Navigating the Network
After the network is running, you can explore the contents of other people's shared disks, folders, and files on the network. (You'll learn how to share your own items in the next section.)To explore the network:
1. Choose Start > My Network Places (Figure 17.10 ).
Figure 17.10. My Network Places shows shared disks and folders, including the ones on your own PC.
2. To see icons for each network computer, click View Workgroup Computers in the task pane at left (Figure 17.11 ).
Figure 17.11. This view is great for crowded networks. Each network computerinstead of each shared resourceappears in this window.
3. Double-click shared items to open them, just as though you were working in your My Computer folder (Figure 17.12 ).
Figure 17.12. If you're looking for a shared item on a specific PC, double-click that computer's icon in Figure 17.11. That PC's shared resources aren't intermingled with those of other computers, as in Figure 17.10.
Exploring Your Computer" in Chapter 5.
Figure 17.13. Windows Explorer offers an overview of the entire network.
In Explorer and on the desktop, you can rename, delete, select, and manipulate shared network items just as you would items on your local drive. See Chapter 5. (Beware: If you delete a shared item on another computer, the item bypasses the Recycle Bin and disappears forever.)To use Search Companion to find shared network items, choose Start > Search (or press Ctrl+E in Explorer); choose Browse from the Look In drop-down list; click My Network Places; then click OK. For details, see "Searching for Files and Folders" in Chapter 5.In applications, shared files are available via the standard File > Open and File > Save As dialog boxes. Click My Network Places in the left-side panel or choose it from the Look In drop-down list. File > Save saves a file in its original network location; to save a local copy on your hard disk, choose File > Save As.You can map (assign) a shared disk or folder to a drive letter so that you can access the item via My Computer or the Open or Save As dialog box. To do so, in Explorer or My Network Places, choose Tools > Map Network Drive (Figure 17.14 ); select a drive letter; browse for an item or type its Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) name; check Reconnect at Logon; then click Finish. The new "drive" appears on your Explorer tree. To kill the mapping, choose Tools > Disconnect Network Drive.
Figure 17.14. Mapping a shared network item lets you refer to it by a drive letter, the same way you refer to your local A: or C: drive.
To treat an online storage spacesuch as an FTP site, intranet folder, or web-based backup-service driveas though it were connected to your network, click Add a Network Place on the task pane in My Network Places; then follow the onscreen instructions in the Add Network Place Wizard. Or if you're at a storage site in Internet Explorer, simply drag its icon from the Address bar to a local folder (typically, to My Network Places).
If you see a list of domains instead of a list of network computers, double-click the domain you want. You may have to type your password to gain access.
UNC Names
The Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) is a system of naming network files, folders, and other shared resources so that an item's address identifies it uniquely on the network. UNC uses the following format:
\\server\resource_pathname
server is a computer name (assigned at Windows installation or in the Network Setup Wizard) or an IP address; resource_pathname is a standard pathname (see "Exploring Your Computer" in Chapter 5). Some example UNCs for a folder, file, and printer are:
\\yangtze\budget\2003\qtr2
\\nile\books\mynovel\chap1.doc
\\thames\HPcolor
To view a shared item quickly, type its UNC name in Explorer's Address bar or in the Start > Run dialog box.
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