whenever I'm doing something "involving my network" ... I try to work "top-down" from the superior WIN 7 system, etc. OK... here's what I did... "experts" can figure out "if this is useful to you" and whether it has "other potential uses, etc." here's a rough sketch of the "problem I was having" and the solution. I often jump between two computers on my network... the win7 laptop and the xp pro desktop... and I wanted to have a "notepad file" that I use as a daily "do list," and I wanted to have it's contents change and be in sync, no matter which computer I had updated the notepad file on. Now, I know THAT CAPABILITY is simply a matter of having it shared on the network. Now I originally created the notepad file on the xp desktop. Then, I went upstairs and found the shared folder I had put it in from the desktop... and, of course, I could "change the contents of the file in sync" between the two computers... Now, the problem came in when (from my laptop I could NOT INDEX the "shared folder on my desktop.") I tried MAPPING the network drive, and IT WOULDN'T do it...(some kind of issue between win7 and xp, etc.) ANOTHER COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH occurred to me... AND THAT WORKED...so here's what was involved... and it INDEXED THE "SHARED FOLDER ON THE DESKTOP COMPUTER" without "mapping the network." ...why this works... YA GOT ME... BUT IT DOES! HERE'S HOW IT WORKS: (all below is for WIN 7 X64 networked with older systems like XP... this method may work in other cases, too) 1. I created a "notepad" file on my xp desktop. (called the file "bingo.txt") 2. Created a "folder" and named it "bingo" also. (made this a "shared folder" and put the "bingo.txt" file in it) 3. Did a "network locations" search for this folder and put it in with the other shared folders/files in the "desktop network" location. 4. Went upstairs to my "win7 laptop" a. pressed the Start button and entered "favorites" (without the quotation marks) into the little "search" rectangle that appeared just above the Start button. The "Favorites" folder appeared at the top of the list. I clicked on it and the Favorites folder opened... then I "right clicked" on the "Recent Places" folder and created a "shortcut" on my desktop. b. Now, whenever I click on any folder or file including the "shortcut to bingo.txt (which is on my win7 laptop for quick access)...well, the NETWORKED FOLDER: "bingo" suddenly shows up in "Recent Places" as a shortcut. THESE SHORTCUTS CAN BE DELETED since that's all they are ... JUST BE SURE you are still in the RECENT PLACES FOLDER. For example: I clicked on a "shared network folder" and almost deleted it by accident... NOT REALIZING THAT I WAS NO LONGER IN THE "Recent Places" folder...so, make sure before you delete. It's of course OK to "select all" and delete all the shortcuts that accumulate over time in the "Recent Places" folder, etc. Also I set the "sort" on the Recent Places folder to date/time, so that the "most recent" place I have been "is always at the top of the list. c. So, far - and this is interesting - ONLY FOLDERS SHOW UP in the locations you visit then look for in the "Recent Places" folder. So, for example, when I click on the shortcut (on my win7 laptop) for "bingo.txt"... and then later check the Recent Places folder... well, only the "shared network folder BINGO appears there!" (not the bingo.txt file that's in it... I didn't click on the actual folder, just the bingo.txt shortcut, but what appears in the Recent Places folder IS ONLY THE NETWORK FOLDER) d. Now, the mystery: (my win7 computer was "indexing" in the background all this time) WHEN I DID A SEARCH FOR "bingo" ...the "bingo.txt" file was at the top of the list... I "right clicked" on it to check the properties (thinking the index has just located the shortcut on my desktop maybe)...BUT THE PROPERTIES ...showed the "networked location" on my desktop downstairs. e. IN CONCLUSION: I now have the capability to INDEX folders/files ON OTHER NETWORKED COMPUTERS from my "win7 x64 laptop" WITHOUT HAVING TO MAP THE NETWORK DRIVE!!! (maybe because the index catches the "bingo folder" being CURRENTLY ACCESSED INDIVIDUALLY when I pull up the "Bingo.txt" by clicking it's shortcut on my laptop.... you guys can play around with this... DON'T KNOW WHY the "index" didn't show "bingo.txt" (residing on my desktop downstairs) until I placed a "shortcut" to the "Recent Places" folder on my laptop desktop screen... might have something to do with the "complex index parameters" of Win 7, etc... but I don't have the time to try an trace it down, or test it, etc. ... The win 7 indexing system MAY INDEX ANY SHARED FOLDER from another networked computer WHEN IT'S BEING ACCESSED LIVE on the win 7 computer... is probably what's happening... so I didn't have to "map the network drive" but I did have to "BE ACCESSING A FOLDER from another computer" for it to INDEX THAT FOLDER... now I don't, for example, know whether the INDEX system of my win7 laptop (running in the background) might not index a folder IF IT WAS DOING SOMETHING ELSE IN A BRIEF TIME that I was accessing the folder from the other computer. Win 7 index, from my experience, does seem to give some preference to INDEXING files you have recently or are currently accessing... if that helps. anyway, hope this helps some flashrob (my website: dimestop.com if you're interested... probably put some of my fixes there, more permanently, etc.)

Worked Like a Charm, been searching, everyware, and I guess all everyone does is make folders offline which i didnt want, and defeated the whole purpose of haveing a files server. Thank you very much good sir, and Microsoft should have this documented/easier to find somewhere.

Worked Like a Charm, been searching, everyware, and I guess all everyone does is make folders offline which i didnt want, and defeated the whole purpose of haveing a files server. Thank you very much good sir, and Microsoft should have this documented/easier to find somewhere.

Cecilia, What a great solution! It was so easy to implement and worked like a charm. Thank you for the terrific post. Cordially, Richard Noel

Cecilia, What a great solution! It was so easy to implement and worked like a charm. Thank you for the terrific post. Cordially, Richard Noel

Cecilia, Way back on 26 August 2009, in you your post relative to the question: "How do I get windows 7 to index a network mapped drive?" you responded: Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library =========================== 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share 2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music 2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder. 4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music 5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou -- I had no problems doing what you suggested above on my Win7-64bit Ultimate workstation. Now I have two shares from my NAS showing up under libraries. That is to say, I now have tow UNC paths showing up as libraries. However, neither of these libraries / shares are indexing. The NAS is a Seagate Black Armor 440 NAS, that I believes runs on a Linux based OS such as FreeNas. Unlike a Windows Server, the NAS has no inherent ability to index itself. Is there anyway (other than making the folders "Always Available Offline) to now index these libraries / shares on the Win 7/64bit workstation? Or were you implying that, although the UNC path shares would now be in a library, they would remain unindexed by saying above, "5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library." Thanks in advance, HR.

Cecilia, Way back on 26 August 2009, in you your post relative to the question: "How do I get windows 7 to index a network mapped drive?" you responded: Or you can simply index the network files as a workaround. Add a non-indexed UNC as a library =========================== 1. Create a folder on your hard drive for shares. i.e. c:\share 2. Create another folder in the above share. i.e. c:\share\music 2. Link the Library to this folder. 3. Delete the folder. 4. Use the mklink in an elevated command prompt to make a symbolic link. Name the link the same as the folder you created above. i.e - mklink /d c:\share\music \\server\music 5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library. Cecilia Zhou -- I had no problems doing what you suggested above on my Win7-64bit Ultimate workstation. Now I have two shares from my NAS showing up under libraries. That is to say, I now have tow UNC paths showing up as libraries. However, neither of these libraries / shares are indexing. The NAS is a Seagate Black Armor 440 NAS, that I believes runs on a Linux based OS such as FreeNas. Unlike a Windows Server, the NAS has no inherent ability to index itself. Is there anyway (other than making the folders "Always Available Offline) to now index these libraries / shares on the Win 7/64bit workstation? Or were you implying that, although the UNC path shares would now be in a library, they would remain unindexed by saying above, "5. Done. Now you have non-indexed UNC path as a library." Thanks in advance, HR.

Click start -> Computer Double click C: -> Users -> "your profile" Right click Documents, left click on properties. Click on the location tab and set it to your network drive of choice. When you click apply, it will move everything to the new location.

Click start -> Computer Double click C: -> Users -> "your profile" Right click Documents, left click on properties. Click on the location tab and set it to your network drive of choice. When you click apply, it will move everything to the new location.

Click start -> Computer Double click C: -> Users -> "your profile" Right click Documents, left click on properties. Click on the location tab and set it to your network drive of choice. When you click apply, it will move everything to the new location. Pretty genius idea. I wonder if you could remap the "My Pictures" directory to the network NAS location, would Windows index it?My idea of a party is a virtualization server and a room of TechNet DVDs

Click start -> Computer Double click C: -> Users -> "your profile" Right click Documents, left click on properties. Click on the location tab and set it to your network drive of choice. When you click apply, it will move everything to the new location. Pretty genius idea. I wonder if you could remap the "My Pictures" directory to the network NAS location, would Windows index it?My idea of a party is a virtualization server and a room of TechNet DVDs

I've also struggled with this on a small network with Windows 7 clients and a new Server 2008 R2 server. I wanted to include various documents, pictures, etc...into each workstation's library. The main frustration I had was understanding what an "indexed network location" really means...after fighting with indexing services and playing with indexing options on the workstations, I found something that worked. It would be great if Microsoft could actually document this somewhere! 1) On Windows 2008 R2 server, do NOT install the indexing service! It's a Server 2003 version that is not recognized by Windows 7 clients. Instead, install the "Windows Search Service" - you can only pick one or the other so make sure you select Windows Search Service - it's one of the roles under File Services. 2) The install wizard should ask you which folders/drives you want to index - choose any data drive (recommend NOT selecting the system/boot drives) that contains files you want to include in your Windows 7 library on the workstations. If you missed this during the install, you can go back to CONTROL PANEL and type "indexing" into the search box to find the indexing options and customize it there (exactly the same way you do with Windows 7). 3) As soon as the drives have been added, you can now include any locations on those drives in your Windows 7 workstation libraries (even before the server finishes indexing). You will no longer get any warnings that "some locations are not indexed"...everything works as it should! Three steps that wouldn't be hard for Microsoft to document somewhere! Good luck... Hi there, hate to revive an old thread, but it's still a killer. I have been using the UNC addon since Windows 7 came out because when I first dealt with this issue I was unable to get any Win 7 clients working with Windows Search 4.0 on my server. I have now added a new client that is x64 and the UNC addon will no longer work for me, so I am trying to get the server solution working once again. Your post is really the only reference I have found to anybody attempting and getting this to work, and I know that when more of my clients start moving to 7, it's going to become a big issue that I need to solve. PS - Microsoft, WTF - it's been years now and this still isn't resolved...!?!? Anyway, I still cannot get my Windows 7 clients to use a server based index. I have tried with Windows Search 4 on a 2003 DC and I just last night tried it using the Windows Search Service on a 2008 R2 box, and my clients will not even allow me to "Show all connections" in indexing options, let alone see the mapped drives. I'm doing this specifically to have the files indexed and I don't care about the Library functionality, but trying to include a folder on either of these two mapped drives will result in a failure becuase the drive is not indexed. Do you have *any* more detail at all on how you got this to work? I saw suggested somewhere that I should add the same unc path on the servers that I use on the clients, and I have tried that to no avail. Did you have to do anything to the Win 7 clients to tell it to look at the server index? Any help would be so very greatly appreciated!

I've also struggled with this on a small network with Windows 7 clients and a new Server 2008 R2 server. I wanted to include various documents, pictures, etc...into each workstation's library. The main frustration I had was understanding what an "indexed network location" really means...after fighting with indexing services and playing with indexing options on the workstations, I found something that worked. It would be great if Microsoft could actually document this somewhere! 1) On Windows 2008 R2 server, do NOT install the indexing service! It's a Server 2003 version that is not recognized by Windows 7 clients. Instead, install the "Windows Search Service" - you can only pick one or the other so make sure you select Windows Search Service - it's one of the roles under File Services. 2) The install wizard should ask you which folders/drives you want to index - choose any data drive (recommend NOT selecting the system/boot drives) that contains files you want to include in your Windows 7 library on the workstations. If you missed this during the install, you can go back to CONTROL PANEL and type "indexing" into the search box to find the indexing options and customize it there (exactly the same way you do with Windows 7). 3) As soon as the drives have been added, you can now include any locations on those drives in your Windows 7 workstation libraries (even before the server finishes indexing). You will no longer get any warnings that "some locations are not indexed"...everything works as it should! Three steps that wouldn't be hard for Microsoft to document somewhere! Good luck... Hi there, hate to revive an old thread, but it's still a killer. I have been using the UNC addon since Windows 7 came out because when I first dealt with this issue I was unable to get any Win 7 clients working with Windows Search 4.0 on my server. I have now added a new client that is x64 and the UNC addon will no longer work for me, so I am trying to get the server solution working once again. Your post is really the only reference I have found to anybody attempting and getting this to work, and I know that when more of my clients start moving to 7, it's going to become a big issue that I need to solve. PS - Microsoft, WTF - it's been years now and this still isn't resolved...!?!? Anyway, I still cannot get my Windows 7 clients to use a server based index. I have tried with Windows Search 4 on a 2003 DC and I just last night tried it using the Windows Search Service on a 2008 R2 box, and my clients will not even allow me to "Show all connections" in indexing options, let alone see the mapped drives. I'm doing this specifically to have the files indexed and I don't care about the Library functionality, but trying to include a folder on either of these two mapped drives will result in a failure becuase the drive is not indexed. Do you have *any* more detail at all on how you got this to work? I saw suggested somewhere that I should add the same unc path on the servers that I use on the clients, and I have tried that to no avail. Did you have to do anything to the Win 7 clients to tell it to look at the server index? Any help would be so very greatly appreciated!

Remote indexing is not an option for me, because it is not DFS-aware. http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsdesktopsearchhelp/thread/85525c46-1ab5-46e1-a288-e36561a6ffab/

Remote indexing is not an option for me, because it is not DFS-aware. http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsdesktopsearchhelp/thread/85525c46-1ab5-46e1-a288-e36561a6ffab/

I would like to change the location of my lobraries in Win 7 to a network drive but every time I change the location, it says it cannot be used because it's not indexed, so how do I get a network drive to be indexed or if there is a way around it I'd accept that too. I've been reading this whole thread hoping to find a solution for the original issue. We have one laptop running Win7 Ultimate x64 which cannot index network folders on a SBS2008 server. All x86 machines (all of them running Win 7) work fine which I take as a prove that the search service is running fine on the server. To sum things up, all the suggested solutions/worarounds by MS are not much of a help: 1) making network files available offline is just ridiculous - no way I gonna accept this as a workaround 2) adding network locations to libraries seems to be possible by creating symbolic linsk but doesn't make Windows to index them. 3rd party apps make 2) quite easy but still no guarantee that the network location will be added to the index. The entire post has many suggestions (I really appreciate ANY effort here) but nothing one could use to create a "how to"-documentation. Getting back to the original post: is there any reliable way to have the indexing service include network drives of the user's choice (be it NAS, Windows Server share ,...) on a machine running Win7 (x86/x64)? If there is one good and solid solution, I will be happy to address this to MS to have them create a KB article or at least a blog post. .olaf

I would like to change the location of my lobraries in Win 7 to a network drive but every time I change the location, it says it cannot be used because it's not indexed, so how do I get a network drive to be indexed or if there is a way around it I'd accept that too. I've been reading this whole thread hoping to find a solution for the original issue. We have one laptop running Win7 Ultimate x64 which cannot index network folders on a SBS2008 server. All x86 machines (all of them running Win 7) work fine which I take as a prove that the search service is running fine on the server. To sum things up, all the suggested solutions/worarounds by MS are not much of a help: 1) making network files available offline is just ridiculous - no way I gonna accept this as a workaround 2) adding network locations to libraries seems to be possible by creating symbolic linsk but doesn't make Windows to index them. 3rd party apps make 2) quite easy but still no guarantee that the network location will be added to the index. The entire post has many suggestions (I really appreciate ANY effort here) but nothing one could use to create a "how to"-documentation. Getting back to the original post: is there any reliable way to have the indexing service include network drives of the user's choice (be it NAS, Windows Server share ,...) on a machine running Win7 (x86/x64)? If there is one good and solid solution, I will be happy to address this to MS to have them create a KB article or at least a blog post. .olaf

Unfortunately, that seems to be available only for 32-bit Windows installations.

Unfortunately, that seems to be available only for 32-bit Windows installations.

Why was the UNC option even removed in the first place? Why can't it work on Windows 7 64-bit? This had made search so much more frustrating than it needs to be.

Why was the UNC option even removed in the first place? Why can't it work on Windows 7 64-bit? This had made search so much more frustrating than it needs to be.

I read all this stuff about symbolic links in seperate folders, but has anyone ever tried this: don't change the location of the library folder (example: "C:\Users\MyName\Music") but delete the actual folder and replace it with a symbolic link to your network share (example: \\Server\Music). So basically, in an elevated command prompt these 2 commands should do the trick: RMDIR /S /Q "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Music" MKLINK /D "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Music" "\\Server\Music" where the first command deletes the original folder structure, the second one replaces it with the network share. If my theory is right (and I'm pretty sure it is), windows will treat it as a local folder and thus index it like such. EDIT: I just tried to add a linked network share in the indexing options panel but the symbolic links are not even listed when browsing my folder structure so I guess this won't work either. Time to start hacking around in the indexing service!

I read all this stuff about symbolic links in seperate folders, but has anyone ever tried this: don't change the location of the library folder (example: "C:\Users\MyName\Music") but delete the actual folder and replace it with a symbolic link to your network share (example: \\Server\Music). So basically, in an elevated command prompt these 2 commands should do the trick: RMDIR /S /Q "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Music" MKLINK /D "C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Music" "\\Server\Music" where the first command deletes the original folder structure, the second one replaces it with the network share. If my theory is right (and I'm pretty sure it is), windows will treat it as a local folder and thus index it like such. EDIT: I just tried to add a linked network share in the indexing options panel but the symbolic links are not even listed when browsing my folder structure so I guess this won't work either. Time to start hacking around in the indexing service!

== This is how to search network files and index network files without having to store a copy on your own dam computer. == So after a long hard search i have found the answer to my own problem. (putting up with this for 3 months) This patch allows you to add network files to the index without having to make them "always available offline". It will add a tab in the Indexing Options menu called "Add UNC Location" this is where you add the path of the network folder. UNCFATPHInstaller.msi http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&FamilyID=f7e981d9-5a3b-4872-a07e-220761e27283 always available offline is not a real solution for network storage, you can't make 2TB available offline if you have a 200GB hard drive I just wanted to come here and say LO FRICKEN L - Good job here Craigman86 - this worked for me - and you are the man!!!!!

== This is how to search network files and index network files without having to store a copy on your own dam computer. == So after a long hard search i have found the answer to my own problem. (putting up with this for 3 months) This patch allows you to add network files to the index without having to make them "always available offline". It will add a tab in the Indexing Options menu called "Add UNC Location" this is where you add the path of the network folder. UNCFATPHInstaller.msi http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&FamilyID=f7e981d9-5a3b-4872-a07e-220761e27283 always available offline is not a real solution for network storage, you can't make 2TB available offline if you have a 200GB hard drive I just wanted to come here and say LO FRICKEN L - Good job here Craigman86 - this worked for me - and you are the man!!!!!

Here are the simplest instructions you can follow: 1. Use the mklink command in a command prompt (run as Administrator) 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 MCSE, 4.0 (1998)

Here are the simplest instructions you can follow: 1. Use the mklink command in a command prompt (run as Administrator) 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 MCSE, 4.0 (1998)

I am using Solaris 11 Express as my server platform so don't have the option of installing Windows Desktop Search. Do I have any other options; - I don't want to use mklink as I need to maintain my local folders as i'm on a laptop and when I go away I copy things to the local folder for seamless interaction within Media Center. This I reckon is the exact reason MS came up with libraries - I obviously can't use offline files as my server has 16T available space and my laptop is only 250GB - I can't move the target location of the local folders as I want to maintain local folders (see point 1) It seems to me that Microsoft haven't done this for technical or speed reasons, but rather to prevent people from using cheaper server-side platforms for their servers, such as simple NAS', unRAID, Solaris/ZFS etc in place of Windows Home Server or their business class server OS'. Seriously considering using Linux on the HTPC now.

I am using Solaris 11 Express as my server platform so don't have the option of installing Windows Desktop Search. Do I have any other options; - I don't want to use mklink as I need to maintain my local folders as i'm on a laptop and when I go away I copy things to the local folder for seamless interaction within Media Center. This I reckon is the exact reason MS came up with libraries - I obviously can't use offline files as my server has 16T available space and my laptop is only 250GB - I can't move the target location of the local folders as I want to maintain local folders (see point 1) It seems to me that Microsoft haven't done this for technical or speed reasons, but rather to prevent people from using cheaper server-side platforms for their servers, such as simple NAS', unRAID, Solaris/ZFS etc in place of Windows Home Server or their business class server OS'. Seriously considering using Linux on the HTPC now.

I work in an IT department and there's no way we want 100s of client PCs all, and concurrently, maintaining their own index of a network shared location. The removal of this option from Windows 7 makes a lot of sense to us. Having said that, I WOULD like a way of providing such an index centrally. i.e. we set the file server to create and maintain the index and provide that index as a shared resource to all the clients. The gist of this thread seems to be that it's not possible (our file server is Server 2003), which is a shame. It seems we can achieve a similar effect with Sharepoint. Now, this is fine as it just so happens we are already implementing Sharepoint, although the original intention was as a replacement for our intranet not as a search tool for the file server... So, cynicism about MS blocking use of non-MS server devices is, I think, unfounded (however, I'm prepared to view cynicism about Sharepoint as an alternative in a different light!)

I work in an IT department and there's no way we want 100s of client PCs all, and concurrently, maintaining their own index of a network shared location. The removal of this option from Windows 7 makes a lot of sense to us. Having said that, I WOULD like a way of providing such an index centrally. i.e. we set the file server to create and maintain the index and provide that index as a shared resource to all the clients. The gist of this thread seems to be that it's not possible (our file server is Server 2003), which is a shame. It seems we can achieve a similar effect with Sharepoint. Now, this is fine as it just so happens we are already implementing Sharepoint, although the original intention was as a replacement for our intranet not as a search tool for the file server... So, cynicism about MS blocking use of non-MS server devices is, I think, unfounded (however, I'm prepared to view cynicism about Sharepoint as an alternative in a different light!)

By the way, Google Desktop Search (part of the Google Desktop package) seems to do the trick the OP wanted from Windows 7 search (i.e. it will Index a network mapped drive).

By the way, Google Desktop Search (part of the Google Desktop package) seems to do the trick the OP wanted from Windows 7 search (i.e. it will Index a network mapped drive).

I get my Windows 7 64-bit computer to search Windows Server 2003 network shares, without using offline files, with "Windows Search 4.0 for Windows Server 2003" installed on the server. 1- Download "Windows Search 4.0 for Windows Server 2003". Install this on the server that contains the shares to index. Make sure that the Windows Search service is running. 2- Run the Windows Search app, open the Windows Search Options and Modify. Remove everything in the default search options list. Add only the share locations on the local server drives that really need indexing. 3- Close the Windows Search app. Choose Index Now. Once that gets cooking nicely, go back into the Windows Search app and open Advanced. Add UNC paths for the locations you are indexing and close. This did not interrupt any in-progress indexing and adds the UNC paths to the same content. 4- Back at the client, use the mklink command as many have suggested: "Use the mklink command in a command prompt (run as Administrator) 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)" -Michael Bryan 5- Go to START and right-click 'Documents'. Add your UNC shares to the Library list. If a share add does not succeed, then that location has not been indexed yet. Back off, get a coffee, try again later. 6- Once you have those shares in Libary, try some searches. 7- Push out the mklink commands to each user with a script or batch file. Cheers, RW Gregory

This is what I did (Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit): Go to c:/users/yourusername Right Click My Music > Properties > Location enter the network location for the shared folder (i.e. \\MYNASDRIVE\share\foldername when it asks if you want to move - say yes. After completion, go to Libraries > Music > right click Properties - click Restore Defaults. This then restores the Music library to the network location you specified above. Now when I click on the Music Library, it points to the folder on my NAS. I did the same for my pictures and my documents so all data is stored on the NAS and backed up to the external drive attached to the NAS. Hope this helps somebody

This worked perfectly...Im shocked at all the work arounds when this was the simpliest and easiest... Since for me the only use for LIBRARIES is to have a easy to find setup...but to index all that was crazy to consider whether for consumer or corporate. Anything other than frontsys way is to me a big big joke... Other than frontsys...all other answers are a joke and unless you really want indexing are also wasteful and in most cases not wanted by most people. The win7 library tool also worked, though it seemd to mess up initiallly.. but was a even better solution than all else on here.

I did my first Windows 7 Professional install on a Corporate LAN today and hit the exact same issues. In playing around and remembering how simple it was to change the location of "My Documents" in Windows XP I tried the same thing mentioned above and changed the location of "My Documents" in Windows 7 moving it you a network share. The only "issue" now is when I click on the Document Library in Windows Explorer I see a note at the top of the screen that says "some library features are unavailable due to unsupported library locations", I would have to assume that it is due to the fact that it is a network location and not indexed. I am going to revert back to the very original question. Using off-line files is not an option. Doing anything at the server level is not an option. I guess the original question still stands. How do you get Windows 7 to index a network location? There are work arounds but you still wind up, at best, with a network location added to a library that is still not indexed. Microsoft has pulled a lot of short sighted moves in the past but this one seems absolutely ridiculous. I keep all my user's My Documents on the LAN and see no real need for making them always available off-line. That just generates a ton of useless network traffic and syncronization as mentioned above. I guess what I am asking in a round about way is "is Microsoft aware they made the bonehead move of the century and are there any known plans to fix it"?

I did my first Windows 7 Professional install on a Corporate LAN today and hit the exact same issues. In playing around and remembering how simple it was to change the location of "My Documents" in Windows XP I tried the same thing mentioned above and changed the location of "My Documents" in Windows 7 moving it you a network share. The only "issue" now is when I click on the Document Library in Windows Explorer I see a note at the top of the screen that says "some library features are unavailable due to unsupported library locations", I would have to assume that it is due to the fact that it is a network location and not indexed. I am going to revert back to the very original question. Using off-line files is not an option. Doing anything at the server level is not an option. I guess the original question still stands. How do you get Windows 7 to index a network location? There are work arounds but you still wind up, at best, with a network location added to a library that is still not indexed. Microsoft has pulled a lot of short sighted moves in the past but this one seems absolutely ridiculous. I keep all my user's My Documents on the LAN and see no real need for making them always available off-line. That just generates a ton of useless network traffic and syncronization as mentioned above. I guess what I am asking in a round about way is "is Microsoft aware they made the bonehead move of the century and are there any known plans to fix it"?

This worked perfectly...Im shocked at all the work arounds when this was the simpliest and easiest... Since for me the only use for LIBRARIES is to have a easy to find setup...but to index all that was crazy to consider whether for consumer or corporate. Anything other than frontsys way is to me a big big joke... Other than frontsys...all other answers are a joke and unless you really want indexing are also wasteful and in most cases not wanted by most people. Tulsaboy stroked: The win7 library tool also worked, though it seemd to mess up initiallly.. but was a even better solution than all else on here. If you are going to give yourself strokes, especially when you are so blatantly wrong, please don't do it in public! You can move your library, but suggesting that is the answer to the question on shows you don't understand the question. And you even STATED ABOVE that you new it wasn't the answer, "to index all that was crazy"... THAT's the whole point of INDEXING you fool! You think indexing your own "documents" is "crazy"....how crazy is that when google indexes the web? We just wanna index our own Documents and personal folders. They happen to exist on a Networked volume. MS Search is Screwed up...as it can't read your personal folders on a Network volume... Not being able to index your personal folders is a huge screwup. There is no point in indexing if you can't index your folders -- THE ONLY THING INDEXING IS USEFUL FOR MY SYSTEM IS TO FIX A PROBLEM CREATED BY MICROSOFT --- THE REMOVAL of the quicklaunch and standard startmenu (I know you can still find an alphabetized list of programs, but that's not the hierarchical - organized by function menu I had in XP. Now -- if I don't know the name of something, I'm SCREWED... I know I wanna do 'X', but IIdon't know the name...BEFORE, I could go look in Utils, HW, SW, Devel, Editors, Graphics, Sounds Video Multimedia, ETC ... browse and "Ah Ha!". NOW, I have maybe over 100 programs on my system, and I can' find most of them. Great solution: wipe out Windows search -- which worked pretty darn well, especially if there'd been a 64-bit version, wipe out ability to browse programs by category/function, , wipe out the "most-used programs launch bar" (quick launch)... and replace them with an an anemic windows search that does none of the above." Does microsoft care or listen to users anymore or is MS only interested in turning Windows into a media platform. The interface in Win8... (you can see a mockup nightmare @ http://newgen.codeplex.com/. It would lock up my desktop something fierce...but worse, it placed the task bar off my screen on a second screen to my right (which I guess was its idea of hidden). I normally have my task bar on the left, on the right won't work as it will sit in the middle of my 2 monitors -- 2nd one being a TV about 8 feet away... no.. I don't need the task bar on my TV set, thank you.) ...is another brain-dead idea about to be forced on us...and to even SEE my desktop, or my computer or (let alone a start menu), I have to load 'an app?!?'....) (curse you Steve Jobs, MS follows you even in death, turning Windows into an i-phone! ... Can Bill Gatus of Borg come back and save us from all becoming pod people?)...(and we though being a borg was bad...)...but without Bill's leadership, all MS can do is follow after Apple (which isn't to say all Apple does is bad, but the iphone?! ... (*running away*)...

This worked perfectly...Im shocked at all the work arounds when this was the simpliest and easiest... Since for me the only use for LIBRARIES is to have a easy to find setup...but to index all that was crazy to consider whether for consumer or corporate. Anything other than frontsys way is to me a big big joke... Other than frontsys...all other answers are a joke and unless you really want indexing are also wasteful and in most cases not wanted by most people. Tulsaboy stroked: The win7 library tool also worked, though it seemd to mess up initiallly.. but was a even better solution than all else on here. If you are going to give yourself strokes, especially when you are so blatantly wrong, please don't do it in public! You can move your library, but suggesting that is the answer to the question on shows you don't understand the question. And you even STATED ABOVE that you new it wasn't the answer, "to index all that was crazy"... THAT's the whole point of INDEXING you fool! You think indexing your own "documents" is "crazy"....how crazy is that when google indexes the web? We just wanna index our own Documents and personal folders. They happen to exist on a Networked volume. MS Search is Screwed up...as it can't read your personal folders on a Network volume... Not being able to index your personal folders is a huge screwup. There is no point in indexing if you can't index your folders -- THE ONLY THING INDEXING IS USEFUL FOR MY SYSTEM IS TO FIX A PROBLEM CREATED BY MICROSOFT --- THE REMOVAL of the quicklaunch and standard startmenu (I know you can still find an alphabetized list of programs, but that's not the hierarchical - organized by function menu I had in XP. Now -- if I don't know the name of something, I'm SCREWED... I know I wanna do 'X', but IIdon't know the name...BEFORE, I could go look in Utils, HW, SW, Devel, Editors, Graphics, Sounds Video Multimedia, ETC ... browse and "Ah Ha!". NOW, I have maybe over 100 programs on my system, and I can' find most of them. Great solution: wipe out Windows search -- which worked pretty darn well, especially if there'd been a 64-bit version, wipe out ability to browse programs by category/function, , wipe out the "most-used programs launch bar" (quick launch)... and replace them with an an anemic windows search that does none of the above." Does microsoft care or listen to users anymore or is MS only interested in turning Windows into a media platform. The interface in Win8... (you can see a mockup nightmare @ http://newgen.codeplex.com/. It would lock up my desktop something fierce...but worse, it placed the task bar off my screen on a second screen to my right (which I guess was its idea of hidden). I normally have my task bar on the left, on the right won't work as it will sit in the middle of my 2 monitors -- 2nd one being a TV about 8 feet away... no.. I don't need the task bar on my TV set, thank you.) ...is another brain-dead idea about to be forced on us...and to even SEE my desktop, or my computer or (let alone a start menu), I have to load 'an app?!?'....) (curse you Steve Jobs, MS follows you even in death, turning Windows into an i-phone! ... Can Bill Gatus of Borg come back and save us from all becoming pod people?)...(and we though being a borg was bad...)...but without Bill's leadership, all MS can do is follow after Apple (which isn't to say all Apple does is bad, but the iphone?! ... (*running away*)...

Ive been a computer user since 1978...and pc user since 1988... and the reality is that indexing in this context isnt needed. wHile agreed that indexining has its uses... but the reality is that the solution i found does exactly what most people were wanting...which was to use a network location for their library...and if indexing does in fact duplicate files as others here have noted..... then it is crazy to do so... why would I want to index more than 1terabyte of data.... when the very reason to put it on a network drive was to free up primary hd space. Fact is. all the mlink options were a joke by comparison... the point was that being able to do libaries on a network without indexing is not only doable...but contradicts what Microsoft and others says cant be done. Yes indexing is importan in what you say... but nearly 100% of what I have in those libaries... except possibly a documents folder... will never need to be searched/indexed... As far as documents I pretty much decided not to move them to network.,...but instead actually use the network drive to back it up .. btw....backing up data..is the only way I will accept duplication of data (the indexing idea).. Admittedly I relize I dont understand the full value of indexing,... but enough posts here said exactly that? how to put libaries on network.. .and in my case all but two of my libraries are network only and never searched. The other two have folders on all drives.. and are in the libary... Besides the context of the question was move, and the only reason index is mentioned is that it was the error... the question really wasnt about indexing as per a lot of the comments in this forum.

Cecilia Re : Windows 7 Home Premium I have successfully; created two directories (C:\Users\user\music) added directories to Library using Windows Explorer deleted the directories linked the directories ...now when I open Windows Explorer and try to open the Music library, Windows Explorer crashes NB If I open I DOS prompt and navigate to my music folder and list the contents using DIR, I can see the linked directories. I do not log on as a user with Administrator Privileges, could this be a problem? 05/12/2011 09:47 <DIR> . 05/12/2011 09:47 <DIR> .. 05/12/2011 09:46 <SYMLINKD> nas_audio [\\NAS\public\My audio library] 05/12/2011 09:47 <SYMLINKD> nas_shared [\\NAS\public\Shared library] Could it be relevant that I do not see any files from DOS, ie if I DIR, I get date information but no file names C:\Users\user\Music\nas_audio>dir Volume in drive C is OS Volume Serial Number is xxx-xxxx Directory of C:\Users\ser\Music\nas_audio 28/03/2010 13:16 <DIR> 28/03/2010 13:16 <DIR> 28/03/2010 13:35 <DIR> 23/11/2011 20:52 <DIR> (Content can be seen and accessed when UNC used in Windows Explorer) Please help resolve this as I am in a worse state than before! Regards

Thank you this worked for me also!!!Thank you everybody for your help!!

Thank you this worked for me also!!!Thank you everybody for your help!!

I found your answer very usefull but I don't understand point 3. How to link the library to this folder? Thanks a lot for explaining.

I found your answer very usefull but I don't understand point 3. How to link the library to this folder? Thanks a lot for explaining.

here's a solution... that indexes the contents of a folder on another networked computer - WITHOUT MAPPING THE NETWORK... The TWO computers I'm using for this example: a gaming Windows 7 x64 laptop, and an XP-Pro desktop. 1. I created a "notepad" file on my xp desktop. (called the file "bingo.txt") The solution you are giving is "standard advice" from microsoft -- it is built-in to the help of Windows 7 to use an "older Operating system like Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, that will run Windows Desktop Search (the previous Search product that *worked* with network drives*. It does the indexing of the remote drives and provides an 'index' of the content in the new format that Windows 7 requires for remote network indexing. I repeat -- this is in the help topic that comes up when you ask how to solve this issue on a windows 7 computer -- don't even have to access the internet. The suggestion to use Windows XP or Server 2003 is *built-in* to windows 7 as a solution for getting around the problem that Windows 7's indexing was disabled!... Slight problem. MS doesn't SELL XP anymore. My last XP box died a few months ago. Vendors don't sell XP and WinServer 2003 is equally obsolete. MS wll be dropping support for those products in the net too distant future -- so even if you can use them, they will be unsupported and eventually unmaintainable. I would hardly call this "a solution", unless MS is going to start offering free copies of MS Windows/Server 2003k to people in order to allow Win7 to index their non-MS network drives. That's the real issue that I can see -- MS -- is using its monopoly power to lock people out of content on non-MS machines. They have already said that they will not allow new computers running Windows 8 on the 'alpha'? or some non x86 platform, to **BE ABLE** to boot any OS other than Windows -- with Windows 8 they and a TPM chip (been in most personal computers since early 2000's, and with the new UEFI BIOS that's been going into machines for the past few years, MS will be able to secure any computer at your home -- from boot to running in the OS, and detect if you have tampered with it in anyway. -- That means no 3rd party drivers unless approved by ms -- no 3rd party apps..etc... This way they can control the execution environment and guarantee that the PC is as secure as a gaming console -- it's "locked down", so content producers will feel safe charging much higher prices for content knowing that consumers won't be able to resort to piracy if they raise the price too high. As for my indexing... maybe I can find a 'used copy' of windows XP to run in a virtual environment just to provide an index for Windows 7 -- but it is a stop-gap measure, since WinXP eventually will become difficult to support when MS stops support on their end and keeps a lock on the source. Perhaps they would consider, or perhaps it would be considered for the public good if a WinXP became a commodity OS, (as MS has discarded it), and had the source made available to the open source community. That way, consumers could support the OS and enable crippled OS's like Win7 to access (and index) content on machines other than MS ones. Also Please note -- creating links to network folders DOES NOT WORK -- the indexer is smarter than that -- as soon as you put a link to a network location, the indexer will ignore it.

The above DOES NOT WORK! I have also tried the using reparse points available in 'fsutil' included in Win7 (in the cmd line). See 'fsutil reparsepoint', and the 'mountvol' (let you mount a foreign drive on an NTFS folder). included in the win2k resource kit. They all create slightly different forms of symbolic links. Note. In order for links to begin to work 'off of your machine' to another machine (this is making them work at all, not getting them to index), there are 4 "controls" you can manage/access through fsutil (as well as through other panels -- maybe group policy -- I forget). I do not believe all 4 permissions on symbolic links are enabled, but you can verify this in the command line using: 'fsutil behavior query SymlinkEvaluation' That will tell you if "all directions are enabled"... (you or your system administrator can prohibit symlinks from working local to remote, remote to local, remote to remote, or local to local -- any one of the 4 combo's. Those permissions have nothing to do with getting indexing to work on network drives. The new indexer uses a specific 'file:' only based filter that can tell if something is local or on a network drive. Think about it it -- in explorer -- you can, in 'detail mode', in the columns display turn on a column to display what computer a file is located on -- explorer knows where that file is before you do -- and so does search. The same mechanism that prevents searching network files also prevents backing up network files... While I might like Winbackup (if it worked (HA) another great 'upgrade)...) to keep multiple copies and daily backups of my documents -- but it doesn't because it is on a network drive. They ARE backed up on that network drive (by me -- I'm my system admin!).. BUT the backup performed on the server isn't convenient to access on Win7 -- it's 1 archive for all the files -- it is reliable, takes minimal space, and I usually have backups going back 4-6 months, dailys for 3-4 weeks -- but only for those things on my network drives. Windows -- doesn't back up everything reliably -- in fact, on my machine windows backup won't run at all in the GUIm, and can only be run in a 'one-shot - image dump' from the command line. (you can see that documented here, in another MS-thread. Anyway, Windows 'System Restore' fails regularly for me -- just the other day tried to restore, and it responded 'Catastrophic Failure' , so keeping alot of files on my Win7 machine is just not an option even if it had the space! The spec to write a search program for linux is 'technically' published, but it's seems to have been made deliberately 'obtuse' ... ... Looking just now -- it looks like more content has been added... so will have to look at it again.. (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa965362%28v=vs.85%29.aspx).... lots of inter-related links -- though don't know how much is helpful and understandable by a layperson... (I'm a CS graduate, and I found the original docs released to the EU to be more than a bit cryptic...)...

The above DOES NOT WORK! I have also tried the using reparse points available in 'fsutil' included in Win7 (in the cmd line). See 'fsutil reparsepoint', and the 'mountvol' (let you mount a foreign drive on an NTFS folder). included in the win2k resource kit. They all create slightly different forms of symbolic links. Note. In order for links to begin to work 'off of your machine' to another machine (this is making them work at all, not getting them to index), there are 4 "controls" you can manage/access through fsutil (as well as through other panels -- maybe group policy -- I forget). I do not believe all 4 permissions on symbolic links are enabled, but you can verify this in the command line using: 'fsutil behavior query SymlinkEvaluation' That will tell you if "all directions are enabled"... (you or your system administrator can prohibit symlinks from working local to remote, remote to local, remote to remote, or local to local -- any one of the 4 combo's. Those permissions have nothing to do with getting indexing to work on network drives. The new indexer uses a specific 'file:' only based filter that can tell if something is local or on a network drive. Think about it it -- in explorer -- you can, in 'detail mode', in the columns display turn on a column to display what computer a file is located on -- explorer knows where that file is before you do -- and so does search. The same mechanism that prevents searching network files also prevents backing up network files... While I might like Winbackup (if it worked (HA) another great 'upgrade)...) to keep multiple copies and daily backups of my documents -- but it doesn't because it is on a network drive. They ARE backed up on that network drive (by me -- I'm my system admin!).. BUT the backup performed on the server isn't convenient to access on Win7 -- it's 1 archive for all the files -- it is reliable, takes minimal space, and I usually have backups going back 4-6 months, dailys for 3-4 weeks -- but only for those things on my network drives. Windows -- doesn't back up everything reliably -- in fact, on my machine windows backup won't run at all in the GUIm, and can only be run in a 'one-shot - image dump' from the command line. (you can see that documented here, in another MS-thread. Anyway, Windows 'System Restore' fails regularly for me -- just the other day tried to restore, and it responded 'Catastrophic Failure' , so keeping alot of files on my Win7 machine is just not an option even if it had the space! The spec to write a search program for linux is 'technically' published, but it's seems to have been made deliberately 'obtuse' ... ... Looking just now -- it looks like more content has been added... so will have to look at it again.. (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa965362%28v=vs.85%29.aspx).... lots of inter-related links -- though don't know how much is helpful and understandable by a layperson... (I'm a CS graduate, and I found the original docs released to the EU to be more than a bit cryptic...)...

This is NOT the business/enterprise forum... This is for home users. You are in the wrong location if you want to ell us how we don't need this as we don't have an IT department. WE IS IT!.... So I to would like to maintain my home index centrally -- on my linux server where it is safe. While WinXP-SP3 was rock solid, Win7 has been more blue screens and crashes and eaten disks and data than any OS I've worked with. I just restored from an image backup (for the 3rd time, a last backup from Dec31. Last time I had the system stable enough to do a backup and it had problems then (CD roms not visible). Before that it was Jun of 2011 that I last was able to do a backup!... Win7 isn't safe for data...

This is NOT the business/enterprise forum... This is for home users. You are in the wrong location if you want to ell us how we don't need this as we don't have an IT department. WE IS IT!.... So I to would like to maintain my home index centrally -- on my linux server where it is safe. While WinXP-SP3 was rock solid, Win7 has been more blue screens and crashes and eaten disks and data than any OS I've worked with. I just restored from an image backup (for the 3rd time, a last backup from Dec31. Last time I had the system stable enough to do a backup and it had problems then (CD roms not visible). Before that it was Jun of 2011 that I last was able to do a backup!... Win7 isn't safe for data...

Astara_, it's clearly you who is in the wrong forum! This is the IT PRO forum. Your silly comment makes it obvious that you don't know what you are talking about. "Win7 isn't safe for data..." ?? *facepalm* Please go troll somewhere else. There's enough other forums out there to impress teenagers with your half-knowledge. We here are looking for useful collaboration by professionals, not Microsoft-bashing tinker monkeys blaming their own incompetence on others. Go buy a Mac if that's so much safer. Seems to be more your level anyway. @all others, sorry for feeding the troll, but it had to be said. Just this one time. I'll shut up now.

Um... I was referred here from the home forum, since I was told that running a server is a Pro thing. Win7 isn't safe for data in too many ways. AT least 3 times I've had a system restore eat ~1/3 of the files, randomly (first two times were in the first 2 months after it came out), but also happened about 5 months ago. You call that safe? Now try to run a full backup on data not on your system disk -- Windows won't do it. Windows XP had a full backup facility -- Win7 doesn't provide full backup for anything not on the system disk and even then it's an image backup -- not a file backup. Clearly you've chugged the Kool-aid. You want useful collaboration? Notice no one has provided a solution for the base problem. Win7 doesn't index remote drives -- It only queries remote indexes, which means if you have a dumb file server out there (not running Windows), you can't index it. So they remove full indexing of your Desktop files (remote server), and they don't provide full backups except for images of system disk only. How is that "safe for data"?

Astara_, it's clearly you who is in the wrong forum! This is the IT PRO forum. Your silly comment makes it obvious that you don't know what you are talking about. "Win7 isn't safe for data..." ?? *facepalm* Please go troll somewhere else. There's enough other forums out there to impress teenagers with your half-knowledge. We here are looking for useful collaboration by professionals, not Microsoft-bashing tinker monkeys blaming their own incompetence on others. Go buy a Mac if that's so much safer. Seems to be more your level anyway. @all others, sorry for feeding the troll, but it had to be said. Just this one time. I'll shut up now.

Um... I was referred here from the home forum, since I was told that running a server is a Pro thing. Win7 isn't safe for data in too many ways. AT least 3 times I've had a system restore eat ~1/3 of the files, randomly (first two times were in the first 2 months after it came out), but also happened about 5 months ago. You call that safe? Now try to run a full backup on data not on your system disk -- Windows won't do it. Windows XP had a full backup facility -- Win7 doesn't provide full backup for anything not on the system disk and even then it's an image backup -- not a file backup. Clearly you've chugged the Kool-aid. You want useful collaboration? Notice no one has provided a solution for the base problem. Win7 doesn't index remote drives -- It only queries remote indexes, which means if you have a dumb file server out there (not running Windows), you can't index it. So they remove full indexing of your Desktop files (remote server), and they don't provide full backups except for images of system disk only. How is that "safe for data"?

I had this problem, too. The solution is not terribly obvious. You want to go to the server and share the FOLDER not the whole drive. In Windows 7, type "indexing" in the start menu, you should see "indexing options", click that and it will show you the folders that are being indexed. If your folder doesn't show, click the triangle by the correct drive name to show it's folders (or tell it to share all the folders by checking the box next to the drive). Select the proper checkboxes for the folders and it should work. It seems that new folders are not indexed by default, so you probably added a folder but it wasn't shared.

I can't believe how many people fell for this. If you do the above, and go back into the place where you set what folders to index, you will see the folder where you created your link to is *GONE*.... It detects immediately that you've done a switch. There are separate handers in the search engine for local files vs. networked files, so even if you put a link there and think you are outsmarting it, the search engine still will recognize the link as pointing to a network drive and will still refuse to index it.

It's gonna all be great -- we'll just be encouraged to move everything to 'the cloud', and nothing will be indexed... no problem.

You are absolutely RIGHT -- Media Center can index those folders for itself. Also the MS Home essentials can not only index network drives, but open every zip file. Unfortunately, these do nothing for the large number of documents we'd like to search -- along with pictures songs etc... MS has no problem indexing our content for their purposes, but they remove indexing from consumers to "encourage" them to only put their content on MS controlled machines.

I had this problem, too. The solution is not terribly obvious. You want to go to the server and share the FOLDER not the whole drive. In Windows 7, type "indexing" in the start menu, you should see "indexing options", click that and it will show you the folders that are being indexed. If your folder doesn't show, click the triangle by the correct drive name to show it's folders (or tell it to share all the folders by checking the box next to the drive). Select the proper checkboxes for the folders and it should work. It seems that new folders are not indexed by default, so you probably added a folder but it wasn't shared.

I can't believe how many people fell for this. If you do the above, and go back into the place where you set what folders to index, you will see the folder where you created your link to is *GONE*.... It detects immediately that you've done a switch. There are separate handers in the search engine for local files vs. networked files, so even if you put a link there and think you are outsmarting it, the search engine still will recognize the link as pointing to a network drive and will still refuse to index it.

It's gonna all be great -- we'll just be encouraged to move everything to 'the cloud', and nothing will be indexed... no problem.

You are absolutely RIGHT -- Media Center can index those folders for itself. Also the MS Home essentials can not only index network drives, but open every zip file. Unfortunately, these do nothing for the large number of documents we'd like to search -- along with pictures songs etc... MS has no problem indexing our content for their purposes, but they remove indexing from consumers to "encourage" them to only put their content on MS controlled machines.

This is NOT an answer, and is NOT what 'offline files' is for. This simply makes the network files/folders available and 'synched' offline. This has nothing to do with indexing/searching the network drive. This basically makes "an extra copy of your network files onto your local hard drive" - this is useful for laptops and such. tnjman

This was proposed in earlier post but unfortunately the link is no longer working. There is a free utility that works for Windows 7 x64 (and presumably x32) that indexes network drives and allows you to include them in a Windows library. It took only minutes to download and install and I now have all my NAS directories included in my default Windows libraries (Documents, Music, Videos and Pictures). http://zornsoftware.codenature.info/ I would really encourage people to donate to the author, this is a very elegant solution to a very vexing problem. P.S. This has taken me several months to finally get resolved!

It's the first step that's a doozy... Enable Windows Search Service 4.0 on a linux server...hmmm... I think the way to do it is to get a ****** copy (MS doesn't offer it anymore) of WinXP, and run it in a virtual machine on the linux machine. MS suggests using an older version of windows to do the indexing... so one would presume they would have no problems with this setup Sounds painful, no matter how you look at it though...running winXP in a virtual box on a linux computer to index the file contents for win7?... that just sounds perverse!... hmmmm.. might be fun to try....

== This is how to search network files and index network files without having to store a copy on your own dam computer. == So after a long hard search i have found the answer to my own problem. (putting up with this for 3 months) This patch allows you to add network files to the index without having to make them "always available offline". It will add a tab in the Indexing Options menu called "Add UNC Location" this is where you add the path of the network folder. UNCFATPHInstaller.msi http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?DisplayLang=en&FamilyID=f7e981d9-5a3b-4872-a07e-220761e27283 always available offline is not a real solution for network storage, you can't make 2TB available offline if you have a 200GB hard drive Very nice, but after I've done this, I still get the error that the network location can't be added to the library because it's not indexed (I did add in into Indexing Options)....

Has anyone seen the SLUtil.exe command line tool from Microsoft. I stumbled across it recently and it works like a charm. No mucking about with mklink or making an empty NAS folder available offline > adding to a librayr > removing it from offline > then populate the folder. Best of all, being a command line tools you can script it in batch files and run as part of a GPO if on an AD domain. It requires the Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package, which is also available on the link below. http://www.grimadmin.com/article.php/creating-modifying-windows-7-libraries PS: Just LOL at the first 'solution' about making them available offline. My NAS is ~15TB usable so please tell me how I can find a laptop drive this big for less than $100.

@lankydoodle: I use the shlib.exe tool, it works quite well (I use it to script library creation, in conjunction with using folder redirection to shares - which btw automatically flags those shares as available offline). That Offline files setting creates a local cache of those remote folders that you've enabled the setting for. The cache has a max size limit (which can be changed), but the default is a percentage (10%, I think) of your local system disk size. So if your boot drive is 250GB, the cache will max at 25GB by default. Offline files will only try to keep as many files as can fit in that cache space - not your whole remote drive(s) if it's more than that. Windows prioritizes those files which you most frequently & most recently accessed from that PC to be cached, but a side effect of doing this is that it does maintain a search index of the (whole) remote drive there too. There is also this hotfix, which I haven't seen posted before (and which I haven't tried myself): 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 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2268596 A registry key will also have to be added to turn off/on the feature this update adds. Instructions are on that page.