How do I get windows 7 to Index a network mapped drive?
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.
August 23rd, 2009 2:52am

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
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August 24th, 2009 10:28am

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
August 25th, 2009 8:26pm

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
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August 26th, 2009 5:53am

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
August 31st, 2009 9:28am

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.
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November 5th, 2009 8:40pm

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.
November 30th, 2009 11:28pm

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.
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February 4th, 2010 7:16am

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????????
February 4th, 2010 7:39am

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
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February 4th, 2010 8:11am

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
March 3rd, 2010 12:36pm

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.
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April 20th, 2010 3:22am

== 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
May 11th, 2010 4:09am

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.
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May 12th, 2010 10:27pm

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.
May 15th, 2010 12:56am

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
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June 9th, 2010 9:14pm

Remember, Microsoft offers a Home Server that they would like you to buy!
June 12th, 2010 5:29pm

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.
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June 15th, 2010 3:58pm

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...
July 11th, 2010 5:17pm

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.
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July 21st, 2010 7:49pm

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.
July 21st, 2010 11:37pm

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
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August 19th, 2010 7:36pm

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'.
August 22nd, 2010 4:37pm

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.
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August 23rd, 2010 2:20pm

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.
September 1st, 2010 3:57pm

UNCFATPHInstaller.msi Did not work on win 7 32 & 64 . On the 32 it killed my indexing option in control panel after a reboot
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September 1st, 2010 4:06pm

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.
September 1st, 2010 5:15pm

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
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November 14th, 2010 2:30pm

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!
November 21st, 2010 2:31pm

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?
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November 26th, 2010 3:28pm

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
December 1st, 2010 11:19pm

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".
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December 26th, 2010 7:25pm

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
December 27th, 2010 10:23am

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
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January 31st, 2011 4:15am

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
January 31st, 2011 4:24am

This works great...Very clever solution. Thanks, jon
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February 14th, 2011 1:26pm

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
March 2nd, 2011 7:19am

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
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March 3rd, 2011 6:20am

No silcott1947, the zornsoftware, (as it stated there does NOT index mapped drives)
March 7th, 2011 7:41am

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.
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March 7th, 2011 7:50am

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.)
March 15th, 2011 3:44pm

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.
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March 22nd, 2011 2:53am

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
March 22nd, 2011 12:56pm

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.
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April 5th, 2011 10:12am

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.
April 15th, 2011 5:19pm

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
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April 16th, 2011 11:58am

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!
May 12th, 2011 11:18am

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/
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May 12th, 2011 11:42am

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
July 5th, 2011 6:49am

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