Map a Network Drive in Windows XP

A mapped drive is a virtual hard drive that points to a folder on a remote computer. Here’s how to map a network drive in Windows XP.

Tips

Access the mapped network drive like you can any hard drive, through My Computer. It’s listed in the “Network Drives” section. To disconnect a mapped network drive, use the Tools > Disconnect Network Drive option from a Windows Explorer window such as My Computer. You can also right-click the drive in My Computer and choose Disconnect. If the drive letter was previously mapped to a different location, a message box will appear asking to replace the current connection with the new one. Click Yes to disconnect and remove the old mapped drive. If the network drive cannot be mapped, ensure that the folder name is spelled correctly, that this folder was correctly set up for sharing on the remote computer, that the correct username and password have been entered (if necessary), and that the network connection is functioning properly. You can rename the drive any time you want but you can’t change the drive letter of the mapped drive. To do that, you have to disconnect it and make a new one with the drive letter you want to use.