Windows XP: Mapping a network drive
Mapping a network drive
Published: August 15, 2006
Moving files between computers on a floppy disk (the so-called "sneakernet") is a thing of the past. If you have more than one computer in your home, you can share files across your
home network. Shared folders from other computers appear in Windows Explorer just as if they were on the computer you're using.
Sharing files is a two-step process:
1.
Share a folder on the computer that stores your files. This step is described in
Sharing files.
2.
Create a connection to the shared folder on the computer that you want to use to open the files. You can connect to the shared folder in two ways:
•You can
directly open the shared folder. This is the quickest way to get to your shared files.
— or —
•You can
map a drive letter to the shared folder. This way makes it easier to open the folder in the future.
The steps for both of these ways to connect to a shared folder on another computer on your home network are described below.
Open a shared folder
1.
On your
desktop, double-click
My Network Places.
Note: If
My Network Places is not on your desktop, click
Start, and then click
My Network Places on the
Start menu.
2.
In
My Network Places, double-click the folder you want to open.
You'll see your files in the folder.
Top of page
Map a drive to a shared folder
1.
Click
Start, and then click
My Documents.
2.
Click the
Tools menu, and then click
Map Network Drive.
3.
In the
Map Network Drive dialog box, click
Browse.
4.
In the
Browse For Folder dialog box, click the folder you want to connect to, and then click
OK.
5.
In the
Map Network Drive dialog box, make a note of the drive letter shown, and then click
Finish.
6.
If prompted, type your user name and password, and then click
OK.
Microsoft Windows XP will open a folder to your shared files. In the future, you can open the shared folder from
My Computer by clicking the appropriate drive letter.