This article shows you how to turn a folder on a computer connected to a LAN into a shared drive. To do this, both computers involved in the operation (yours and the one on which the folder to be mapped resides) must be connected to the same network. You can map a network drive on both Windows and Mac systems.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Windows systems
Step 1. Access the "Start" menu by clicking the icon
It is characterized by the Windows logo and placed in the lower left corner of the desktop.
Step 2. Open a "File Explorer" window by clicking the icon
It features a small folder and is located at the bottom left of the "Start" menu.
Step 3. Choose the item This PC
It is listed in the left sidebar of the "File Explorer" window.
Step 4. Go to the Computer tab of the ribbon
It is located in the upper left of the window. A new toolbar will appear within the tab Computer.
Step 5. Press the Map Network Drive button
It is located within the "Network" group of the ribbon. It has a gray hard drive icon above a small green bar. This will bring up a dialog box.
Step 6. Choose the drive letter
Use the "Drive" drop-down menu to select the letter to identify the network drive you are going to create.
- All drives on a computer are characterized by a letter of the alphabet with which they are uniquely identified within the system (for example, the hard drive on which the operating system is installed will most likely have the letter "C: ").
- Consider choosing the letter X or Z to avoid creating conflicts, since the letters from the TO at the F. it is very likely that they have already been assigned to other units.
Step 7. Press the Browse… button
It is located in the central right part of the window. A new dialog will appear.
Step 8. Select the folder you want to map as a network drive
Choose the name of the computer on which the directory you want to connect as a network drive resides and access the folder that contains it to be able to select it.
If you are not connected to a computer network that has at least one active machine, you will not be able to complete this procedure
Step 9. Press the OK button
It is placed at the bottom of the window. This way the full path of the selected folder will be used to create the network drive.
At this point it is imperative that the folder chosen as the network drive is not moved from where it is located on the target computer
Step 10. Make sure the "Reconnect at login" checkbox is checked
If not, select it now. This way you can be sure that the chosen folder will be mapped as a network drive every time the system starts.
If you need to connect to a shared folder that resides on a different network than the one your computer is connected to, you may need to provide login credentials. In this case, select the check button "Connect with different credentials" and provide the username and password to be used to log in
Step 11. Press the Finish button
It is located at the bottom of the window. This will complete the network drive setup process and the indicated folder will be connected to your computer. At this point you should be able to access the indicated folder directly from your computer, using its network drive.
The newly created network drive will appear in the "This PC" window in the "Devices and Drives" section. It will have the same drive letter you chose during the mapping process
Method 2 of 2: Mac
Step 1. Open Finder
It features a blue stylized face icon and is located on the System Dock.
Step 2. Enter the Go menu
It is placed at the top of the screen. A new drop-down menu will appear.
Step 3. Choose the Connect to Server option
It should be one of the last items on the menu starting from the top. This will bring up a new dialog box.
Step 4. Enter the path to the folder you want to map as a network drive
For example, if the folder name is Foo and resides within the directory Documents of the named computer Hal, the path to indicate will be the following Hal / Documents / Pippo / preceded by the prefix smb:.
Depending on the type of network you are connected to and the type of service you want to map, there may be a prefix other than smb: for example ftp:.
Step 5. Press the + button
It is located on the right of the bar where you have typed the full path of the resource to be mapped. This will add the indicated directory to your Mac.
Step 6. Press the Connect button
It is blue in color and is located in the lower right corner of the window.
Step 7. Provide login credentials when prompted
The username and password you will need to type vary depending on the resource you have selected, so if you don't know them, you will need to request this information from the administrator of the network you are accessing.
