Sharing Networked drives with other applicaions on other computers

Hi there

Is there a way to share a Network drive with another computer (via File sharing - not via standard networking access)

For example I have say computer A that has shared networked drives from computer C (\\server\shared drive)

Now say I want to run PLEX or another media server on Computer B but use as the libraries the shared networked drives accessible on Computer A. Computer B has no direct neaccess to Computer C.

Doesn't seem possible in Windows to "Share" the network drives even though user has full read / write access.

Where I've noticed this is that for example my smart TV can access say PLEX running on my Windows computer it doesn't see the Libraries from the actual server but only Locally attached drives.

Same with VLC - only shows the local drives.

No probs if you can access the actual NAS of course.

Can "Sharing" be done like this or does it all have to be set up via Networking / Samba etc etc.

Cheers
Jimbo

EdTittel said:

Jimbo: you should look into the various kinds of media sharing environments that are available for home networks, primarily for streaming media (sounds like a good fit for your situation). You could go with something like the various Digital LIving Network Alliance (DLNA) offerings, which include lots of commerial options (such as Roku, Sling, and so forth) and plenty of DIY options for Windows (see the How-to-Geek's How to Turn Your Computer Into a DLNA Media Server as an example). OTOH, a Linux savvy guy like yourself may be better served by something like MythTV, which happily incorporates Windows network shares, drives, and servers through Samba/SMB connections.
HTH,
--Ed--

Hi there @EdTittel

Thanks for your reply

I use Linux myself for all my Networking / file / media streaming.

The problem comes when I have colleagues who want me to set up things on their Windows systems when they see my streaming / etc systems at home..

I explain to them that I'm NOT a Windows Guru - but have no problem in trying to learn / have a go for them.

Invariably I find ANY sort of Networking on Windows a real DOG -- even if it works on ONE computer the chances of even a seemingly Identical configuration working on a second machine just seems a total Lottery as to whether it will work or not.

I don't want to seem too much of a Linux bigot -- loads of decent Windows apps I use regularly that will probably never have a Linux equivalent --it's just that Networking on Linux always works straight out of the box (apart from say very latest wifi stuff - drivers will come soon anyway) whereas Windows - sometimes even getting two seemingly identical Windows 10 machines to see each others "Shares" doesn't always work.

Cheers
jimbo

Try this:
re-sharing a mapped shared drive