Shared folders not showing in VirtualBox Windows 10 Guest

I have what I believe to be the correct (and same) versions of the Extension Pack and Guest Additions (VBoxGuestAdditions_6.0.24.iso) installed for two VMs, one running Windows 7 and the other Windows 10, on a Linux host, both VMs sharing the same Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager. The log for the Windows 10 VM list both packages.

00:00:08.397977 VMMDev: Guest Additions information report: Interface = 0x00010004 osType = 0x0003B100 (Windows 10, 64-bit)
00:00:01.438842 SUP: Opened VBoxEhciR0.r0 (/usr/lib/virtualbox/ExtensionPacks/Oracle_VM_VirtualBox_Extension_Pack/linux.amd64/VBoxEhciR0.r0) at 0xXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
00:00:01.029422 Installed Extension Packs:
00:00:01.029441 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack (Version: 6.0.24 r139119; VRDE Module: VBoxVRDP)

For several years now, I have had no difficulty accessing the shared folders (drives) on the host in the Windows 7 VM. After declaring them in settings (with the VM off), they just appear.

I just got a Windows 10 VM running but I am unable to see the host folders in Windows Explorer. I have tried a number things, including re-installing Guest Additions and verifying the presence of Guest Additions, but the folders do not appear. Setting the mount point to the letter Z did not help. I am able to connect to a USB drive plugged into the host.

I have read (and re-read) VirtualBox manual section 4.3. Shared Folders and section 4.3.1. Manual Mounting as it applies to Windows, and I have searched on this forum and elsewhere but have not found a solution.

Any suggestions and ideas would be appreciated.

4

1 Answer

I determined the cause of the missing shares. Although the guest additions ISO was mounted, the additions were not installed. In Windows 10 Explorer, I navigated to the CD drive with the additions and then right clicked VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe, selecting run as administrator. The Windows installation wizard then installed the additions. The VM then rebooted and the desktop re-appeared after a very long interval. To see the share, I needed to re-boot again and then the share appeared. Again, it was simply a matter of installing the guest additions, not just mounting the CD.

For reasons I don't understand, VirtualBox VMs no longer automatically pulls down the guest additions ISO (in my case). Nor in this case did Windows 10 self-execute the install process.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions.

1

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