Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

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cleoni
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Joined: 6. Oct 2010, 15:33
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
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Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by cleoni »

Hello, thanks for this fantastic SW. Let me come to the point.

I have a VirtualBox with WinXP installed on a Windows 7 machine.

The Windows 7 machine see a "public-type" network towards Virtualbox.

The Virtualboxed WinXP cannot connect to the shared desktop. Command:

net use x: \\vboxsvr\desktop

Now I feel this functionality should work well and also be well documented, becuase sharing data between host and guest machine is essential for working fast.

First thing that I have discovered is that "vboxsvr" is not known by my virtualboxed WinXP.
This might or might not have something to do with the fact that the network connecting the two machines is a "public" type (how do I change this connection type by the way?)
I bypassed the problem with a DOS command prompt and a:

ipconfig /all

which showed me that the host machine is seen as 10.0.2.2

so I retrieed

net use x: \\10.0.2.2\desktop

which pops up a user and password prompt in the command windows which eventually yelds to nothing done with a 53 error (unexistent path) or (1023 error - wrong credentials) according to the case.

Back in the Windows 7 hosting machine, I opened the event viewer, and found out under the Windows/Security section some Access and Disconnect events which show some interaction between the two machineshas been there.

Remembering with IIS you often have to face similar issues due to file permissions, I granted to the ANONYMOUS ACCESS group read and access permissions to my desktop folder, but this could not help at all.


Any help/ideas?

Please, if you have VirtualBox running on your Windows Machine try out accessing the host machine's desktop, and let me know how you solved it.
-- Cristiano Leoni
Pro IT consultant
http://www.sitiweb-bolona.com
Perryg
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by Perryg »

Now I feel this functionality should work well and also be well documented, because sharing data between host and guest machine is essential for working fast.
This is documented and explained. See Chapter 4.3. Shared folders in your VirtualBox users manual.
cleoni
Posts: 4
Joined: 6. Oct 2010, 15:33
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows XP
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by cleoni »

Yes I've seenthe manual, the "net use" stuff was taken from there, but my opinion is, unless this problem affects only my installation, some more attention should be paid in order to let things to run nice and easy.

This is the second install I make on two different machines with 6 months of time span, and I have never been able to see this folder sharing working yet.

Anyone who has tried it and seen it working can help with some advice? is your connection bewteen the machines set as "public" (park chair icon) too?
-- Cristiano Leoni
Pro IT consultant
http://www.sitiweb-bolona.com
Perryg
Site Moderator
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Joined: 6. Sep 2008, 22:55
Primary OS: Linux other
VBox Version: OSE self-compiled
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by Perryg »

Public or private makes no difference if you use the VirtualBox shared folders. The prerequisites are below (taken from the section I sent you)
  • (1) Guest additions need to be installed (in the guest)
    (2) you map (define) the share in the shared folder section of the guest. (guest shut down is the easiest)
At this point you start the guest and either look in the network section and vboxsrv for you shared folder or you can map it with the net use command.

If you want to do a standard network share (not shared folders) you would need to change the network from NAT to Bridged or Host-Only so they networks are in the same network segment.

Note: when naming the shared folder do not use anything elaborate. Just something simple like share. No special characters or spaces.
RedRos
Posts: 1
Joined: 19. Oct 2010, 12:08
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: OSE other
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by RedRos »

HI cleoni,

did you resolve this issue?

R
Winipulator
Posts: 25
Joined: 24. Oct 2010, 03:37
Primary OS: MS Windows XP
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Ubuntu, Windows XP, Windows 98, DOS

Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by Winipulator »

I've never been able to get the net / shared folder thing to work. Too much of a headache. So as a workaround, I just use a 16 gig exFAT flash drive to share files between the host and guest. Its fast and easy. The only catch is only one OS can use the drive at a time. Switching is quick though.
BillG
Volunteer
Posts: 5100
Joined: 19. Sep 2009, 04:44
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
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Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by BillG »

Why not use normal network file sharing, as you would between two machines on the same network?
Bill
DishX
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by DishX »

BillG wrote:Why not use normal network file sharing, as you would between two machines on the same network?
So how do you do that Bill? Using Win7 to PC-BSD Hubble Edition.I've read up on the other method of file sharing on the forum, but they have not worked. For example I've try this one (mount -t vboxsf share /home/<username>/host) and ask me for a password I put it in and it tells me (Sorry, try again). Yes I'm putting the right one in. So if someone can tell me in detail how to file share I would appreciate it. Thanks


P.s. I've also got Ubuntu 10.10 on vm
Perryg
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by Perryg »

DishX wrote:
BillG wrote:Why not use normal network file sharing, as you would between two machines on the same network?
So how do you do that Bill? Using Win7 to PC-BSD Hubble Edition.I've read up on the other method of file sharing on the forum, but they have not worked. For example I've try this one (mount -t vboxsf share /home/<username>/host) and ask me for a password I put it in and it tells me (Sorry, try again). Yes I'm putting the right one in. So if someone can tell me in detail how to file share I would appreciate it. Thanks


P.s. I've also got Ubuntu 10.10 on vm
I bet you have Windows live installed don't you? It mucks with the way Linux and Windows talk. I had to remove Windows Live update Months ago. Then after the latest update I had to remove the entire Windows live package to be able to log into Windows from Linux. Permissions and what not did not work.
DishX
Posts: 3
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Primary OS: MS Windows 7
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by DishX »

Nop don't have live on my system. Now what?
BillG
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by BillG »

Your original post said that the guest was XP!

Is the host on a LAN? Does the LAN have a DHCP server? If it does, the guest should behave just like another machine on the LAN if it is set to bridged mode.

Can you share files between host and guest when both are Windows? I would get that sorted brfore I moved to BSD. If you are using bridged networking it should just work! If it doesn't, you need to do some basic network debugging. Start with doing an ipconfig on both to make sure they are in the same IP subnet. Check that they are in the same workgroup. Then check that file sharing is enabled on both systems. You should not need to map drives - you should be able to do it from the Network window in Win 7.

I can see the shares on the guest from Network in Win 7 and I can see the shares on the host from My Network Places in the guest. I can also see the shares from any other machine on the physical network.
Bill
DishX
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Joined: 6. Nov 2010, 21:40
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
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Re: Shared folders under Windows7 (getting this to work)

Post by DishX »

Ok I've got it working to a point (Network Sharing). Except after start up of windows and (VB) Ubuntu. Windows removes the VB Network share Drive from win explorer Network. So if you can understand what I'm trying to say. Let me know
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