Microsoft enters ‘final stage’ to disable SMB1 file sharing in Windows 11

Most Windows 11 preview focuses on adding features, but sometimes Microsoft uses it to remove things. Users who install the latest Windows 11 Home Insider builds will find that support for version 1.0 of the venerable SMB file sharing protocol is now disabled by default, something that may disable file sharing for older network storage devices. Posted by Microsoft Program Manager Ned Pyle details The reason behind the change and how it will affect users.

Microsoft has already disabled SMB1 by default in other versions of Windows. The SMB1 server service has been removed from all versions of Windows Starting in 2017Customer service was disabled on Windows 10 Pro editions starting in 2018. The customer on major Windows editions came last because it would “cause consumer pain among people who are still using very old equipment, a group that are unlikely to understand why not My new Windows 11 laptop was able to connect to my old networked hard drive.”

SMB1 has long been replaced by newer, more secure versions of the protocol; SMB2 was introduced in 2007, and version 3.1.1 was added to Windows 10 in 2016. But the original is still occasionally used by old servers and equipment – and if the hardware is old enough to rely on SMB1, it’s probably out of date Enough that one does not bother with its maintenance or upgrading.

Currently, the SMB1 feature can still be installed manually by users and system administrators who need it, and if you’re using SMB1 on a computer you’re upgrading to Windows 11, the upgrade won’t disable the feature. The next stage of the transition will go a step further, completely removing the DLL files and drivers needed to support SMB1 from the operating system. Pyle writes that the company “will provide an unsupported out-of-band installation package to organizations or users who still need SMB1 to connect to legacy factory machines, medical equipment, consumer NAS, etc.”

Picture list by Old Windows Icons / Andrew Cunningham