How to Map a Network Drive
Tue, 05/22/2007 - 17:45 — Ciprian
One of the most searched topics on our site is "how to map a drive". Unfortunately, until now, the searches on this topic didn't return any result for our users. As a consequence to this, we decided to create this article in which we show you how to create a drive mapping in Windows Vista.
For those of you who don't know it, a drive mapping is a letter assigned to a disk or drive. The most common drive mappings are A: for the floppy disk and C: for the primary hard disk. If you are on a network, a drive mapping can reference remote drives to which you can assign a letter of your choice. For example, you can use the letter Z: to refer drive C: or a network server or a specific shared folder to which you have access to.
As you will see for yourself, the procedure of creating a map drive in Windows Vista is very simple. Just follow these steps:
First, click on the Computer shortcut from your desktop or from the Start Menu. In the toolbar you will find several buttons, including one called Map network drive.
Click on it and the Map Network Drive window will open. Firstly, you need to assign a drive letter for the connection and then type the drive or the folder you want to connect to.
The folder can be located on a remote server or computer you have access to, a FTP site or a shared folder on your own computer.
If you want to connect to a remote computer just type "\\" followed by the computer name or the IP address and then "\" followed by the location of the folder you want to connect to.
If you want to create a drive mapping to a folder on your own computer type "\\127.0.0.1\" (this stands for the local host) or "\\computer_name\" and then the path towards that folder.
Sometimes, when you create a drive mapping, you might need to use a special user name and password that allows you to connect to it. In this case, click on the Connect using a different user name link.
Type the appropriate user name and password and click on OK. Now you will return to the previous window. Click on Finish and the drive mapping will be created.
If you access the Computer shortcut again you will see that a new drive having the letter you assigned is listed and you can access it at anytime.
Related articles:
How to enable network discovery and file sharing
How to share files and folders
How to check your Network Connection Status
Windows Network Diagnostic - diagnose network problems the easy way
How to setup a wireless connection
Offline Files - How To Work With Network Files When Offline
Recommended articles:
ITsVISTA Tip 52: Map a Drive to an FTP site in Vista
Remove "Map Network Drive" Menu Item from Windows Vista or XP
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Comments
changing a drive mapping
My DVD is mapped as a network drive by mistake.
How do I change it? (VISTA SP1, Dell XPS M1330)
Permissions on mapped drive
I am running Vista Home Prem and I map the folder which I want other network users to access and have full control over, I see the drive on my computer but no computer, not even the one in which it exist on, can write to the folder only see what is there. I try to change permissions but have not had any luck. If I go to the folder through explorer I can write but not through the mapped drive.
Any help is appreciated.
drive not found
I'm trying to map a drive on my own computer so I can quickly access data. It the folder is shared, but when I try to connect to it through adding a network drive or the net use command it comes back saying the path cannot be found. The weird thing is that it will randomly connect on boot ups. Then on others it can't find the path. Any ideas?
Sorry for double post, but I
Sorry for double post, but I unshared the file and tried to turn file sharing back on. It is saying "cannot communicate with \\my ip addres"
software
Piece of freeware software I've found that does this in Vista is FTPDrive at
http://www.killprog.com/FDinst.exe
Wrong username/password?
To those who are having problems with "Wrong username or password" you need to know this:
- User "Bill" on PC1 is not the same user as "Bill" on PC2! Those are completely different "Bill"s even if they have the same password!
- Because of this, you need to tell which "Bill" i.e. which user you mean (also if the names are not the same as in this example different)
- Instead of typing "Bill" as username, try "Computername\Username", for example "BillsComputer\Bill". By this you explicitly express that "Bill" is not a user on YOUR computer, but on the computer "BillsComputer" which you are trying to access.
Hope it's kinda understandable what I mean, please report if this helped.
Error message!!!!
I installed a network driver for my device it worked fine a couple of times but then it started acting up so I deleted it and installed the driver again. But this time it wont let me install the driver again I get an error message saying " The network name is no longer available." I don't know why this is happening. I even put in the port for this device to run through. Please HELP!!
Thanks!
Great help. As a mac technician i'm totally lost in vista. You're right it was very easy. Thanks a bunch!
Connecting to Remote Computer (Question #1, step-by)
I have the IP address for the "\\server" part of it, but I dont know what the "\share" is...
Example: \\server\share
...Am I supposed to create a folder somewhere or something? Where? How?
(Im somewhat of a layman, be gentle).
Thanks.
Doesn't Work
Firewall or no firewall, this doesn't work going to a Windows Vista box (perhaps it's because I have Home Edition and MS has crippled this functionality while still offering it in the menus).
1. Connect an external drive to your Windows Vista machine (E:).
2. Share the E: drive, calling it "E Drive" (without quotes), allowing the admin full access.
3. Go to your laptop and ping the Windows Vista box's IP to ensure you can reach it (assuming okay).
4. Map a network drive with your laptop, pointing it to \\192.168.1.101\E Drive (use the IP you pinged, of course), and use the admin credentials of that Windows box.
Result: "The network path \\192.168.1.101\E Drive could not be found"
It doesn't work.
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