File sharing over a network in Windows 10

In Windows 10, some features of file and folder sharing over a network have changed, including the removal of HomeGroup. Read on for answers to common questions about other changes to file and folder sharing in Windows 10.

To share a file or folder in File Explorer, do one of the following:

Right-click or press a file, select Give access to > Specific people.

Select a file, select the Share tab at the top of File Explorer, and then in the Share with section select Specific people.

If you select multiple files at once, you can share them all in the same way. It works for folders, too—share a folder, and all files in it will be shared.

To stop sharing in File Explorer, do one of the following:

Right-click or press a file or folder, then select Give access to > Remove access.

Select a file or folder, select the Share tab at the top of File Explorer, and then in the Share with section select Remove access.

File Explorer shows the «Remove access» option («Stop sharing» in older versions of Windows 10) for all files, even those that aren’t being shared over a network.

Open File Explorer, then type \\localhost into the address bar.

Note: When you’ve shared a file from a folder in your user profile and you go to \\localhost, you’ll see your user profile and all its files there. This doesn’t mean that all of your files are shared—just that you have access to all your own files.

If you open File Explorer, go to Network, and see an error message («Network discovery is turned off….»), you’ll need to turn on Network discovery to see devices on the network that are sharing files. To turn it on, select the Network discovery is turned off banner, then select Turn on network discovery and file sharing.

To troubleshoot problems with sharing files or folders, follow the steps below on all computers from which you’re trying to share.

Make sure the computers are on the same network. For example, if your computers connect to the internet through a wireless router, make sure they all connect through the same wireless router.

If you’re on a Wi-Fi network, set it to Private. To find out how, read Make a Wi-Fi network public or private in Windows 10.

Turn on network discovery and file and printer sharing, and turn off password protected sharing.

Select the Start button, then select Settings > Network & Internet , and on the right side, select Sharing options.

Under Private, select Turn on Network discovery and Turn on file and printer sharing.

Under All Networks, select Turn off password protected sharing.

Make sharing services start automatically.

Press the Windows logo key + R.

In the Run dialog box, type services.msc, and then select OK.

Right-click each of the following services, select Properties, if they’re not running, select Start, and next to Startup type, select Automatic:

Michael Lane’s Technology Blog

I was looking for some freeware to join two .mp4 files together (because VirtualDub would not do it) and I stumbled across a handy command line option.

Open a command prompt and type something similar to this:

This is great and simple option – and no installation required!

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31 thoughts on “ Windows 7 – Joining .mp4 Files Together Using The Command Line ”

Didn’t work but thanks for the effort

WORKS LIKE A CHARM……….
All we need to do is :

Open the command as an administrator.
Then open the folder via command where the files (you want to join) are present.
After which, run the command :
copy /b “filename.mp4” + “filename.mp4” + “filename.mp4” Result.mp4

Thanks a lot …. it really works… and it did a magic…..stay blessed….. Saeed

I guess that proves Charms don’t work since the files are appended into one larger file BUT when playing the larger .mp4 file with both VLC and Windows Media Player the video stops playing at the end of the FIRST file to be concatenated. What good is that? I want it to continue playing to the end of the last file concatenated. That was the whole purpose of this excersize.

Is there any way to automate this process? I have nineteen folders each with 110 mp4 files to concatenate. The folders contain names like 20100420_1.mp4, 20100420_2.mp4, 20100420_3.mp4….etc

You can imagine how long and tiring it could take to type all 2090 files!

Hi Sean, this should work for you:

copy /b *.mp4 CombinedFile.mp4

This didn’t work for me. It only copied the first into the result. (The combined file still has the filesize of both combined though for some reason. It just only plays up to the end of the first one.)

I’m assuming that both files are the same resolution? I haven’t used this technique a whole lot – but I have not had any issues with it.

Just tested myself. This trick only works on transport stream files, like MTS, that have been cut by a camera for file size purposes. MP4 files include a header that has index information, which includes the total runtime of the video. When you use the “copy xxx.xxx /b” command, the OS will blindly stitch the first bits of the 2nd video to the last bits of the first, without changing any data (just running the 1111s and 0000s together). What that means is when you play your new “combined” video, the player/editor first reads the header and gets the index information for only the first file in the series, since it was the first data added. The indexes for the 2nd, 3rd, and so on videos are buried improperly in the binary data in the middle of the new file, and useless.

Interesting to know – thanks very much! 🙂

That command only works for .mpg files that have audio built into the video stream.
For containers such as .avi & .mp4 you have to use a video editing tool in Windows or in Linux you can use Mencoder “mencoder file1.avi file2.avi -ovc copy -oac copy -o newfile.avi”.
Not sure if that works for mp4.

Oh yeah – the copy command for mpg must be same resolution, size and frames per second.

Didn’t work with me, just the result file have total size of separated files but when play it, it is only the first file 😦
Thanks for the effort

Looks like the files you joined were not compatible Mohamed …

I too tried this with several mp4 files all identical spec and and origin etc. I ended up with a file the size of all the sum parts but as with others only plays the first added file. Any ideas?

Fastest way to do this is to convert them to MPG using HandBrake then concatenate, then reconvert them to MP4 using Handbrake if you need MP4. So hence, I left them all separate 🙂

Best Solution Ever 😛 Is there a command to convert mp4 to mpg and back also using cmd?

I tried to do this, but it keeps telling me “access denied” whenever I try and enter the file path.

What’s the exact command I should enter? If you don’t mind please just copy/paste exactly what command you used.

Hi Solomon, the command is just what was posted – only the file names need to be changes. I have found that it doesn’t work for all files that I try to join however.

Thanks alot for letting us know the simple command for video file merger

Excellent!, that’s how things should work! (wishful thinking 😉 )
Thanks

it says it worked except it’s kind of useless when you can’t find any evidence of the combined file anywhere on your machine.

If both files were in C:\ then the output file should be there too …

I used .mpg video files with same resolution and it worked perfectly.
Kudos to everyone for sharing.

I tried to connect two files but only managed to copy one file. What did I do wrong?

Are both files the same resolution?

Actually none of the methods here work. The windows command line for combining the files combines them but the index only plays the first file when you replay the video. The VLC method referenced here worked but the audio and video were out of sync and only got worse as the video length increases. After about 2 minutes it is unusable and looks like an old Japanese Godzilla movie. I am ashamed and dismayed that using a windows machine it could possibly be so difficult to do the simple task of combining video clips. I also tried Handbrake. It combined them but the video was just a black screen.
For the love of God does anyone know how to combine multiple .mp4 files on a Windows machine?

This method does not work for mp4 files, since they possess header/footer data about the clip, you’ll end up with a concatenated file the size of the combined files, but most video players will only play the first clip.

One scriptable, lightweight solution without re-encoding the files is using FFMPEG (https://www.ffmpeg.org). The batch script below parses the folder of the batch script and concatenates them appropriately:

(for %%i in (*.mp4) do @echo file ‘%%i’) > mylist.txt
“C:\ffmpeg\bin\ffmpeg.exe” -f concat -safe 0 -i mylist.txt -c copy “Output.mp4”

For the script, you’ll probably have to adjust the smart quotes to their “dumb” quote counterparts.

8 Ways to Split and Join Large Files

As time moves on, the size of software and files found on your computer gets bigger. A photo will have more pixels in it and be larger, video files are now being distributed in 4K which means bigger file sizes than before. The same applies to games, some can now be as much as a 200GB download on platforms such as Steam. Applications are also growing, the latest Microsoft Office installation is now much bigger than it used to be.

As everything grows in size, it becomes more of a problem when you are trying to move or copy the files to a more restricted medium. For instance, you might be trying to send a video file via email which has an attachment size limit. Or you could be trying to backup or copy large files, such as ISO images, onto optical media or flash drives. If the file is too big for the space limit you have available, it needs to be split into separate parts.

Splitting files into smaller parts that can then be joined together again, later on, is done all the time on the internet. It’s also quite common to split a large file when you have to fit it onto several CDs, DVDs, or even floppies. Curiously Windows itself has the capacity to join already split files, but can’t split the file in the first place. For that you need a third party method, here are 8 ways for you to do it. All methods were tested on Windows 7 and 10.

FFSJ is small, efficient, and easy to use and comes as either a Lite or Standard version. Lite is a portable executable while the Standard installer version includes the context menu option that can split and join by right click. FFSJ also has a command line interface so files can be split and joined from batch scripts or the Command Prompt.

Splitting a file is easy and you only need to drop a file onto the window or manually locate it, choose a different output directory if required, and set the split method. The file can be split according to a specific number of parts or a specific size. The Encrypt data option is useful as only those that know the password can rejoin the files (you must rejoin the files with FFSJ).

For joining files you only have to drag and drop or locate the first file in the set and supply a save to directory. A password will be required if you encrypted the files. The MD5 Checksum tab allows you to get the checksum of the file before splitting, then a joined file can be verified to see if its checksum matches.

2. KFK

KFK is by KC Softwares who also make other well known tools like the software update monitor Sumo. In addition to splitting and joining files, KFK also has an option to burn the files to disc (if you have the shareware VSO CopytoDVD software) and also offers disk spanning by splitting a file over multiple floppy disks.

It’s possible to drop a file onto the KFK window or you can browse for one manually. For splitting, you can choose either to set a specific number of parts or a specific size of each part. The “Generate automatic rebuild file” checkbox creates a batch file with the files so you can join them together without using KFK.

Make sure to download the Lite or portable version of KFK. In the past, KC softwares have bundled adware with their installers. At the time of writing, they appear to be adware free but be aware when downloading.

3. GSplit 3

GSplit is definitely the program with the most advanced options here. Not only can it automatically span a file across several removable devices (floppies, USB flash drives, etc), GSplit can also create custom tags for the files and a custom self uniting program. There’s even a batch option where a number of files can be split one after the other (using the Several Files button).

There are four standard split methods; by numbers of files, by the size of each file, entering the size of each file individually, or even splitting a text file by line. The self uniting function (SFU) adds an executable to the files so they can be joined without GSplit.

The SFU file can be customized with your own messages, a picture, a chosen destination folder, run a program after splitting and auto start/end. The Express button is a faster way to quickly split a file from a single window. Both installer and portable versions of GSplit 3 are available.

4. Puran Splitter

Splitter is also part of the Puran Utilities tweaking software but this is the standalone version. It’s unfortunate that the program has to be installed but you can easily copy the folder from Program Files and then uninstall to create a portable version. Delete the file “Default.cjstyles” from the program folder if you prefer not to have the light blue theme.

Splitting a file is self explanatory and you simply drop or browse for the file to split, browse for an output folder, set the size of each file, and press the button. Sizes are in Kilobytes or Megabytes so multiply Megabytes by 1024 to use Gigabytes.

A useful feature is the option to either create a batch file to rejoin the files back together or create an executable. Either option works without the need for Puran Splitter. The batch join option uses the Windows Copy command which is useful to get around any restrictions that don’t allow an unknown executable to run on the computer.

5. Split Files Using an Archiving Program (PeaZip)

One of the most known methods of splitting files into multiple parts is by using a file archiver. Most archiving software has the ability to create a multi part Zip or 7z archive. We’re looking at PeaZip because it can actually split files by creating a multi part archive or using the standard method of splitting the file like the tools above. PeaZip is also a very good general archiver with a portable version if you would rather not install it.

To create a multi part archive, press Add, and drop the file onto the window. Choose where to save the split files, and in the dropdown boxes select Self-extracting 7Z, and Store. Select the split file size from one of the presets or choose Custom and enter a specific size in KB, MB, or GB.

With the self extracting 7Z you can join the files back together without an archiver installed. If that’s not required, use the 7Z or Zip methods instead. To create a standard split file, choose Split in the top drop down and pick the split size in the bottom drop down and start the process.

An alternative split window is in Tools > PeaUtils although here the output path is locked to the same as the input file. The PeaUtils window is also where you can join split parts together again. Click the drop down and select Join spanned file, then locate the first file in the set (.001) or drop it onto the window.

PeaUtils is a standalone program that doesn’t require PeaZip to work. Therefore, you can use split, join, or any other options available in the drop down without using or installing PeaZip.