Like many other people nowadays, I have a network share containing my photos, videos and documents. I prefer to access these over the network, which is possible using explorer.
The problem however (especially on my Windows 8 tablet), is that this method in general does not work (properly) for Windows 8 apps. Instead they extensively use the Windows libraries (Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos).
So my first thought was to simply add the content on the network share to the Libraries. Apparently this is not how Microsoft wants it to be used, since I got an error stating: “This network location can’t be included because it is not indexed.”
I don’t need/want it to be indexed though, so I went to look for other solutions and found elaborate step-by-step guides. I also found the Win Library Tool, which simplifies adding an unindexed network location to the Windows libraries.
I still hope Microsoft will make it easier to add unindexed locations to the library though.
blog.bjornhouben.com 
AsAufMe
February 28, 2013 at 09:48
Hey Bjorn,
I bumped on your first-post on tweakers.net concerning the Gbit switch that isn’t news-worthy, didn’t know you have an account there. It linked to this blog which is pretty nice! Well done!
Concerning this topic, I’ve encountered the same problem with my win7 system and network folders. I solved it by editing the win registry. There are some reg maps ‘User shell folder’ or ‘Shell folder’ or something like that, that define the default folders for your pictures, movies, documents etc. Simply change these reg values to your network folder and it works without the need to index! Have fun with it. If you have any question about it just ask me on Steam. Greetz Rob / AsAufMe.
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Bjorn Houben
February 28, 2013 at 15:14
Hi Rob, good to see you found me :)With regards to the registry settings, if you have a link with the specifics I would really appreciate it.
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AsAufMe
March 4, 2013 at 20:51
I have no link, it is really simple;
1) Open Regedit.exe
2) Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Explorer
3) There is a folder ‘Shell Folder’ with al the PC-wide folders and a ‘User Shell Folder’ with all the user account specific folders.
4) Adjust the folders to your preferred network folder.
5) Reboot.
6) Enjoy 🙂
Examples:
Changed the ‘My Video’ registry to \\192.168.1.53\Video
Changed the ‘My Pictures’ registry to \\192.168.1.53\Documents\Pictures
etc.
After changing, rebooting and opening the Windows explorer, the library shortcuts to the left directly bring me to my network folders. This also works within the programs using these library folders.
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msenjur
April 29, 2014 at 11:57
works fine! nice app!
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msenjur
April 29, 2014 at 11:58
i forgot, i used it on windows 8!
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