Mapping a Network Drive

The CS labstaff maintains a server, named share, which runs the SAMBA software. This allows Windows users to access files in their UNIX home directories. The following FAQ is designed to help Windows users set up their machines to access share.

If you do login to share from a public system, remember to disconnect when you are done. This can be accomplished by disconnecting the drive, logging out of the system or rebooting.

This FAQ assumes your machine is already connected to the network; if not please see the Windows Networking FAQ.

Hacking the Registry

In order to connect to the department's SAMBA server, a change to the default setting of the Window's registry is required. The following procedure only needs to be performed once. This change applies to all versions of Windows (7, Vista, and XP).

  1. Click Start → Run... and type regedit.exe to launch the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to the following folder: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkStation\Parameters
  3. Click Edit → New → DWORD Value and name the new value:
    enableplaintextpassword
  4. Right Click on the above entry, select Modify and enter:
    Value Data: 1
  5. Click OK and then quit the Registry Editor.
  6. Restart Windows.
  7. Map a network drive to the share server.

Mapping a Network Drive.

To gain access to your files, you must do what is commonly referred to as logging on to the share server. There are several methods for doing this. You can find step by step instructions (with pictures!) in the Extended Drive Mapping FAQ.

The most common procedure is given here:

  1. Click Start → Run
  2. Enter the command: net use * \\share\homes
  3. Enter you UNIX username and password when prompted.
  4. The mapped drive will appear under My Computer and can be accessed from any Internet Explorer or Windows Explorer windows.