Windows HOW-TO share folders over SMB using Windows 7

Why is CIFS not used to share data from W7 machines.

sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.0.120/music /mnt/share/ -o username=xbmc,password=xbmc,iocharset=utf8,file_mode=0666,dir_mode=0666,rw

works great if enterred manually !

I recently bought a copy of Win 7 for my new server and had so much trouble viewing my shares on my XBMC box on my network. After a weekend of reading everything on the internet I found out that the Windows live essentials app causes some issues with sharing folders with non Windows 7 pc's. I uninstalled it then it worked right away.

Now it doesn't ask me for a user and password when I got to add a smb share in XBMC.

Thought I would share that with you peeps.

BORIStheBLADE Wrote:I recently bought a copy of Win 7 for my new server and had so much trouble viewing my shares on my XBMC box on my network. After a weekend of reading everything on the internet I found out that the Windows live essentials app causes some issues with sharing folders with non Windows 7 pc's. I uninstalled it then it worked right away.

Now it doesn't ask me for a user and password when I got to add a smb share in XBMC.

Thought I would share that with you peeps.

TNX!!

can confirm that this indeed works, uninstall Windows live essentials and everything just works as it did before.


(have to use aMSN for now)

Is it a MUST to deinstall all Windows Live stuff?

BORIStheBLADE Wrote:I recently bought a copy of Win 7 for my new server and had so much trouble viewing my shares on my XBMC box on my network. After a weekend of reading everything on the internet I found out that the Windows live essentials app causes some issues with sharing folders with non Windows 7 pc's. I uninstalled it then it worked right away.

Now it doesn't ask me for a user and password when I got to add a smb share in XBMC.

Thought I would share that with you peeps.

For me it worked also.
But is there anything else we can do to overcame this problem?
I use messenger all the time and I don't want to stop using it...
Please you master minds...

I’ve contacted Windows Live to tell about their problem about messing up the sharing folders with non Windows 7 PC's.
I advise you to do the same.
Maybe they would do something about it.

scanboostar Wrote:Why is CIFS not used to share data from W7 machines.

sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.0.120/music /mnt/share/ -o username=xbmc,password=xbmc,iocharset=utf8,file_mode=0666,dir_mode=0666,rw

works great if enterred manually !

You may want to append "_netdev" (no quotes) to the options above. There is a great tutorial on how to add a CIFS share into /etc/fstab so that the shares are automatically mounted at boot:

http://opensuse.swerdna.org/susesambacifs.html#fstab

In order to use CIFS, I had to add the smbfs package from apt-get:


This will allow you to add Windows 7 shares if you need to keep Windows Live installed. If you just like Windows Messenger, consider trying Pidgin. I also run Windows 7 64-bit and I uninstalled Windows Live to fix the problem with mounting shares from within XBMC.

I hope this helps someone! I spent more than a few hours trying to figure this out.

One Additional Step Needed In Order To Share A Root Directory

Since I spent hours pulling my hair out trying to fix a problem I was having, I figured I'd go ahead and post the solution that finally worked in case anyone else needs it.

My problem was I was trying to share the root directory for two of my hard drives on Windows 7 x64. I had installed two new hard drives and assigned one of them as E:\ with the label Movies and the other as F:\ with the label TV Shows and then proceeded to place the files directly in the root directory. When I went to my Revo to add the shares in XBMC, it could see them, but it would ask me for the password even though there were none set up. The weirdest thing was I had other folders on my D:\ drive that XBMC had no problem accessing without a password, but for some reason it didn't like my root directory shares. I had set up all of the permissions and user groups the exact same as those folders for my root directories so I couldn't for the life of me figure out why XBMC couldn't add them because they were no different than the folders I was already sharing.

After doing some internet scouring I finally found the solution. You do everything that was described in the first post and treat the drive just like a folder, but you have to do one more step after setting up permissions. What you have to do is add the user group Everyone in the Security tab for the hard drive. You do this by going to Windows Explorer and Right clicking on the hard drive you want to share (D:\, E:\, etc.) -> Properties -> Security tab -> Edit -> Add -> Type in "Everyone" -> Hit Enter -> Apply -> OK -> OK

After that, XBMC shouldn't ask you for a password when you try to add that root directory as a share. Enjoy!

I used to have sharing enabled on my PC which was running XP so I can stream music and video to my xbox via wireless on my network. Ever since I got my new machine with Windows 7 64bit running, nothing but problems!

I tried setting u an SMB share to my new box...when I browse the XBOX sees and detects my Windows 7. When I click on my Hostname of the Windows 7 box, it enters the defauls password automatically and prompts for a password....but it keeps denying my password every time. I tried entering the administrator username and password, it also denies that. I tried the method from this thread posted by natethomas. Didn't solve my issue.

I don't have Windows Live Assignment installed on my box. The folder which is set is shared with everyone permissions. Under my hostname I have a folder "Users" which is shared to everyone so it shouldn't even ask me for a password..

I'm honestly unsure what to do at this point. Anyone have any suggestions?

I'd been having this problem for quite a while, and couldn't find a solution like most others. I just took a screen shot of what changes I had to make to the Local Security Policy (just type that into the search box when you hit the Start button in Windows 7).



I'm thinking this should get added to the first post.

I've verified that it works perfectly allowing anonymous access to the shares.

Obviously, it isn't as secure as the defaults that Windows 7 has, but my network is pretty locked down, so I don't have concerns myself.

I have tried everything on this thread but the command line option and still no luck. I have home premium and do not have access to the local security policy. I had a PC with win 7 ultimate and did not have these problems once I disabled the home group.

I am out of ideas and web threads to try. I hope someone figures this out. I am also having the same problem with my wdtv live plus.