Mapping a Network Drive

If you want to access a specific network drive or folder on a regular basis-for example, if you frequently connect to a shared external hard drive-you can map the drive in Windows Explorer to make it more easily available. When you map a drive, you assign it a local drive letter so that it appears along with other available storage devices and locations when you view the contents of your computer. You can map a drive for the duration of the current computing session, or instruct Windows to reconnect to that drive every time you log on.

To map a drive:

1. On the Start menu, click Computer.
2. On the Computer window toolbar, click Map A Network Drive.
3. If you want to change the letter that represents the mapped drive when viewing your computer contents, click the Drive list, and then click the letter you want.
4. If you know the UNC path to the drive or folder you want to map, type it in the Folder box, and then skip to step 8.
5. To browse to the drive or folder you want to map, click the Browse button.
   The Browse For Folder dialog box opens, displaying a list of the computers that are available on your network.
6. Click the white arrow to the left of a computer name to display a list of shared folders on that computer.
   If a computer doesn't have any shared resources, the arrow disappears; otherwise, the arrow color changes to black to indicate that the computer folder is expanded. You can hide the content list for any folder by clicking its black arrow The Map Network Drive wizard starts.
7. Click the computer that hosts the folder you want to map a drive to. If necessary, expand the shared folder to display its subfolders. When the folder you want to map to is selected, click OK.
   The UNC path to the folder appears in the Folder box.
8. If you want to connect to the mapped drive only until the end of the current Windows session, clear the Reconnect At Logon check box.
9. If the user account you log on to your computer with doesn't match the user account you need to log on to the computer hosting the shared folder, select the Connect Using Different Credentials check box.
10. In the Map Network Drive window, click Finish.
    Windows connects to the shared folder and opens it in a folder window.
11. In the Navigation pane of the folder window, click Computer.
    The mapped drive appears in the Network Location area of the Computer folder window.

To remove a mapped drive, right-click the drive in the Computer window, and then click Disconnect.

Tip If you connect to a specific network drive from time to time but don't want or need to map a folder to it, you might find it useful to create a desktop shortcut to the folder or to add it to the pinned items area at the top of your Start menu.