Cannot run setups from a vboxsvr mapped network drive on Windows within VirtualBox

Question

I'm trying to run an application setup by double-clicking the setup.exe from within Windows Explorer. The file is located on a mapped network drive, and I'm using Windows 7. This results in the following error message:

The specified path does not exist. Check the path, and then try again.

The workaround I found is to copy the installer to the main hard drive (c:) and run it from there; however, this is rather inconvenient. I have the impression that the problem only occurs with installers, as everything seemed to work fine with regular exe's.

Is there anyone who can explain this odd behavior?

Update: After some extended tests I noticed that the problem only occurs with a mapped drive of VirtualBox's "shared folders" (cf. vboxsvr; VirtualBox v3.1.4). Mapping an SMB drive works fine.

Update: The same problem occurs on Windows Vista.

Update: Apparently, this bug has already been reported in VirtualBox' bug tracker.

Answer 1

Yes I have faced the same problem like every one.

The most easy way to overcome this problem is to log in as an Administrator in the guest Windows OS. Here's a tutorial for enabling Administrator account in Windows 7

Another option is to disable the UAC (User Account Control). Here's a link for disabling UAC. Disabling UAC is dangerous , it makes the job easier for malicious programs.

Answer 2

You can solve this issue by tweaking Local Group Policy:

Local Group Policy Editor (Run gpedit.msc) > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options >

1. User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators... = Elevate without prompting

2. User Account Control: Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode = Disabled

3. User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation = Disabled

Restart.

Credits: https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/5732

Answer 3

You either need to run it as administrator, or you need to add the network location to your Trusted Sites list in IE.

Answer 4

As you already found out, the easiest way to overcome this is to use a network share path instead of a mapped network drive. Shared folders in VirtualBox appear as network shares in a network location called VBoxSvr. Type \\VBoxSvr in Explorer's address bar (or in Start Menu, or Run window), then press Enter. Now navigate to your desired shared folder/path and run your program.