What are network drives or server volumes?

    Every student at Saint Mary's College is provided with 50MB of disk space on our network to save files to and/or host a web page. Faculty and staff are provided with 100MB of disk space on our network. This space is accessible from any networked computer on campus, and is commonly referred to as a personal network drive or the H: drive. A student can save a paper she is working on in her room to her network drive; go to a computer cluster; access the paper saved on her network drive; and print it on the laser printers. This eliminates the need to carry files around on disks. Also, a backup of all network drives is created every night, which makes it a secure place for your important papers and other files. Saint Mary's College strongly recommends that you save a copy of your work to your network drive.

    You may also need to connect to additional network drives or server volumes to access shared department work/file space.

    Special note: As you map the network drives, some computers may not have an X: option (X referring to any letter, H is the letter most commonly used for personal network drives) to select as a network drive letter. Simply choose another letter, but remember that when someone else is talking about the X: drive, you may be using another letter to identify it on your computer, but it is still the same network drive.

    Disabling Password Encryption

        Note: If you do not have the software listed in this section on your computer, you probably have Windows XP Home Edition instead of Windows XP Professional Edition installed. Windows XP Home Edition is not supported by Saint Mary's College - Windows XP Home Edition does not allow you to access and install major components of the Saint Mary's College network, including personal network drives, course-related software, and the virus protection software provided to all students. If your computer has Windows XP Home Edition installed, you need to purchase the Windows XP Professional Edition upgrade and install it on your computer to complete the ResNet connection instructions. Windows XP Professional Edition Upgrade is available for purchase from Information Technology for $10 during the academic year.

        1. From the Start menu, select Control Panel.
        2. In the left column, under Control Panel Home, click on Classic View. (If it says Switch to category View, you are already in Classic view.)
        3. Double-click on Administrative Tools.
        4. Double-click on Local Security Policy.
        5. Double-click on Local Policies in the left column.
        6. Double-click on Security Options in the left column.
        7. Scroll down until you find Microsoft network client: Send unencrypted passwords third-party SMB servers. Double-click on that option.
        8. In the window that pops up, click Enabled, click Apply, and click OK.
        9. Close the Local Security Policy and Administrative Tools windows.
        10. Restart your computer.

      Connecting to Network Drives or Server Volumes

        There are three items (network drives) on Diamond (the server that hosts your network drive) you will want to connect to:

        • Your personal network drive, which has the same name as your user name (i.e. msmith01).
        • Public - The Public network drive has the Courses folder in it. You can use this to access course materials that your instructors place there for your classes. This is also where the virus protection software available to students is stored.
        • ResNetSW - The ResNet Software network drive contains Internet applications that are available for you to install on your computer. Latest versions of software such as VirusScan, Adobe Reader, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and iTunes are available here.

        Special note: As you map the network drives, some computers may not have an R: option (or an H: or a P: option) to select as a network drive letter. Simply choose another letter, but remember that when someone else is talking about the R: drive, you may be using another letter to identify it on your computer, but it is still the same network drive.

        To connect to your H: drive (your personal network drive) for the first time:

        1. Click on the Start button in the lower left corner of your screen..
        2. Move the mouse over My Computer to highlight it, then click the right mouse button and select Map Network Drive...
        3. Select H: from the Drive: pop-up menu.
        4. In the Folder: field, type the following:
          \\diamond.saintmarys.edu\yourusername
        5. Make sure that Reconnect at login is checked.
        6. Click Finish.
        7. Type in your user name and password when prompted.
        8. Do NOT check Remember my password.
        9. Click OK.
        10. A window displaying your network drive should appear.
        11. You can find your network drive by going to the Start menu and selecting My Computer. The network drives should be listed at the bottom of the window.
        12. With Windows XP, your network drive will not automatically mount every time you log in to your computer while on ResNet. (Microsoft considers this a security feature.) To access your network drive after logging in to your computer, go to the Start menu and select My Computer. The icon of the drive will be visible in that window, but the icon will have a red X on it to show that the drive is not mounted. To mount the drive, double-click on the drive icon and type in your password when prompted. Click OK.

        To connect to the P: drive (Public) for the first time:

        1. Click on the Start button.
        2. Move the mouse over My Computer to highlight it, then click the right mouse button and select Map Network Drive...
        3. Select H: from the Drive: pop-up menu.
        4. In the Folder: field, type the following:
          \\diamond.saintmarys.edu\public
        5. Make sure that Reconnect at login is checked.
        6. Click Finish.
        7. A window displaying your network drive should appear. (If you have your H: drive mounted, you will not have to type in a password to connect to the Public drive.)
        8. You can find your network drive by going to the Start menu and selecting My Computer. The network drives should be listed at the bottom of the window.
        9. With Windows XP, your network drive will not automatically mount every time you log in to your computer while on ResNet. (Microsoft considers this a security feature.) To access the Public drive after logging in to your computer, go to the Start menu and select Computer. The icon of the drive will be visible in that window, but the icon will have a red X on it to show that the drive is not mounted. To mount the drive, double-click on the drive icon and type in your password when prompted. Click OK. (If you have your H: drive mounted, you will not have to type in a password to reconnect to the Public drive.)

        To connect to the R: (ResNetSW) drive for the first time:

        1. Click on the Start button.
        2. Move the mouse over My Computer to highlight it, then click the right mouse button and select Map Network Drive...
        3. Select H: from the Drive: pop-up menu.
        4. In the Folder: field, type the following:
          \\diamond.saintmarys.edu\resnetsw
        5. Make sure that Reconnect at login is checked.
        6. Click Finish.
        7. A window displaying your network drive should appear. (If you have your H: drive mounted, you will not have to type in a password to connect to the Public drive.)
        8. You can find your network drive by going to the Start menu and selecting Computer. The network drives should be listed at the bottom of the window.
        9. With Windows XP, your network drive will not automatically mount every time you log in to your computer while on ResNet. (Microsoft considers this a security feature.) To access the ResNetSW drive after logging in to your computer, go to the Start menu and select My Computer. The icon of the drive will be visible in that window, but the icon will have a red X on it to show that the drive is not mounted. To mount the drive, double-click on the drive icon and type in your password when prompted. Click OK. (If you have your H: drive mounted, you will not have to type in a password to reconnect to the Public drive.)


Last Modified October 31, 2008