Using Path Specifications to Open Network Folders

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In Windows 2000, you don't have to memorize path specifications to use network folders. Instead, you can simply navigate to the folders you need by using Windows Explorer. But every network folder does, in fact, have a path specification, and you're welcome to use path specifications whenever it's convenient.

A network folder's path consists of two backslash characters, followed by the computer name, another backslash, and a share name. The share name is the name assigned to the folder by the person who made it available on the network. For more information about share names, see "Sharing Folders with Other Users." So, for example, the network path for a folder shared as Programs on a computer named Everglades is

\\Everglades\Programs

NOTE

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If your computer is part of a Windows 2000 domain, computer names might conform to the new style, which includes the domain name. If the computer in the preceding example is part of the swdocs.com domain, the network path for the Programs folder becomes \\Everglades.swdocs.com\Programs.

Additionally, a network path can include subfolder names and file names. To get to a Microsoft Excel file on Documents, for example, you could specify

\\Everglades\Documents\Budgets\December.xls

You can specify a shared folder's path in the Address bar of a Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer window, or via the Start menu's Run command. For example, when you want to get to a network folder quickly, without traversing a sequence of Windows Explorer windows, you can simply open the Start menu, choose Run, and type the path for the folder you need.