Windows 10: How to Share Media Libraries in Windows 10?

I have four Windows 10 Machines, (Surface 3, two HP laptops, and HP z840 workstation). My workstation has provided access to "Music" library sometime in the past (probably Windows 7) and later in HomeGroup until it was removed from the OS. That "Library" is still accessible via Windows Media Player on other PCs on my home LAN, AND IT IS ACCESSIBLE FROM NON-PC MEDIA PLAYERS LIKE BLU-RAY PLAYERS, HOME THEATER MEDIA RECEIVER / AMP, AND "SMART" TVs.


From one of the laptops that had previously shared it's "Music" library so that it could be accessed from other PCs and non-PC media players, the Music library is no longer visible or accessible from any other PC or media player. I compared the streaming options from Media Player and control panel, the sharing settings from Properties for Library and folder objects, the security settings and principals, looked in the registry for conflicts / differences between the workstation and laptop and found no differences. Additionally I have:

1. Uninstalled / reinstalled Windows Media Player on the laptop.
2. checked that the services - Function Discovery Provider Host, Function Discovery Resource Publication, SSDP Discovery and UPnP Device Host are running.
3. 
   Checked that the Networking and Sharing basic and Advanced Settings, as well as Media Streaming Settings are the same in both machines.
   
   
4. 
   Run the DISM and sfc checks on the laptop.
   
   
5. 
   Run the "Shared Folders" troubleshooter from the workstation that says I don't have permission to connect to the Music folder on the laptop in question.
   
   
6. 
   Run "Incoming Connections" troubleshooter on the laptop which tells me there is a problem that Windows can't fix without additional info (but not what that info might be).
   
   
7. 
   ..etc. etc.
   

The cessation of access to the laptop apparently occurred when the update to remove HomeGroup was pushed onto the laptop. So my guess is that the update futzed up a registry setting that should have been modified with the loss of HomeGroup that would allow the laptop to expose its media libraries to other machines for access WITHOUT A USER SUPPLYING A UID/PW LOGIN.


I realize that between PCs I could use sharing and security options plus turning off password protected sharing, allowing "Everyone" access to Music, Pictures, Videos "Library" sub-folders would allow access to these libraries by PCs. But they are invisible still to the non-PC media players.


It almost appears as if the entire DLNA service features have been removed from the laptop so compatible devices can't even see it.


How do I get the laptop to once again provide access to non-PC DLNA media players on my home LAN?

:)

 

Building up a library on Windows Media Player

Hi Jorge,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I suggest you to rebuild the Media Library on your computer and check for the issue.

Follow the below provided steps.

• Shutdown Windows Media Player.
• Stop the media sharing service. Go to Start>Control Panel>All Control Panel Items>Administrative Tools>Services.
• Right-click on the “Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service” and select
  Stop.
• Navigate to “c:\Users\”your username”\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player. Now delete the files named
  CurrentDatabase_***.wmdb and LocalMLS_*.wmdb.
• Start the media sharing service.
• Now start Windows Media Player and watch it build up your library again.

Hope it helps.

 

How to delete videos from Shared library of Windows Media Player?

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

By default, Windows Media Player will share all the media that is in the library folders from the File Explorer. That is why you are seeing all the videos on the Roku TV.

To remove the videos from shared library we have a workaround, we have tried the workaround on our computers and it works, you can follow the steps and check if that helps for you. Follow the steps mentioned below:

• Press Windows key + E to open File Explorer.
  
• Click on Videos Library.
  
• Create a new folder and add the videos that you want to hide from the Share library.
  
• Right click on the folder, click on Give access to and select
  Remove access.
  
• Now, right click on the folder and click on
  Properties.
  
• Click on the Security tab and click on
  Advanced.
  
• Click on Disable Inheritance and select
  Convert Inherited permissions in to explicit permissions.
  
• Click on Apply and OK.
  
• Now, click on Edit.
  
• Click on WMPNetworkSvc and click on
  Remove.
  
• Click on Apply and OK.
  

Note: removing permissions will hide the videos from the shared library for the particular folder. If you want any video to unhide from shared library you can move the video out of the folder.

If the above workaround didn’t help, I would encourage you to provide your valuable feedback in Feedback hub so that our development team can review your suggestions. To provide your feedback, please refer to the article
Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback
Hub app.

Hope it helps.

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.