If you are planning to network Windows and Linux, you will need to have Samba running on the Linux shares. At the very least, you will need smbclient on the LMDE box and you might as well install the full Samba package.
Regarding the slave HDD on the Debian box you can run dmesg to see how the drive is perceived in the computer, then enter it in your /etc/fstab file so it automounts upon reboot.
I wrote a blog post several years ago about doing this with a media player. Rather than rewriting it, I'll just
point you towards it. It's got lots of links to other resources much more knowledgeable than I.