Connecting to Network Drives

Connecting to Network Drives

Users can connect to a network drive and to shared resources available on the network. This connection is shown as a network drive that users can access like any other drive on their systems.

Note

When users connect to network drives, they're subject not only to the permissions set for the shared resources, but also to Windows Server 2003 file and folder permissions. Differences in these permission sets are usually the reason users might not be able to access a particular file or subfolder within the network drive.

Mapping a Network Drive

In Windows Server 2003, you connect to a network drive by mapping to it.

To connect to a shared resource on Windows Server 2003, follow these steps:

1. While the user is logged on, start Windows Explorer on the user 's computer.

2. From the Tools menu, select Map Network Drive. This opens the Map Network Drive page.

3. Using the Drive field, you can now create a network drive for a shared resource. Select a free drive letter to create a network drive that can be accessed in Windows Explorer and My Computer. Select (None) to create a network drive without assigning a drive letter. This drive is opened in its own Windows Explorer window and can't be accessed from My Computer.

4. In the Folder field, type the UNC path to the desired share. For example, to access a share called DOCS on a server called ROMEO, you'd use the path \\ROMEO\DOCS . If you don't know the share location, click Browse to search for available shares.

5. If you want the network drive to be automatically connected in subsequent sessions, select Reconnect At Logon. Otherwise, clear this check box and double-click the network drive when you want to connect.

6. To connect using a different user name from the logon name, click Different User Name, and then type a user name and password for the connection.

7. Click OK.

Disconnecting a Network Drive

To disconnect a network drive, follow these steps:

1. While the user is logged on, start Windows Explorer on the user's computer.

2. From the Tools menu, select Disconnect Network Drive. This opens the Disconnect Network Drive dialog box.

3. Select the drive you want to disconnect, and then click OK.