How to Add a NAS to Windows 7 libraries

I found this entry in a forum: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/4617-libraries-include-network-folder.html and wanted to keep easy access to the information.

As people begin to use Windows 7, Power Users and even regular users will eventually get around to wanting to expand their Windows 7 Libraries, which I think is an incredible feature, to include NAS locations.  Household NAS’s are now less than $200 for a terabyte, and home users and business users alike are going to be looking for this functionality.

Currently, Windows 7 does not support adding NAS locations to libraries.  I’m not sure why, but hopefully Microsoft deploys that functionality some time very soon.  Apparently, these locations break the Windows 7 backup functionality for that library.

Here’s the quick and dirty for the method I used.

The alternate method involves copying all the data from the NAS folder to a local folder.  One of the reasons for using a NAS to me, is to not have to have that information stored locally on my machine.  Anyway, here’s how I did it:

Method 1:

Create a temporary folder in a location of your choice, for example, I created a folder on my M: drive named “Linked Folders” and then created a sub-folder titled “ISO”.

M:\Linked Folders\ISO

 

Then add that folder to the library.

After adding that folder to the library, delete it. Then open a command prompt with administrator or elevated privileges, i.e. Run As Administrator. 

In case you don’t know, the command prompt program is located under the Start > All Programs > Accessories folder.  Right-Click the Command Prompt program and choose, Run As Administrator.

At the command prompt, type the following command:

mklink /d [path to folder that you deleted with the same name] [path to share location]

 

This makes my command look something like this:

mklink /d “M:\Linked Folders\ISO” \\nas02\public\ISO

 

You should get a message that states that the symbolic link was created.  You should now be able to see content under the library that you added through the link, and you should see a shortcut link in Windows Explorer in the location that you specified.

*** Remember that this will break the library backup, but you can backup the individual locations on your local drives. ***

Method 2

The alternate method is very simple, but keep in mind that ALL the data from the NAS folder will be copied to your local drive.

Right on the network folder or drive you want to include in the library and select “Always Available Offline”.  A sync will start.  You can then add that folder to a library.

Hope this helps someone out.  I really hope Microsoft just comes up with a fix instead of this workaround.