Shared folder not working after Windows update

[LENS]

I have been using a Windows 10 guest, on a Linux 14.04 host. For many months up until yesterday,
the shared folder worked flawlessly.

Then, a major Windows update took place, and I am no longer able to "see" the shared folder.
I have been unsuccessfully trying to set up the folder just as I did the first time. Windows
just can't find the shared folder when I look for it to map it as a network device.

Could anyone share any light into why this could be happening? I had absolutely no trouble setting this
up properly the first time, but the *(%$# update seems to have messed things up quite a bit.

Also, is there a quick way to test whether the VirtualBox server is up and running? I would imagine that the
problem is more on the Windows side, but I'd like to make sure.

Thank you,

[socratis]

is there a quick way to test whether the VirtualBox server is up and running?

By VirtualBox server I assume that you mean the part of VirtualBox responsible for sharing the folders. If not, please be more specific about its meaning.

Open up Windows Explorer and go to the "Network". Do you see a VBOXSVR available share? If not, please check the guest's firewall, it's network discovery capabilities.

Shut down the VM, remove the share, start the VM, shut down the VM, re-create the share, start up the VM. Does it change anything?

[LENS]

Thank you for replying. I tried your suggestions, but the problem remains.

By VirtualBox server I assume that you mean the part of VirtualBox responsible for sharing the folders.

Yes, that's what I meant.

I turned off the guest's Firewall, and I still can't see a VBOXSVR available share.
I also tried the sequence of shutting the VM down, starting, down again, etc., but it didn't change anything.

Interesting fact: when I tried to map from the guest the folder as \\vboxsvr\vboxshared (according to my folder's settings), then running the windows network diagnostic tool, it reports finding the following problem:
"vboxsvr" exists but Windows can't find "vboxshared"

However, vboxsvr is not listed in the file explorer.

From the host's VM log file, I see the following entry, which I assume means that the VM part is correct--no errors reported.
00:00:00.620549 SharedFolders host service: Adding host mapping
00:00:00.620556 Host path '/home/lens/VBoxShared', map name 'VBoxShared', writable, automount=true, create_symlinks=false, missing=false

I am using VirtualBox VM 5.0.2.6 r1088824. Host type is LINUX_64BITS_UBUNTU_14_04; Guest OS type: 'Windows10_64'

Thanks!

[socratis]

I saw another post today complaining about shared folders functionality in Windows 10 after today's updates. In that case Windows 10 is running as a host, not as a guest, but it's weird. Can you please tell me the exact version that Windows 10 is reporting? If you don't know how to find it, run "winver" and it will pop up.

I'll try to update my Win10 VM and see what's going on.

[LENS]

Can you please tell me the exact version that Windows 10 is reporting?

Winver reports:

Version 1607 (OS Build 14393.105)
This is a Windows 10 Pro

Thanks!

[LENS]

Ok, the problem was finally solved! The solution was to re-install the Guest Additions from the guest side. Once I did this, the File Explorer found the shared folder immediately.

I hope this will help someone with the same problem. Many thanks to socratis for all the help!

[mh6421]

Had the same problem: Mac host, Win 10 guest - started just after recent major Win 10 update.

Re-installing the Guest Additions from the Win 10 host fixed the problem. Now see host shared folders again without issue.

Thanks for the help!

[Timbo43]

Apparently the same problem, but reinstalling Guest Additions did not fix it. Problem arose after major Windows update to version 1607. Running VB 5.0.24 on Ubuntu Linux 16.04. Any other ideas?

Thanks,
Tim Bourne

[PongoSnodgrass]

Re-installing Guest additions did the trick for me. I suppose it makes sense. Windows has been trampling over all those nice Oracle patches. Thanks to the poster

[flaxfrax]

same for me, reinstallation of the guest additions on the Win10 Guest (on Debian Stretch host) resolved the shared folder issue

[paul.hanssen]

For what it's worth, I was experiencing similar issues and found a fix.

My base Win10 boxes were built in packer, which (as a script) installed the VB guest additions silently after adding the Oracle publisher certificate to the machine. Then vagrant would fail because the shared folders didn't work.

The problem was that the Oracle certificate for older versions of the VB guest additions expired in December 2016; the VB guest additions weren't installed properly by packer, necessitating a manual re-install of the VB guest additions software.

Replacing the Oracle certificate in my packer configuration with the latest one fixed the problem. On a VM manually install VB guest additions then export the cert and copy back to your packer config then re-build the base VM.

Cheers

[socratis]

the VB guest additions weren't installed properly by packer

Cool. Make sure that you let the "packer" users know about that in their forums as well, because they are the ones primarily affected, not the VirtualBox users.

[paul.hanssen]

Looks like someone has beaten me to it ...

https://github.com/joefitzgerald/packer ... issues/230

(a good repo for those wanting Windows 10 base boxes for vagrant/VirtualBox)

Cheers

[vboxuser799]

Had the same problem: Mac host, Win 10 guest. I had Win 10 v. 1607, and Creator's Update 1703 just installed (wish I knew how to make Windows NEVER, EVER download any updates without my specific approval). Anyway, after I launched 1703, I no longer had shared files.

Re-installing the Guest Additions from within the Win 10 guest fixed the problem. Now see host shared folders again without issue.

Thanks for the help!

[israel.faria]

I was wondering why all the sudden things started not working properly: USB passtrough, shared folders. Thanks to this thread all I needed to do was reinstall guest additions!