How to share a folder over the network and map a network drive. How to connect a network drive

Many users, when administering their home local network, are faced with the need to map network drives. If you are also interested in this issue, then this article should help you. Here we will tell you how to connect network drive, and also correctly open access to the folder for the network drive.

Step No. 1. Open access to the folder (preparing the first computer).

The first thing to do is to open access to the folder that should be used as a network drive on another computer. It's not difficult to do, but there are a few details you need to be aware of.

First you need to configure the network correctly. To do this, open the “Network and Sharing Center” and click on the “Change advanced sharing settings” link (screenshot below).

In the window that opens, you need to enable “Network discovery”.

Also here you need to disable “Password protected sharing” (if you don’t need it).

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How to share a folder over the network and map a network drive

Connecting a couple of computers into a local network is still half the battle. After the cable is inserted into network card and your computer is assigned an IP address, you begin to think, why do you need a network if you can’t transfer files and folders from one computer to another? Therefore, today we will set up sharing of folders and files, and also learn how to map a network drive in Windows.

Network Setup Wizard

So, you have a network of two or more computers. In order to be able to access the folders of other PCs from one computer and vice versa, you must first of all run the Network Setup Wizard on all computers in turn. During this procedure, the operating room Windows system will automatically configure the built-in firewall and network connection settings of each PC on correct work V local network.

Open "Start" - "Control Panel" - " Network connections" and in the area " Network tasks» select «Install home network or small office network.”


The Network Setup Wizard will launch. Click Next.



Check that you have completed all the steps listed and click “Next”.



Select how your computer connects to the Internet: directly or through another computer (other network device). If your computer is not connected to the Internet in any way, check “Other” and in the next window select the option that suits you. Click Next to continue.



If your computer is connected directly to the Internet, the Network Setup Wizard will prompt you to select from a list the network connection through which the PC communicates with the Internet. Highlight the desired network connection and click Next.



Enter a description and computer name. You entered the computer name when Windows installation, you don’t have to change it if there are no computers on your network with same names. The description of the computer is for your convenience. It can be entered in Russian, or it can not be entered at all. The computer name must be entered strictly English no spaces. Don't be surprised that this field will display capital letters - that's how it should be. Click “Next” to continue.



Enter a name working group, which will appear as your network name. You may have already entered this name at the stage of setting up the local network. Check that it is the same for all computers. The workgroup name must be entered in English and without spaces. It, as well as the computer name, will be displayed in capital letters- This is fine. Click the "Next" button to continue.



In the next window, Setup Wizard Windows network will offer to allow or deny general access to files and printers on your computer. Of course, allow it by checking the “Enable file and printer sharing” option and click “Next”.



Finally, the Network Setup Wizard will provide a summary of your network connection configuration with all the options you previously specified. Read carefully and, if everything is correct, click “Next”. If you are not happy with any of the options, click “Back” and change them.



Windows will configure your computer to work on the local network. You will have to watch this process for a few seconds and then click the “Finish” button.



Windows will prompt you to restart your computer for the network settings to take effect. Do not refuse the operating system this request.

You will need to run the Network Setup Wizard on each computer on the local network. Be careful and remember that the workgroup of all your computers must be the same, but the names of the computers must be different. Also keep in mind that there can only be one computer connected to the Internet. All other computers will connect to worldwide network through it or through a special network device, for example an ADSL modem. Therefore, select the correct options in the Internet Connection Method window of the Network Setup Wizard on each computer.


After you have configured the network using the Wizard on all computers, it's time to create shared folders and network drives, and also allow other users to work with them.

Sharing the folder

Create simple folder somewhere in the root of the disk. Give it a short and clear name in English, such as shareFilms. Click on the folder right click mouse and select “Properties”. Go to the “Access” tab and check the boxes “Share this folder” and “Allow modification of files over the network.” Click OK.


Thus, you have granted access to the created folder to all users on your network. Such a folder is called “shared”, from the English “share”. A hand icon will appear on its icon.


By default, all users on other computers will only be allowed to view the contents of the shared folder. You may want other users to be able to both change the files stored in it and copy their own there. Then you need to open access to this folder not only for reading, but also for changing.

First of all, in the "Tools" menu of the window Local disk(in which you created shared folder) select the “View” tab and uncheck the “Use simple file sharing (recommended)” checkbox. Click OK.



Now right-click on the shared folder again and select “Properties”. You will notice that there are more tabs. Go to the "Access" tab. appeared on it additional settings: You can enter a note about the share (Note field) and determine the number of concurrent users viewing the folder (User Limit).


Click the "Permissions" button and check the "Change" box. This way, all users on your network will be allowed not only to view the contents of the shared folder on your computer (Read permission), but also to change it. Click OK to apply the settings.


Where to find shared network folders and local network computers
So we have shared access to a folder on one computer, and also granted other users rights to read and change the files stored in it. Now you need to go to this folder from another computer. To do this, change to another PC on your network and select “Start” - “ Network environment", in the "Network tasks" section, click "Display workgroup computers". Windows will search for computers on the local network and their shared resources (folders and printers) for several minutes. During the search process, your PC may freeze. Don't be alarmed and wait a few seconds for Windows to display the computers on your local network.



By clicking on the computer name (as usual, double-click with the left mouse button) you will see a list of its shared folders. Among them is shareFilms, which we created.



Working with shared network folders and the files located in them is no different from working with regular files and folders. Over the network, you can perform all the same actions with them: copy, rename, delete, etc.

How to connect a network drive

Agree that searching for a shared folder in Network Neighborhood every time is not very convenient. It is much more practical to connect it to your computer as a network drive. It will appear in the list of drives in the My Computer window, and you can quickly work with its contents.

To connect a shared folder from another computer as a network drive, go to Network Neighborhood (“Start” - “Network Neighborhood”), select the local network computer and the shared folder located on it that you want to connect to your PC as a network drive. Right-click on the folder and select "Map network drive."



In the window that appears, select the letter under which the network drive will be displayed in the list of drives on your computer. Remember, there should not be two disks with the same letters on your PC! Also check the box “Restore at logon” so that when you turn on the computer and Windows boot automatically displayed the network drive in the list of drives on your PC.



Now you can simply go to My Computer and you will see the network drive. Each shared folder on the network can be mapped to your computer as a network drive. Just make sure that the drive names are not repeated. Network drives in the My Computer window are indicated by special icons that make them stand out from the rest.



To disconnect a network drive, right-click on it and select “Dismount”. Also remember that when you turn off the computer on which the shared folder is located, the corresponding network drive will be inaccessible.


With this, let me conclude the shamanism on the local network and wish you pleasant work!

Hello.

I'll outline typical situation: There are several computers connected to a local network. It is necessary to share some folders so that all users from this local network can work with them.

To do this, you need:

1. “share” (make public access) the desired folder on the desired computer;

2. on computers on the local network, it is advisable to connect this folder as a network drive (so as not to search for it every time in the “Network Neighborhood”).

Actually, how to do all this will be described in this article (the information is relevant for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10).

1) Opening public access to a folder on the local network (folder sharing)

Before you can share a folder, you must first configure Windows accordingly. To do this, go to the panel Windows management at the following address: “Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center” (see Fig. 1).

Then click the "Change advanced sharing settings" tab.

Rice. 1. Network and Sharing Center

  1. private (current profile);
  2. all networks;
  3. guest or public.

You need to open each tab in turn and set the parameters as in Fig.: 2, 3, 4 (see below, clickable pictures).

Rice. 2. Private (current profile).

Rice. 4. Guest or public

Now all that remains is to allow access to the required folders. This is done very simply:

  1. Find the desired folder on the disk, right-click on it and go to its properties (see Fig. 5);
  2. Next, open the “Access” tab and click the “Sharing” button (as in Fig. 5);
  3. Then add the “guest” user and give him rights: either read only or read and write (see Fig. 6).

Rice. 5. Opening public access to a folder (many people simply call this procedure “sharing”)

Rice. 6. File Sharing

By the way, to find out which folders are already shared on your computer, just open Explorer, then in the “Network” tab, click on the name of your computer: then you should see everything that is open for public access (see Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Shared folders (Windows 8)

2. How to map a network drive in Windows

In order not to climb into the network environment every time, not to open tabs again, you can add any folder on the network as a disk in Windows. This will slightly increase the speed of work (especially if you often use a network folder), and will also make it easier for novice PC users to use such a folder.

And so, to map a network drive, right-click on the “My Computer (or This Computer)” icon and in the pop-up menu select the “Map Network Drive” function (see Fig. 8. In Windows 7, this is done in the same way, only the icon "My Computer" will be on the desktop).

Rice. 9. Windows 8 - this computer

After this you need to select:

  1. drive letter (any free letter);
  2. indicate the folder that should be made a network drive (click the "Browse" button, see Fig. 10).

Rice. 10. Connecting a network drive

In Fig. Figure 11 shows folder selection. By the way, after making your choice, all you have to do is click “OK” 2 times - and you can start working with the disk!

Rice. 11. Browse folders

If everything was done correctly, then in “My Computer (in this computer)” a network drive with the name you selected will appear. You can use it almost the same way as if it were yours. hard drive(see Fig. 12).

The only condition: the computer on whose disk the shared folder is located must be turned on. Well, of course, the local network must work...

Rice. 12. This computer (network drive connected).

Very often people ask what to do if they cannot share a folder - Windows writes that access is impossible, a password is required... In this case, most often, the network was simply not configured appropriately (the first part of this article). After disconnecting password protection- problems, as a rule, do not arise.

So, how to map a network drive on Windows 10? We already know how to create it, but it’s not very convenient to search for the required shared folder in the network environment, especially if there are a lot of computers. It is much easier to have it appear as a separate drive that appears along with your “C” drive when the system boots.

To connect the network hard drive On Windows 10, the first step is to allow sharing of files and folders on your computer. To do this, right-click on the “Start” menu and go to “Network Connections”


Here in the left column click on “Change sharing settings”


Mapping a network drive Windows 10

It was preparatory stage— now let’s move on to the main question, how to connect a network drive in Windows 10?
To do this, you need to open Explorer and in the left column, where the tree of drives and folders is, find the “My Computer” link - right-click on it and select “Map network drive...”.

In the window that pops up after this, select the letter for our future network Windows disk, for example "X".


After selecting the folder, leave the “Restore at logon” checkbox so that you don’t have to create it again every time you turn off the computer. And click “OK”.

Now, when you go to “Computer” in Explorer, among other system hard drives we will be able to see the “Z” drive in the “Network Location” section. you can get to it provided that the computer on which this network drive-folder placed, included.

Mapping a network drive on Windows XP

The technique for connecting a network drive on Windows XP is similar to that already described above. Therefore, we will describe here the connection method directly from the “Network Neighborhood” section.

Go to “Start > Network Places” and find the shared folder we need on one of the computers on the local network. Right-click on it and select the “Map network drive” menu item. You can also simply top menu select “Service” and select the same section.

Now if you go to “My Computer”, you will see hard drives, as well as network folders connected as network drives, indicated by separate icons.

That's all. For those who have not yet understood what it’s like, here’s a video:

Instructions

Mount a custom folder like virtual disk V operating systems Windows family. Run command processor cmd. To do this, display the Start Programs dialog by selecting Run from the Start menu, typing cmd in the Open text box, and clicking OK.

Use the subst command to mount the folder. Enter in the console:

subst/?
Press Enter and check out brief information on team work. Mount the folder using a command like:
subst<Буква целевого диска>: <Путь к папке>
For example, to create virtual disk X with the contents of the D:\Temp folder, you should run the command:
subst X: D:\Temp

On Windows, mount the remote folder network resource like a disk. Open the My Computer folder window. To do this, use the corresponding shortcut on your desktop. You can also run Windows Explorer by entering explorer in the Start Programs dialog and clicking OK, then selecting the appropriate section in the right pane.

Display the Mount Network Share dialog. Expand the “Tools” section of the main menu and click on “Map network drive”.

Perform installation. In the "Drive:" drop-down list, select the item containing your preferred letter the disk being created. In the “Folder” field, manually enter the path to it or click on the “Browse” button and select it. Check the "Restore at logon" checkbox if the resource is to be used for a long time. Click the "Done" button. If necessary, enter the credentials to access the remote folder and click the OK button of the displayed dialog.

Mount an arbitrary folder as a directory with a different name in Linux operating systems. Use the mount command with the --bind (or -B) switch. Launch a terminal emulator or switch to a text console. Run a command like:

mount --bind<путь-1> <путь-2>
As parameters<путь-1>And<путь-2>must indicate complete or relative paths up to two existing directories. For example:
mount --bind /home/develop /mnt/test
After executing this command, the contents of the /home/develop folder will be displayed in the /mnt/test directory.

Mount the remote network folder to local directory in Linux OS. Use the mount command with the -t switch to specify the type file system. For example, to mount a remote Temp folders on a windows machine with IP address 10.20.30.40 in the local directory /mnt/test, you can run the command:

mount -t smbfs //10.20.30.40/Temp /mnt/test
A password to access the resource will be requested. If you need to provide credentials in command line, this can be done using additional parameters username and password specified after the -o switch. In a similar way (using curlftpfs) you can mount FTP folders.