How to connect Mail.Ru Cloud for free via WebDAV

Preface

Does anyone remember that Mail.Ru has its own cloud storage? It is quite modest compared, for example, to Disk from Yandex. Without monetary investments, the Mail.Ru Cloud provides 8 GB of space, and Yandex gives 10 GB, which can be “overclocked” by inviting friends to 20. One could forget about the Cloud, if not for an action of unprecedented generosity at the turn of 2013-2014 - cloud storage could be expanded to as much as 1 terabyte once and for all.

Until recently, there was no official way to connect the Cloud as a network drive. On November 28, the Disk-O: program was released, which, in my opinion, turned out to be a complete misunderstanding. I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it at the end of the article, but now I’ll tell you how to connect mailrush storage as a network drive. And not just one, but as many as it takes!

Why do you need to connect storages as disks?

The answer is simple: in order not to keep copies of files on the local disk, open and save files without the hassle of downloading/synchronizing. To do this, many cloud services support the WebDAV protocol for connecting network drives, for example, Yandex.Disk. Cloud Mail can also use WebDAV, but only on paid accounts.

The company has the right to restrict users in some ways without a paid subscription, but the refusal of WebDAV has no technical justification. This marketing limitation is easily circumvented in several ways. For example, there is a wonderful CloudMailRu plugin for Total Commander, but today we are talking about other software.

WebDavMailRuCloud

A program created by a programmer with the nickname yar229 emulates a WebDAV server, allowing you to work with Cloud content almost like a regular disk. You can store documents on them and even run games (I tried RimWorld, it took longer than half an hour to load due to the large number of small files, but it worked!).

The program is needed to connect Mail.ru clouds as a network drive. Other services are not supported.

P.S. due to many questions. Yandex disk is also not supported. No way. At all. Connect directly, they have WebDAV available for free.

The method used to connect to the Cloud is unlikely to be covered up, because WebDavMailRuCloud essentially simulates user actions through a web interface. When a user saves a file to a network drive or creates folders, the Mail servers do not notice anything unusual - from their point of view, the user works with Disk through a browser.

1. Download the archive WebDAVCloudMailRu-*.*.*.* -dotNet45.zip with release pages. I put stars instead of version numbers, because when you read these lines, most likely a new version will already be released and the numbers will still be different. Requires .NET Framework 4.5.

2. Unpack the downloaded archive WebDAVCloudMailRu-*.*.*.*-dotNet45.zip to, for example, C:\Program files\WDMRC.

3. Run wdmrc.exe with command line parameters like “-port 801 -install WDMRC”, where:

-port 801- this is the server emulator port. If you need to connect several Mail.ru Clouds, you need to specify several ports separated by commas: -port 801,802,803 and so on.
-install WDMRC- launching the installation of WebDAVCloudMailRu as a service, so that in the future there is no need to launch the program manually. Replacing -install with -uninstall will remove the service.

Or, if you don't know how to run programs with command line parameters, create a text file in Notepad with the following content:

"C:\Program files\WebDAVCloudMailRu\wdmrc.exe" --port 801,802 --install WDMRC Pause

In quotes - the path to the unpacked wdmrc program. Make sure it is correct, as you may have unpacked it into a different folder. To copy the path, you can right-click with Shift pressed on the wdmrc.exe program in the folder and select “Copy as path” - this will be the full, exact path to the software.

Please note: in the example I indicated two ports 801 and 802 for connection two Clouds. If you have one account, 801 is enough.

Save the text document with a name such as installwdmrc .bat and run as administrator by right-clicking and selecting "Run as administrator":

The following lines will indicate that everything went well in the window that opens:

The path to wdmrc.exe was specified incorrectly.
Forgot about quotes (needed when there are space characters or Cyrillic characters in the path).
Didn't run as administrator.
Antivirus software interferes with the installation of the service (turn it off for a while).
The ports were specified incorrectly(-port port1, port1, port3... - depending on how many accounts you need to use). Then when connecting the drive error 67 will occur. Be careful!

After successful installation, you can close the window. The installed service will not be started yet, and this does not matter: you must first make changes to the operating system registry and restart the computer. Afterwards the WebDAV emulator service will start automatically.

4. It is necessary to change the operating logic of the WebDAV client used in Windows, at least partially removing the limitation on the maximum file size that can be saved to a network drive (a shortened version of the instructions from the WDMRC FAQ) and changing the authorization method.

Download and run this file from and restart your computer. Or, if you don't trust everything you download from the Internet, change the registry entries manually:

Press Win+R, type regedit, click OK
Walk along the tree to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters
BasicAuthLevel, choose Change…
In the Value field we write 2 , press OK.
Right-click on FileSizeLimitInBytes, also select Change…
In the Value field write ffffffff, click OK.
Close the window, restart your computer ( Necessarily!).

5. You need to prepare a .bat file that connects and reconnects network drives. Create a connect.bat file in Notepad with just three lines of text:

Net use M: /DELETE net use M: http://127.0.0.1:801 "here_mail_password" /USER:[email protected] exit

The first line will remove the disk if it was connected. The second one will connect the Cloud. The exit command will close the console so that the black window disappears on its own.

Run this file with two clicks. Run as administrator not necessary, otherwise not all programs will see the connected drives. If everything is successful, a new drive M: will appear in the Computer folder (the letter can be any one you specify, but does not match the existing physical drives). If, when connecting, it requires a password and reports error 67, it means that you did not apply the registry tweak from the previous step and, perhaps, did not restart the PC. Or you specified the wrong port.

To connect several disks via WebDAV to the Mail.ru Cloud if available multiple accounts just duplicate the lines, changing the drive letter, port, login and password:

Net use M: /DELETE net use M: http://127.0.0.1:801 "here_mail_password" /USER:[email protected] net use S: /DELETE net use S: http://127.0.0.1:802 " here_password_from_second_mail" /USER:login [email protected] exit

The WDMRC service needs to know in advance that you have multiple accounts because you can connect one drive to one port. If you specified few ports during installation, you need to reinstall the service.

1. Press Win+R, execute “services.msc”, in the list of services that opens, find WebDavMailRuCloud, right-click on the line - Stop.

2. Create a .bat file with the same content as for installation, adding the uninstall command:

"C:\Program files\WebDAVCloudMailRu\wdmrc.exe" --uninstall WDMRC "C:\Program files\WebDAVCloudMailRu\wdmrc.exe" --port 801,802 --install WDMRC Pause

Naturally, there should be as many ports as there are accounts. They must match the ports in the connection commands(http://127.0.0.1 :801 , http://127.0.0.1 :802 etc.).

3. Run the file as administrator, the service will be installed and, in order not to restart the PC to start it, in the same services window, find WebDavMailRuCloud again, right-click - Run.

That's it, you can connect several Clouds.

If something goes wrong, replace the command exit on pause and the window will not close. Then you will see information about the possible error and can ask me about the solution in the comments to this article.

Please note that wdmrc.exe is a WebDAV server like any other, it just runs on your PC. All errors that arise when connecting are no different from connection errors to any other server located on the Internet or local network.

6. Transfer the connect.bat file you created to the startup folder so that the Cloud drives are connected when you turn on the computer. To avoid searching for where your Startup folder is located, press the Win+R key combination and enter “ shell:startup«.

There are, however, a couple of nuances that can ruin your life:

1) Passwords for your account will be easily accessible for copying. Just open connect.bat with Notepad and everything is clear. Since the password for the Cloud is also the password for mail and other Maila.ru services, such openness is not encouraging.

2) If you do not have a fast computer, the command to map network drives may start before the WebDAVCloudMailRu service and the Internet connection. Then the disks will not appear in the system.

Therefore, if your disks do not connect automatically after turning on your computer, I suggest turning the connect.bat file into a program and launching it not through the Autorun folder, but through the Task Scheduler. This won't protect your passwords 100%, but it will keep prying eyes away inept the eye will hide and add the necessary pause after Windows starts.

6.1. Download the program Bat To Exe Converter(it's free) and extract it to any folder. ( UPD from 06/07/2018: I removed the link to the utility’s home site and uploaded the version I tested. Thanks to the reader under the nickname “_???_” - he noticed that there is now a miner on the Bat To Exe Converter home page. The program itself is ok).

6.2. Launch Bat To Exe Converter, select the created connect.bat and specify that the application should be invisible:

Click "Compile" and... congratulations, you've compiled your first program! The created connect.exe program can be run to connect and reconnect a network drive.

6.3. In order for the network drive to be connected automatically, the compiled batch file must start when Windows starts. As I wrote above, you should not add it to startup, since the network part of the operating system is initialized some time after the Desktop appears and therefore the net use command may not work. Need a Task Scheduler. Control Panel - Administration - Task Scheduler or right click on Start button - Computer Management - Task Scheduler, button Create a task. On the first tab, enter the name of the task, on “Triggers” - “At login”, the user is the one you are sitting under, specify a task delay of 5 minutes (see screenshot below), on the “Actions” tab specify the launch of the created compiled batch file and, in general, that's all.

7. Restart your computer or manually launch connect.exe (connect.bat, if you decide not to bother with paragraphs 6.1-6.3). If everything was done correctly, a new disk will appear in the “This PC” folder.

In case of problems, return to step 5.

Encrypting the contents of files in the Mail.Ru Cloud

You can enable on-the-fly encryption of the contents (not names!) of files. The price will be a decrease in the speed of downloading and saving files to a network drive; otherwise, working with encrypted folders on the drive will be no different from normal use of the drive. When logging in via the web interface or connecting a disk via WebDAV without entering a key, the encrypted contents of the files will look like porridge. It is not possible to encrypt the entire disk, only individual folders and their subfolders.

Protecting with the same key as the Cloud password is stupid. Therefore, come up with a key that is different from the email password. For example, something like 0Mdsf%vdfkj4299vffjh42bbLjdsbb2. But how to communicate it to the program? When connecting via WebDAV, you cannot specify extraneous properties such as a second password, so the author of wdmrc.exe solved the encryption issue creatively - by modifying the login and password and creating folders that are actually commands.

1. Change the net use command in the batch file as follows:

Net use M: http://127.0.0.1:801 "here_mail_passwordKLMN0Mdsf%vdfkj4299vffjh42bbLjdsbb2" /USER:[email protected]#KLMN ...

Then WebDAVCloudMailRu will know that the encryption key is 0Mdsf%vdfkj4299vffjh42bbLjdsbb2. Pay attention to #KLMN in the login - everything that comes after the hash sign # will be considered as a separator between the Mail.Ru account password and the key. If the KLMN combination is present in the password, change it to something that is definitely not there.

2. Open the disk in Total Commander via the WebDAV plugin or in FAR via NetBox. Encrypted folders cannot be created using standard Windows tools, because You won't be able to enter the ">>" symbols, but you can manipulate files.

The login and password must be the same as in the modified net use command (see above), the server address is http://127.0.0.1:801 or similar.

3. In the folder whose contents you want to encrypt, create a folder named “>>crypt init” without spaces:

In fact, the ">>crypt init" folder will not appear because the ">" character is not allowed. The program will understand that the folder needs to be encrypted and will create a .crypt.wdmrc file. Don't delete it!

Now the contents of all new files that end up in such a folder (there may be several of them) will be protected from prying eyes. The file names are still visible.

1. The network drive size and free space are displayed incorrectly. Don't worry - Microsoft says this is normal behavior for WebDAV on the system.

2. If encryption is running, there will be a delay after saving the file. There will be a pause when the copy/move percentages reach 100%. Remain patient - encryption takes time.

3. The “net use” command cannot be run as an administrator, because then only programs running with elevated privileges will see the network drive.

4. You can use third-party software that can mount disks via WebDAV. The free versions of most products cannot connect more than one drive, so I won’t recommend them on my blog. If you find a normal one free software with support for an unlimited number of disks - please tell us in the comments.

5. The standard WebDAV client built into the operating system cannot download files in chunks. When you open a video file, it will first download the entire file and only then open it in the player, even if you have to download 10 gigabytes. If you need to use the Mail.Ru Cloud to watch movies, use PotPlayer - it can open WebDAV storage directly without any disks ("Open" menu - "FTP/WebDAV/HTTP client") and supports partial downloading. Then the films will open faster, and during rewinding there will be only a short pause while the required piece of the file is loaded.

6. It's easy to update WebDAVCloudMailRu: in the Task Manager on the Services tab, stop the WebDAVCloudMailRu service, unpack the new version with file replacement and restart the computer.

Opening a video from disk without downloading it completely

In correspondence with readers, I realized that it was necessary to explain how to open a video from the Cloud without completely downloading it, because people open a video from a network drive and are surprised: why does the system freeze, as if the entire file is being loaded before playback?

The fact is that PotPlayer has a built-in WebDAV manager; it is not necessary to connect a network drive. A running WDMRC service is enough.

1. Install the PotPlayer video player. It’s better with a full set of codecs and normal Russification. For example, the assembly from 7sh.

2. Open the player, press the key combination Alt+F12 or, if you are used to using the mouse, right-click on the player window - in the menu item “Open” - “FTP/WebDAV/HTTP...”

3. The connection window will open. Select WebDAV mode, specify the server IP 127.0.0.1, port, login and password in the same way as connecting a network drive.

4. After clicking the “Connect...” button, the contents of the Cloud will appear in the list below. This is where you need to start the video.

If your Internet speed is above 50 megabits, more likely, the opening delay will not be longer than a few seconds. Rewinding will also be fast. Of course, when playing and rewinding 4K video encoded in the H265 format with a long interval of intermediate frames, the player will freeze. This is normal behavior: to display the picture you need to find a frame of the appropriate type.

Owners of PCs with modest configurations will appreciate this method of opening videos: the player and the WDMRC service will not “devour” RAM:

What's wrong with Disk-O:

This creation of programmers from Mail.Ru connects the Cloud mail service like a regular disk. Despite the fact that Disk-O: completes the task, the program turned out to be quite primitive and, worse, with a strange limitation that will come into force on February 1st. It’s as if it was molded according to the terms of reference, which was drawn up by a person who does not understand that it is pointless to limit the functionality so clumsily. Perhaps fifteen years ago this would have worked, but now, with cloud services, you can’t mock it like that.

Here is a list of problems I noticed.

1. Add Disk-O to startup: only possible during the installation stage.

And even then, the “Run at Windows startup” checkbox still doesn’t work and the program won’t appear in startup. And there are no settings in the program itself, so you won’t be able to decide whether to launch the program or not when you turn on the computer after installation.

2. You cannot manually specify drive letters. That is, let’s say, if you have databases with absolute paths, storing this in the connected Mail.Ru Cloud will not work; at the most inopportune moment everything will turn into a pumpkin.

3. The declared work with files “directly” is just big words, nothing more. In fact, the hard drive stores a cache of recently opened and modified files. It tends to grow, so you may suddenly end up with less free space on your C: drive than you expected. And this way the system SSD will die faster.

4. When opening and changing files, they are loaded into RAM entirely. While you are working with documents, you don’t think about it. But when I tried to open a multi-volume archive, an unpleasant surprise awaited me in the form of running out of memory and, accordingly, closing programs. For most users, this situation is unlikely, but I just had resource-intensive Photoshop and InDesign running, and it was unpleasant to lose several minutes of work. When connecting the Cloud via the WebDAV emulator, which I described above, I did not notice any problems with RAM being used, although the files were also downloaded completely.

The same feature does not allow you to open video files normally - as in the case of a standard WebDAV client, you need to wait until it is completely loaded into RAM. This is not a mistake of the developers from Mail.ru and therefore it is unclear whether this behavior will be corrected. They didn’t write something of their own or include WebDAV for simple free users, but took the quick route, taking a third-party developer’s winfsp project and adding the part responsible for working with cloud storage. I once worked with winfsp and noticed that it was devouring RAM. The project itself is wonderful and has no analogues with available source code, but it still needs to be improved, because the author cannot provide for all work scenarios.

5. Not all programs support working with cloud storage as a disk. For example, archivers do not want to unpack archives on them. But this is a problem from the Disk-O developers, because I don’t remember such glitches in Winfsp. However, I tried to implement something slightly different, I could be wrong.

6. The restrictions that are promised to be introduced in the future are absurd in their naivety. Now you can connect several cloud storages of Mail.ru and competitor Yandex.Disk for free, but from February 1 this will be closed:

At the same time, in the official announcement they wrote something tongue-tied:

The question is, why? Do the people in charge at Mail.Ru Group seriously believe that they will pay for the opportunity to add several disks when there is an alternative, and more than one? At the time of writing, it’s so difficult to connect drives, the steps can be greatly simplified. And if you purchase a paid subscription, WebDAV will be available without any third-party software, you can connect as many disks as you like.

6. Not a problem, just fun. The message “You are using a free beta version” hangs prominently. It’s as if the authors are protecting themselves from possible problems.

In my opinion, in the form in which Disk-O: is now, it is no longer beta. It works, despite some shortcomings. The “beta” status will not save you from the biggest problem: the program does not offer anything new, but only promises something in the future. It’s as if the software was created based on the “if only it was” principle. The fact that there are many popular services on the list of future supported services does not mean anything - in fact, they are not there now; when support is added - it is unknown what other restrictions there will be - it is also unclear.