Update: 28th Feb 2010 - Due to the reported problems people have been having with the existing approach below, I have created the following program for MozyHome & MozyPro. It runs in the system tray and checks various Mozy registry keys (not just the one below), and if they have been changed by Mozy, it resets them back to the values that allow Mozy to backup and restore from the network.
Download the 'Mozy Network Share Enabler' here (32 Bit version)
Download the 'Mozy Network Share Enabler' here (64 Bit version)
This is a free program, and is not supported by runPCrun or Mozy, and it's use is at your own risk. It currently works with MozyHome 2.0.12.3, MozyHome 1.16.4.0 and MozyPro 1.14.1.6
Update: 09 August 2010 - This software is free, however I'd like to update it so it's fully Vista and Windows 7 compatible with UAC. It will take me a few hours to do as well as test both 32bit and 64 bit versions on both operating systems, so I'm offering this update to everyone in return for $100 of donations. I get up to 50 downloads a day, so just a $1 donation could get this program updated in two days.Many thanks.
Current total: $63.22 (£41) Donations by: E.S. (£3) , C.M. (£5) , P.M. (£1), M.G. (£10), Bruce (£5), Stephane (£15), Martin K (£2)
runPCrun recommend MozyPro for our business clients (usually in conjunction with an in-house backup solution, you can never have too many backups and they are faster to recover larger data volumes). However MozyHome* is a good product in itself for home users and I use it myself for my personal data.
When I initially tested MozyHome, there was a "add network share (BETA)" option which could be enabled. Since I use a Networked Attached Storage (NAS) device for my personal data at home (so my wife can easily access our photos etc.) this was perfect and so I subscribed. Unfortunately updates to MozyHome since have removed this option. When I contacted MozyHome support their (obvious) answer was that "we don't support that".
Since I was loathe to stop my subscription (it was only a month or so before that I'd finally uploaded 40Gb of my personal photos) I had a root around and found that while MozyHome had removed the option from the GUI, there was still an entry in the registry for this option.
All you have to do is open regedit (type 'regedit' at the Start > Run in XP or Windows button > Start search in Vista) and edit the following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\mozy\optionsnetworksharesupportValue data REG_DWORD = 1
or with MozyPro Desktop Edition (the Server edition comes with network support)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\mozypro\optionsnetworksharesupportValue data REG_DWORD = 1
Now when you right click on the top level of the file system
When you click on this, the Add Network Share dialog box pops up.
And the share pops up now in your File System view for you to select what needs to be backed up.
Once backed up, it will also pop up in the Restore view.
Please note that I've found with the last few updates when MozyHome updates itself, it resets this value to 0, but the backup still functions properly. However it doesn't allow you to change the backup settings until the value is set back to 1 and the UNC share re-added. The restore view always works.
Hopefully MozyHome will not change this policy or remove it completely in future updates.
*This has some referral or partnership with this supplier via the link given. Check out our stance on reviews and recommendations.
Thanks for the great tip.
I've just bought MozyHome and was quite disappointed not to be able to backup network disk!
I followed these directions, I can enable the network share backup and then add a network share but Mozy keeps changing the registry back to "0" before any backup is completed... ;-(
It doesn't matter as the values that are set for the backup do stick. Have a look in the "Restore" tab and you should see the files that have been backed up.
nope - Mozy seems to ignore any network share and just backup local.
At the end of the backup the registry key is changed back to 0
Any tips?
what version of MozyHome are you running?
1.8.8.1
Bummer - I'm having the same problem. It resets the value to zero and doesn't backup - I tried a few other "options" in the registry but it doesn't seem to work. Version: 1.8.10
Well I'm unable to help anyone at the moment as for some reason I can't login to my MozyHome and haven't been able to for a few weeks. I'm waiting for "higher level technicians" to help and I've been told "Once I receive a response from this department I will let you know."
Doesn't work :( I guess mozy will loose to elephant or other bloatware.
It's silly for mozy to disable such important feature, as I keep many of my private files on home server.
Yes. I've stopped MozyHome now because I too have a Network Attached Storage device and I was simply having too much trouble.
One way to avoid having to reset to registry key is making the permissions "read only" for the system account.
Nice idea! I feel I should have thought of that. :)
I'm getting fed up of resetting this value to backup my NAS storage.
Nice idea - can you explain how I do that?
Giving this a try with 1.10.4.2... I guess we'll see.
The reason they do this is they figure people with network storage are 'big files' guys and they want to push you onto the pro plan. Makes sense I guess - a whole company would put all its stuff on a network and the IT guy could back up it all using Mozy on one PC. If you read their terms and conditions, if you want network, buy pro, simple.
I guess their 'unlimited' plan starts to cost them too much if people upload many terabytes of data.
My solution is to use 'synctoy' to copy the relevant folders from the network drive, on a schedule, to a spare hard drive in my desktop PC. But it's a two stage solution (network -> local, local -> mozy) so it may take some hours/days for my 'new' files to get backed up onto Mozy.
Will Smith
London
Any updates on this? I would like to purchase Mozy (not the Pro version), and I have a NAS device...thanks!
The suggestion about setting the SYSTEM account to read-only works! I'm running with MozyHome ver. 1.16.3.4 and it works.
I'm on 1.16.4.0 and like the network thing is already 1... Can someone give me an older version or something?
I'd really love to use this but I just installed version 1.16.4.0-9388 and the "networksharesupport" d-word is already in the registry and is set to 1. When I try to right-click on the "file system" tab I don't get anything. I tried changing the value to 0, but nothing happens either. Any ideas? Does anyone know where to download older versions?
Thanks!
The article is now old and the techniques have changed. Install the Mozy Network Share Enabler program to enable share support in Mozy now.
I am running Mozy Home 1.16.4.0. I used the "Mozy Network Share Enabler" and tried to add a network share, but it the ball just keeps spinning, and doesn't add the share. :-(
Any ideas?
Perhaps check that if the share you are connecting to needs authentication? Sometimes (especially with Vista) you need a username and password to connect to a share (and you may not know this, as your authentication settings have been stored by Windows)
If the dialog pops up allowing you to add a share, then the network share enabler has done its job, any further issues are due to Mozy or Windows.
Running Mozy Share Enabler under Windows 7 I get an error stating Mozy Home or Mozy Home Pro was not detected. Ran in Administrator mode.
Thanks for your feedback, I will test further in Windows 7 and respond here (shortly, I'm on holiday at the moment)
I really like the discussion about this here. I have suggested it to some of my Mozy-using friends. The one thing I was wondering is if anybody has been able to figure out how to do something similar on an Apple computer? I have been trying to figure it out, but so far, no good.
I am running Mozy Share Enabler under Windows 7 x64 I get an error stating Mozy Home or Mozy Home Pro was not detected. When I change the registry entry, I am able to enable and back up the share, but it does not show up in the restore.
I've just got back from my holiday, and I will investigate Windows 7 i386 and x64 compatibility in the next few days. Please check back shortly.
Created a x64 version. Tested on Windows 7 x64.
If Vista x64 still doesn't work, please let me know!
Appreciate your efforts Dan.
Ran the Share Enabler and got "Internal error: Cannot access 64-bit registry keys on this version of Windows" for both the regular Share Enabler and 64-bit version.
I'm running WinXP SP3.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks, a minor mistake on my part while compiling the setup wizard did that.
Fixed.
Hi,
Thanks for putting these instructions together and creating the little app, but it is not working for me.
Running Vista 32bit and 1.16.4.0.
It just keeps reverting back.
Any ideas?
Many thanks.
I am on Win 7 64 bit and Mozy 1.16.4.0. You program loaded without any errors but in Mozy I do not get any option to add my network locations or see them in any way. Any suggestions?
I'm also running windows 7 ultimate 64 bit and mozyHome 1.16.4.0. I too see no right click option. Any help is appreciated :)
OK guys, I'll take a look and update you soon
May by obvious, but make sure you are running this tool as the admin. Right-click the shortcut and select "run as Administrator"....
That makes sense, I have been running with UAC disabled.
If you have UAC enabled then you'll need to run it as Admin. I don't think it'll be easy to bypass UAC, but I'll take a look at it.
That solved it for me, I dont know why I did not think of that in the first place.
thanks
One way to bypass UAC is to create a scheduled task that runs on startup and check the option for "run with highest privileges". So you could use that instead of the "Run" registry key, however I am not sure if you'll get the systray icon (not that it's particularly informative anyway).
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=616
There is even a clever trick to launch an elevated scheduled task using a shortcut.
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-windows/?p=730
Thanks for the app!
- MrShannon (http://mrshannon.wordpress.com/)
Hi, this works great for enabling networks shares but for some reason, all files stored on my NAS show up as 0Kb and Mozy does not back them up. Any ideas?
TIA
Which NAS do you have?
Do you know if its possible to run MozyHome on my pc running Win Server (64 bit)? The app won't launch b/c of the server version of the OS even though I use it as my local dev box.
any thought?
Running Mozy 2.0.11.1 on a Windows 7 64bit box. The registry key keep getting changed back even with enabler running.
OK I'm now running Mozy 2.0.11.1 on a Windows 7 64 bit. I'll see what happens.
Seems a lot of the download links have disappeared, so if anyone wants Mozy 2 it's here.
http://mozy.com/downloads/mozy-2_0_11_1.exe
Can you give me an more information about your setup? 2.0.11.1 has been running for 2 days without the enabler and currently it looks like the keys haven't been changed back.
Do you have UAC running?
Have you have an older version of Mozy running (with or without the enabler)?
Any other relevant information will be handy.
Has anyone tested this with the new Mozy 2.0?
It seems to work so far on my Windows 7 x64, I'd like some more feedback though.
Dan,
Thanks for the update. I'm running Mozy 2.0.12.3 on Windows 7 x86 with your network share enabler and UAC disabled. Seems to be working great! Thank you for allowing me the ability to backup the contents of my NAS offsite!
Best regards,
Daniel
Hmmmm.... wonder if the new Mozy 2.0 coming out will affect this *WONDERFUL* plug-in at all....
Hello, I am using MozyHome v2.0.12.3 on my XP Pro SP2 notebook. My NAS is a DLink DNS-323.
I've done what your web page has said, in terms of installing the software and updating the registry key.
I am able to reach the Add Network Share window. When I attempt to add the UNC (\\192.###.###.###\Volume_1) and add credentials that I absolutely know do work, I am receiving the following error:
"Cannot access \\192.###.###.###\Volume_1. Please verify the share name is correct and the you have permission to access it. Details: an unexpected network error occurred."
I can both ping and browse to the UNC. The problem is that the Add Network Share feature seems to be not playing very well for me.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
I have come across this recently on a customer network.
I tried various machines (all XP) on the network and I was using MozyPro (which specifically allows network shares as part of it's license and allows you to add network shares "out of the box")
The only common object was the NAS, which once I replaced, all the machines with MozyPro were able to connect.
I suspect Mozy does not play nicely with certain makes of NAS (perhaps in conjunction with XP, I don't know). I doubt you will be able to use the product as it stands. Sorry!
Realy great Job.
Today i do the update to Mozy Home 2.0 and your plugin still works fine.
using mozy 2.0.12.3 plus the 64bit enabler on win7. Seems to work fine, but you have to run the enabler as administrator.
Thanks for your work, I'm off to buy a mozyhome license.
I don't like subverting their intentions like this, but if they had a linux client I wouldn't have to do this.
As it is I keep all my pix and music and stuff on a linux box and i've got an ssd on my windows machine for speed. So all the actual important stuff i can only get to via network shares. I don't really have as much stuff as I'd imagine a lot of people do, so I don't really think I'm subverting the spirit of their ban.
Great article! Thanks a ton! I've had success with this method on my Windows XP Professional SP3 machine running MozyHome 2.0.12.3. I was wondering, has anybody figured out a way to do this for MozyHome on a Mac? A friend of mine runs Mac and has the need for this same type of feature, and while I'm pretty Windows savvy, I am completely lost on a Mac. I know there isn't a registry on a Mac, but is there some equivalent? Where might these types of application setting flags be stored in a Mac? Thanks for any advice!
Thank you for all the effort.
However, I am using MozyHome 2.0.12.3 running on a Vista x32 and wheile I can nefine a network drive to be backed up on MozyHome, when the actual backup happens I get "failed to connect to network share".
I _can_ access this network drive form the file explorer.
Any ideas ?
Dan,
One more observation on "failed to connect to network share" which I mentioned before:
Mozy does connect to the NAS share & backups all the new files successfully :-).
During the next backup, however, the backed-up files get "patch size = 0 bytes" and than comes the above error.
I will further check if I can recover the NAS files which were backed up by Mozy
Thanks again for a great work.
Dvir
I used this program an it worked for mozy. However, i was asked for my username and password for my NAS, which i entered
are there any security issues here.
also does your program need to keep running, or can i stop it?
The username and password is part of Mozy Network Drive support, there is no more security risk than using MozyPro.
The program needs to run all the time, it's function is to check the registry keys mentioned in this article and change them if they have been changed back to their original ones, and that is all it does.
Regards
Dan
i used this great software on my xp machine nor problem. now i am trying it on my vista machine, and i right click on the drives in mozy and nothing happens
UAC needs to be switched off, or the application shut down, and restarted via rightclick "run as administrator"
typical vista.
thanks....
Seems to be working fine with mozy 2.2.2.3 on win7 32bit (running it as admin), i was getting the network drive error at first but found that you can not have the drives mapped while starting the backup. It is currently backing up 900+ Mbs of data ill get back to you on whether or not this completes.
Is there any way to make the tool ask for admin permissions when it starts? would make it easier so the tool will work correctly when it starts with windows even if i have to click once every time i start the computer.
Lol.. Yes! This is why I'm running a fund raiser to do this work (check out Update: 09 August 2010 at the top of the page)
Like many people, I have a job and family (and I'm moving home at the moment) and finding it difficult to sit down and make the time to do this.
I don't want to sell the software & I want it to remain free - however I need an incentive to do this extra work as the software works perfectly well without it (especially on my system!)
As an aside, I meant to put £100 rather than $100, but only noticed after the first donations. So I'll stick to my end of the bargain.
100 whatever, that's fine, pretty cheap either way - you're doing the Lord's work (I understand there are a lot of Lords in the UK, probably an inappropriate reference, huh?) - I donated and I'm going to bully anyone I know using Mozy to donate also.
Thank you very much.
Bruce
P.S.
If you're reading this and you haven't donated...why? You probably tipped the wait staff an extra $5 this week and I guarantee you at least ONE of them left some DNA in your food. Dan just writes helpful software - no DNA!
Bruce, thank you for your donation and your comment. I'd like to think I put a bit of myself into the work I do, but it's true I don't leave any DNA :)
Thanks a lot for the wonderful tip.
I downloaded Mozy Network Share Enabler and donated.
But it doesn't do its job on my Win 7 (32 bits).
Please, users, donate!
Stephane
Many thanks for your generous donation Stephane.