\vboxsvr shared folders in XP guest required administrator rights -> Fixed in 1.6.6

[jwithana]

​http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/649 claims this would be fixed in 1.6.2 but the problem still persists

Host Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit Guest Win XP Pro 32-bit

\vboxsvr shared folders still cannot be accessed by ordinary user (without administrator priviledges) if administrator didn't log before and mount them

[Zhongke Chen]

I have the same problem.

Windows Xp home sp3 32-bit guest, Ubuntu 8.04 32-bit host

[Sander van Leeuwen]

Did either of you upgrade the additions?

[Zhongke Chen]

Replying to sandervl73:

Did either of you upgrade the additions?

upgraded. the icon of the guest addition is a blue cube now

[Frank Mehnert]

... and still the same problem?

[Zhongke Chen]

Replying to frank:

... and still the same problem?

yes. i have to log in as administrator first, then log in as normal user.

[pentagonik]

Please check the following:

• Is there a service called VBoxService in the service manager? What's the status of this service (started, stopped, ...)?
• Open "regedit.exe" and lookup HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VBoxService\. Please paste the values you found there here.

[Zhongke Chen]

No service called VBoxService in service manager. No HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet?\Services\VBoxService\ in registry. There is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VBoxGuest\ VBoxMouse VBoxSF vboxvideo.

[pentagonik]

It seems that it didn't update/install the additions right. Please repeat the installation. Additionally, you could specify the parameter /L when starting the setup from the command line to get a log in the installation directory.

[Zhongke Chen]

I reinstalled the guest addition. the problem is still the same. the install log is attached.

[Zhongke Chen]

I completely removed guest addition, and reinstalled it again. now I have the virtualbox guest addtion service. its startup type is automatic, but its status was stopped.

[pentagonik]

Status "stopped" is okay; did you reboot the machine after the installation? Does the shared folders work now?

[Zhongke Chen]

it's ok now. it seems that the old guest addition must be uninstalled before new one installed

[pentagonik]

Which additions did you have installed before the update? I'll try to reproduce the error then.

[Zhongke Chen]

Replying to pentagonik:

Which additions did you have installed before the update? I'll try to reproduce the error then.

1.5.6 => 1.6.0 => 1.6.2

[jwithana]

did u have to reboot after uninstalling 1.6.0 guest additions, prior to installing 1.6.2?

[jwithana]

perhaps the manual should make clear the upgrade path?

on the host i presume one can can install the new version of vbox without uninstalling the prior version?

[gg]

I had on a the same issues on Win2KPro guest. Previous 1.5.6 had no problems with the shares. However, I should mention that I had also previously upgraded from 1.5.6 to 1.6.0 but dropped back to 1.5.6 because of issues with 1.6.0. The machines were then upgraded again to 1.6.2:

Guest = Win2KPro was previously under 1.5.6 Host(s) = Ubuntu Linux Hardy 8.04 (2.6.24-19-generic)

and

Gutsy 7.10 (2.6.22-14-generic)

Guest Additions = 1.6.2.r31466 VBoxSF.sys = 1.6.2.0 VBoxMRXNP.dll = 1.6.2.0 Reg keys: VboxGuest, VBoxMouse, VBoxService, VBoxSF, vboxvideo

VirtualBox Guest Additions Service set to Automantic, is stopped and cannot be started manually. I receive: ==== Could not start the VirtualBox Guest Additions Service on Local Computer. Error 1053: The service did not repond to the start or control request in a timely fashion. ====

But I see from 06/10/08 13:18:09 changed by pentagonik that is OK.

I backed down to 1.5.6 on one of the machines (Gutsy) to see if 1.6.2 was the problem and noticed that I still had no shares. So, I uninstalled the Client for Microsoft Networks and reinstalled. That resolved the issue.

Did the same on the 1.6.2 machine (Hardy) and that also resolved the issue on that machine as well. While that provides a workaround, the question still remains why did an upgrade from 1.5.6 ==> 1.6.2 establish the problem to begin with?

[jwithana]

Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit Host Win XP Pro SP3 32-bit Guest

I just uninstalled (& rebooted) and reinstalled Guest Additions but now I cannot map ANY shared folders (not even when logged in as Admin on XP!!)

yikes!

[jwithana]

in Guest XP, under My Network Places/Entire Network/Virtualbox Shared Folders

nothing is visible

[jwithana]

jwithana's install.log

[jwithana]

i uploaded my install log.

in regedit, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VBoxService\ does NOT exist

however, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet?\Services\VBoxGuest,VBoxMouse,VBoxSF and vboxvideo DOES exist.

[jwithana]

also in My Computer->Manage->Services there is NO shared folder service!

[Sun Hao]

exactly same problem with jwithana's

[jwithana]

anyone at innotek/sun able to replicate the issue? do you think it is an issue of how I installed Guest Additions, and if so any thoughts on how exactly i should re-install?

[laurent laffont]

Cannot map any shared folders too. Debian sid with Linux 2.6.25 on macbook intel core duo 2, windows xp sp2, virtual box 1.6.2

[Divius]

Clear installation of virtual box (not update!!) - shared folders work only after reinstallation of guest additions (once again) and reboot.

[laurent laffont]

Replying to Divius:

Clear installation of virtual box (not update!!) - shared folders work only after reinstallation of guest additions (once again) and reboot.

It works ! Tha

[jwithana]

uninstalled and re-installed guest additions -- still does not work!

[Divius]

Replying to jwithana:

uninstalled and re-installed guest additions -- still does not work!

Did you try to install version 1.6.2 twice after uninstalling previous version?

[jwithana]

just tried it. still no luck... the network icon show activity when the xp gues tries to looks for \vboxsvr\foo\bar but comes back with the msg not found

[jwithana]

is there any way to check 1.6.0 guest additions were uninstalled correctly?

if 1.6.2 guest addition shared folder thing was installed is there something i could check for? is there a registry entry i could add to enable it? i presume the installer DLL added the correct code, its just that the system is not configured to use it? or perhaps do you think a M$ security update disabled it?

[pentagonik]

Hi,

• Please post us the file versions of "VBoxSF.sys" (in windows\system32\drivers) and "VBoxMRXNP.dll" (in Windows\system32).

• Make sure that there is a service called "VBoxService" in the services list.

• Open the registry (run "regedit.exe") and go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services". Which keys beginning with "VBox" are there?

[jwithana]

VBoxSF.sys version 1.6.2.0 VBoxMRXNP.dll version 1.6.2.0

there is NO "VBoxService" in the services list (see attached window grab)

in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ i see: VBoxGuest, VBoxMouse, VBoxSF and vboxvideo

[jwithana]

serivces present

[jwithana]

just to clarify, what is attached is a pic of the services present which does NOT include "VBoxservice"

[gg]

I uninstalled the Client for Microsoft Networks and reinstalled. That resolved the issue for me. You might give that a try.

ControlPanel|Network etc. Uninstall Client for Microsoft Networks reboot Reinstall Client for Microsoft Networks

[jwithana]

how do i uninstall/reinstall Client for Microsoft Networks? i cant find it in add/remove programs. is it somewhere else?

[gg]

​http://capd.ksu.edu/cns/support/network-setup-instructions/4-configure-your-local-area-connection/winxp32/d-install-client-for-microsoft-networks

Mind the wrap. This shows how to install, uninstalling is pretty much the reverse. Note: be sure to have your install CD handy as you may have to use it when reinstalling.

[Sun Hao]

Fix the missing reg info

[Sun Hao]

I get the missing registry , see attachment above. Just add it into your system's redistry, it works fine for me. Service still not shows in the services list, but it works!!!

[jwithana]

wow! that works!! thanks seerhut!

[Bernhard Bock]

I was hit by the same bug on Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 guest. UAC on Vista is disabled (and was before the upgrade). Host is Kubuntu 8.04. Reinstalling the guest additions (multiple times, reboot in between) did not solve the problem. The installation was upgraded from 1.5.6 -> 1.6.0 -> 1.6.2.

The attached registry file solved the problem for me.

[jwithana]

clearly the Guest Additions installer chokes and doesnt make the correct registry entries. hope this is fixed in the next release?

[pentagonik]

@jwithana: Did you also try with a Windows XP SP2? We didn't test SP3 massively yet, so it highly can be that there's an error in combination with that service pack.

I tested the installation/update of the Guest Additions with XP SP2 again and again but didn't find any errors or not working features.

[jwithana]

i did not test it on SP2

[jwithana]

the other thing i forgot to mention was that this is a rawdisk image with 2 hardware profiles "Physical" and "Virtual"

[jwithana]

also after seerhut's registry fix (fix_vbox_share_folder.reg) i still need to log in as Admin and map the drives prior to logging in as a non-admin user [even with VBoxSF.sys version 1.6.2.0 VBoxMRXNP.dll version 1.6.2.0]

[pentagonik]

To all which still having problems with installing/upgrading the Shared Folders and/or needing administrative rights: Please send me an email with your nickname to "pentagonik at sun dot com". I'll then provide you a link to a test version.

[pentagonik]

Since I didn't get ANY feedback of the users I sent the test version, please try again with 1.6.4 and report back if the problem still exists.

[Michael DePaulo]

I tested this with Win XP SP3 on Vbox 1.6.4 on Ubuntu 8.04.1 64-bit. No luck.

fix_vbox_share_folder.reg did not help.

[Michael DePaulo]

I was using a completely clean 1.6.4 install with 1.6.4 guest additions btw.

[poulsbo]

Version: 1.6.4

Host: Mac 10.5.4

Guest: Win XP SP3

Same problem.

Not helped by fix_vbox_share_folder.reg.

Tried fix_vbox_share_folder.reg + reinstalling Guest Additions, and now accessing "My Network Places" causes ticket 1729 (​http://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/1729) -- which is what I saw originally, but which had temporarily gone away, when I had uninstalled Guest Additions, then reinstalled, but not merged the fix_vbox_share_folder.reg file.

[AaronWang]

Replying to frank: I have the same problem. Uninstall Guest Additions, restart Guest OS, and Install Guest Additions again will resolve thie problem.

[Pedro]

Replying to pentagonik:

Since I didn't get ANY feedback of the users I sent the test version, please try again with 1.6.4 and report back if the problem still exists.

Hi!

I have installed windows xp sp2 as guest in an Ubuntu 8 host with automatic updates off and I could see the shared folder after installing Vbox guest additions. Now, with the same host and the same WinXP CD but upgraded to SP3 I can't connect to the shared folder... even after trying all the possible solutions on this forum!

regards Pedro

[Frank Mehnert]

Pedro, did you upgrade VBox in the meantime?

[Pedro]

Frank, I have used the version 1.6.4 with both installations. Now I have installed the win xp for the 3rd time (this is not a weird fetish!!! I really need it working with a specific software and a shared folder!!! :)) and it works great with the SP2. The first thing I did was to install the Guest Addictions. Now I have a great snapshot!! :) Note that I turn all the automatics updates off... and I guess that they will remain like that!

I suppose that it is a incompatibility with the SP3, no?

[Frank Mehnert]

Pedro, I assume you tried to open your shared folder with specifying \vboxsvr\share (replace share with your share name) in the explorer address line, right? If so, does \vboxsvr\share in a guest command line (cmd.exe) work? And/or does it work if you go to the explorer menu, select connect network drive, click browse in the following dialog, select VirtualBox Shared Folders and select your share there and finally click on ok. Does that work?

[Pedro]

Yes, I mapped the shared folder at the command line with "net" and it worked perfectly. One of the softwares I have to install needs a newer version of the installer and I had to add the SP3. But the shared folders still work perfectly. I already copy some files through it and I had no problem at all.

[Kyle Skrinak]

I am unable to access Shared Folders on my virtbox/WinXP machine as an admin user. I've tried the steps above, including the fix.reg file, un-and-re-installing the additions (1.6.4) and uninstalling and reinstalling the Client for Microsoft Networks (against my preferences) Regardless, I can not access any shared folders. When I try to access a shared folder, such as Run > \vboxsvr\<sharename> I get a dialog that it cannot access "\vboxsvr\iso" a folder I unshared some time ago.

[sunlover]

This problem has been fixed in 1.6.6. Please try it and reopen the ticket if the problem persists.