Best way to view videos on NAS from my PC?

Question

I am new to NAS and just installed a NetGear ReadyNAS 202 with 3TB of storage in RAID 1.

I plan to use it to store mostly videos. What's the easiest way to play these videos on my PC or laptop? I plan to use Plex for my TV and mobile devices though Plex appears bugged due to the latest firmware.

There has to be an easier way than Plex though, if I simply want to play back a video from my PC that is stored on the NAS, short of downloading it back to the PC and playing it.

StephenB · Answer

One easy way is to create a shortcut on the desktop to the NAS video share. &nbsp;Click on that to open file explorer, then click on the file to play it (no copy needed).

papagrant · Answer

Actually the ReadyNAS simply showed up under Network Locations so that's fine.

Is there a way to secure the music and video folders? I assume this method is using DLNA which seems to have no password capability. If I switch to SMB, is there a way to view the folder in Windows Explorer?

cpu8088 · Answer

with pc using windows u may install vlc media player. it is free download.

your readynas should have smb enabled so from windows explorer can access folders

assume u have respective movies under a folder movies in single file or different folders, u may play those thru vlc by opening file or folder to play.

StephenB · Answer

papagrant wrote:
Is there a way to secure the music and video folders? I assume this method is using DLNA which seems to have no password capability. If I switch to SMB, is there a way to view the folder in Windows Explorer?

First of all, SMB is what Windows Explorer uses. &nbsp;So if you enter \nasname in Windows explorer, you will see the list of shares that have SMB sharing enabled.
&nbsp;
The answer to password protection is a bit complicated. &nbsp;If you have a family PC, then it is not that easy in practice to use SMB passwords for ratings control. &nbsp;You can require a password for NAS access, but it is not so easy to require one password for share A and a different password (or no password) for share B. &nbsp;Plus windows will keep sessions open, so if you've been accessing share A, and then don't log off, the next user can usually access share A with no password challenge.
&nbsp;
If you use separate windows accounts for each family member, or if everyone has their own PC, then it is practical to use SMB passwords for this.
&nbsp;
A potential workaround is to make some shares hidden. &nbsp;Everyone can still access them, but they'd need to know the path.
&nbsp;

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Best way to view videos on NAS from my PC?

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