Difference between mapping a drive and adding a network place

Question

Hi All,

What is the difference(technical) between "Mapping a drive to a drive letter in My Computer" and "Add a network place in My Network places"? Is one better over the other?

I thought both of them are the GUI forms of "NET USE" command, isnt that the case? Often, I am able to connect to map a drive but when doing the same via "Add a network place in My Network places" it gives me an error?

Thanks,

Ashutosh Bhardwaj

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Ashutosh

Answer 1

Hello Ashutosh,

That's an interesting question.

Now that I do think about it, though, I think there is a distinction between the two technologies.

First, mapping a network drive is a very specific process. You are linking a drive letter to a network resource. The overall goal of a drive mapping is to create a convienent way to access subsets of data, share data by group so that people only access that which they need, and manage that data with a set of consistent drive letters across the enterprise. A network drive is also largely limited to a local area network. Few organizations will allow drive mappings outside of thier firewall.

"Add a network to My Network Places" has broader objectives. First you are not limited by drive letters or firewalls. You can sign up for resources via MSN just as easily as you can keep several intranet sharepoint links handy.

Also, shortcuts stored in my network places are created automatically anytime you access a shared network resource (the key word is "shared").  Drive mappings, on the other hand, will only stay connected if you direct them to do so and if you have permissions to access the share/data.

Hope this helps

Thx,

Bob

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thanks, bob

Answer 2

They are both shortcuts to a LAN or web location, but for the 'connect at logon' feature, you would need the Map interface, or to add the shortcut to the startup folder. The shortcut in Network Location only connects when you open Explorer.

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Rating posts helps other usersMark L. Ferguson MS-MVP

Answer 3

Hello,

We have not heard from you in a while, and we wanted to check in and see if this answered your question for you.

Please let us know if you need any more assistance.

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Answer 4

I have a similar question but because when I use a mapped drive the response time is reasonable.  When I use the network place to the same drive, it takes about a minute to open a folder.  The difference in response time is gigantic.

This drive is on another network that I access remotely via VPN.  In fact, it is on an intranet many hops from the one I VPN into, so we're not talking about a LAN.

I would go ahead and use the mapped drive, but I'm annoyed by the bubble pop-up telling me my network drive cannot re-connect when I log on to my computer but haven't VPNed into the network yet.

Thanks,

Chris

Answer 5

I have a similar question but because when I use a mapped drive the response time is reasonable.  When I use the network place to the same drive, it takes about a minute to open a folder.  The difference in response time is gigantic.

This drive is on another network that I access remotely via VPN.  In fact, it is on an intranet many hops from the one I VPN into, so we're not talking about a LAN.

I would go ahead and use the mapped drive, but I'm annoyed by the bubble pop-up telling me my network drive cannot re-connect when I log on to my computer but haven't VPNed into the network yet.

Thanks,

Chris

I would set a restore point, then try this fix. Restore if a test shows no difference.


Disable TCP auto-tuning

Fix this problem

Microsoft Fix it 50056

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Rating posts helps other usersMark L. Ferguson MS-MVP