Want Opinions: was update 1803 designed to push cloud storage ?

DonMurray said:

At this time Jan 20 2019 - Does anyone share files and printers between standalone (no server no domain) win 10 computers with update 1803 installed - in a productive way. ?

Yes. Each of my Win10 machines has a C:\TEMP folder shared out with access set for Everyone to make it simple to transfer files from one machine to any another at the drop of a hat. I also have an external 2TB HDD plugged into the usb socket on my router and shared out for all my Win10 machines to access. I have set up my File History to point to a folder on this network drive.

Did Microsoft just make it impossible for us to share files between our stand alone windows 10-1803 computers ?

No, not in 1803 (and not in the Win10 1809 that I run on most of my machines). it's easy to set up sharing, see this tutorial.
Share Files and Folders Over a Network in Windows 10 | Tutorials



@DonMurray, you may be interested to know that may routers can share an HDD or USB. Basically if a router has a USB socket then it's likely to support sharing. Precisely how you set it up (and whether or not it supports password protection) depends on the exact make/model, you'll have to check the manuals. Mine is an ISP supplied router and is fairly basic with no password protection. Linksys routers on the other hand are more sophisticated and allow you to set up user or group based permissions.

Setting up the Storage feature on a Linksys router with USB storage

Personal LAN and Internet file storage is the way things are going. MS was the first to push cloud based for the XBOX1, for game box systems. Sony and NVIDIA followed soon after. I use Backblaze for system backups, my iCloud for file storage and Onecloud for my business stuff. I gave up the NAS and dealing with hardware headaches over a year ago and moved towards Cloud based systems. I even use Jumpcloud for Directory as a Service.

It is because more people are mobile and not always able to get onto their LAN to pull files, let alone home Internet service is slow if you do not pay extra for Gig.

For printers, mine is connected via Ethernet to my Gateway and I use WIFI to connect my Macbook Air and iPhone to it for printing. I do have a Kodak Verite 50 eco that I use for flatbed scanning for now, but it is dedicated to a workstation via USB, with no WIFI connection.

DonMurray said:

Did Microsoft just make it impossible for us to share files between our stand alone windows 10-1803 computers ?
Are they really reaching their hand right into our offices and doing this to us to force us to use cloud storage ?
At this time Jan 20 2019 - Does anyone share files and printers between standalone (no server no domain) win 10 computers with update 1803 installed - in a productive way. ?

No.
No.
Yes. I have continued to be able to share files between my no server no domain computers.

You have not said what your problem is, which aspect of sharing is getting in your way.

The HomeGroup method of sharing no longer exists. Only the WorkGroup method exists now.

Browsing networked computers -
- Network computers no longer appear in the File explorer, Network section unless you reinstall "SMB 1", an insecure method about which there are numerous threads in this forum.**
- You can type network computer names into the File explorer address bar to see their shared folders: \\NetComp1 or you can enter complete paths to go straight to their shared folders \\NetComp1\SharingNameForAParticularFolder
- You can mount network share paths as drives [i.e. give them drive letters of their own]. Go to a network drive or shared folder in File explorer then select it, right-click, Map network drive ...

See the How to Share Files and Folders Over a Network - TenForumsTutorials

** For the first time since I installed Ver 1803, my networked computers are once again appearing in the File explorer, Network section. I have no idea when this change occurred [I installed Ver 1809 & a CU a few days ago].

Denis

DonMurray said:

also maybe a different topic
Might someone invent a USB 3.01 split or Sata signal sharing device that allows multiple computers to see a hard drive !

Don,

You can share a hard drive in several ways.
- As @Bree says, you can connect it to a suitable router. Many fairly new routers still only have USB 2 connections though.
- You can connect a hard drive to one of your computers then share it as you would any other drive / folder. It can only be accessed whilst that particular computer is running.

Denis

Try3 said:

Browsing networked computers has changed.
- Network computers no longer appear in the File explorer, Network section unless you reinstall "SMB 1", an insecure method about which there are numerous threads in this forum.
- You can type network computer names into the File explorer address bar to see their shared folders: \\NetComp1 or you can enter complete paths to go straight to their shared folders \\NetComp1\SharingNameForAParticularFolder
- You can mount network share paths as drives [i.e. give them drive letters of their own]. Go to a network drive or shared folder in File explorer then select it, right-click, Map network drive ...

See the How to Share Files and Folders Over a Network - TenForumsTutorials

Denis

Sorry, but you do not need SMBv1 to browse a network, unless you have some archaic device that can only use SMBv1. Otherwise, SMBv2/3 works just fine. Workgroups existed way before Homegroups.

Try3 said:

Don,

You can share a hard drive in several ways.
- As @Bree says, you can connect it to a suitable router. Many fairly new routers still only have USB 2 connections though.
- You can connect a hard drive to one of your computers then share it as you would any other drive / folder. It can only be accessed whilst that particular computer is running.

Denis

The only issue with using a Gateway to connect a USB storage device to, is that they only use SMBv1.

bro67 said:

Sorry, but you do not need SMBv1 to browse a network, unless you have some archaic device that can only use SMBv1. Otherwise, SMBv2/3 works just fine.

Thanks for posting that as I had stopped looking. For the first time since I installed Ver 1803, my networked computers are once again appearing in the File explorer, Network section. I have no idea when this change occurred [I installed Ver 1809 & a CU a few days ago].

Denis

Try3 said:

Thanks for posting that as I had stopped looking. For the first time since I installed Ver 1803, my networked computers are once again appearing in the File explorer, Network section. I have no idea when this change occurred [I installed Ver 1809 & a CU a few days ago].

Denis

There are a number of reasons for networking issues with a person's system. Everytime that NVIDIA updates the shield's firmware or their version of Plex Server, it wreaks havoc on trying to connect to it remotely to move files around on it. Everytime you deal with a different piece of hardware or software, you run into networking headaches.