Newbie having trouple

[Tobzors]

Hi guys.

I hope you can spare some of your time to help me out here.
I've downloaded the Boxee setup for Windows and I want to share my media with other computers on our network.

I just can't really seem to get it to work.

I'm running Windows 7, with an external harddrive attached where all my media is stored.
I've managed to connect another computer to the same network and this one can now access my own computer and view it's shared files.
I've shared the external harddrive so computer 2 can look through and play those files without too much trouble.

The plan is that computer 2 will be connected to my tv, so I can view my media on the tv while using computer 2 to access the files.

I've installed the Boxee software on both computers. My own works just fine as the files are local.
On computer 2 I can find the files, but when I try to add them as media in the Boxee settings it says 'Disconnected' after a few seconds of scanning.

If you guys know of a solution to this problem then that would be great.


But what I'd really like to know is how you guys would have done it to begin with...

How would you guys set up a Boxee system, where all the media is stored on one external harddrive connected to one of the computers and have all other computers on the network have unhindered access to those files?

Hope you can help

Kind Regards
Tobias T.

[darcilicious]

You might want to look into a NAS solution -- it's basically a powered enclosure with one or more drives that you connect up via ethernet (and not to a computer). They come in varying types/features/sizes but the idea is that once they're connected to your network, any computer on the network can access them and you don't have deal with Windows sharing issues.

In my case, I went a step further and bought a pre-installed (by HP) Windows Home Server which currently holds 12TB (including the 4-bay external enclosure) and does other cool things like backing up all the PCs and Macs each night over the network.

But that may be overkill in your case

[Tobzors]

I've thought about a NAS solution, I think it would save me a lot of trouble.
I even have an old desktop pc lying around, maybe I could turn that into a storage server, but the external harddrive would still have to be connected for it to have enough storage.

But what if I were to buy a Boxee Box instead? If I had all my media stored on a NAS system the Boxee Box would be able to play those without a fuss right?

(Sorry if these questions sound dumb, I've been toying around since yesterday and I haven't slept yet so I'm probably mixing things together)

[darcilicious]

But what if I were to buy a Boxee Box instead? If I had all my media stored on a NAS system the Boxee Box would be able to play those without a fuss right?

Yes, Boxee Box works fine with NAS devices.