SECTION 3 - Mapping and Sharing

Installing Ethernet cards, protocols and services is not enough to have an operating network. The computers must be told what devices, such as CD-ROM drives and hard drive partitions, are going to be shared with the other computers on the network. In the Windows 9x environment this is accomplished by designating a shared item. Within Windows Explorer a shared item that will be visible on the network is identified by a little blue hand icon.
 
In the following example we will be dealing with two computers. The first one we will call P75 and the other P300.

A. Sharing Resources Across a Network

To share a device such as a hard drive partition across a network, first open Windows Explorer. Let's grant network access to the C Drive of the computer named P75.

Right click on the C Drive icon and select the 'sharing...' entry (about half way down the list).

 Fig.1

Select the 'shared as:' radio button and enter a name. In this case the C Drive will now appear as an icon called C on P75 inside the Network Neighborhood window of the P300 computer.

'Access type:' controls whether people are allowed to write as well as read to the P75 computer.

 Fig.2

 Fig.3

B. Mapping Resources Across a Network

We can also share resources by mapping a network drive. Doing so allows us to access the drive directly from Windows Explorer without the need to go through Network Neighborhood.

From the Windows Explorer window of the P300 computer select "Tools" then "Map Network Drive..." from the menu bar.

Select the next available free drive letter. Next specify the path to the C Drive on the P75 computer. The path statement follows the following format:

\\computer name\share name

Therefore, if the P75 computer shares its C Drive as "c on p75", the path statement on the P300 machine would look like:

\\p75\c on p75

Now drive letter G on the P300 computer is really the C Drive of the P75.

 Fig.4