NAS - Accessing in Windows question

[bodean]

Is it better to "Map network drive" so my drive/folders show in windows that are on my NAS, or "Add network location?"

Any pros/cons with either approach?

 

[stevech]

I've done both. I now no longer use windows mapped drive letters ... because with windows 7, and an SSD boot disk and use of sleep not power off, usually the PC and OS are booted and trying to access the LAN, *before* the NIC and IP stack are working and have finished DHCP. This causes the mapped drives to show red X's in the drive "computer" display in windows. (My PC resumes in < 5 seconds). Using a static LAN IP for the PC helps too - no DHCP delay.

Instead, I use shares with the network addresses: \\nasname\sharename.

Just lately, I found a cure for the too-fast-boot problem above. You run a little batch file after a 15 second delay, or so. In that file are OS commands to re-do the drive mapping. This is a real hack. Microsoft has known about this for years and, like so many other bugs, ignores it.

I put the file in (win7 64 bit)
C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

the .bat file contains this inelegant code for two drive letters:
echo C:\Users\myusername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\netlogon.bat
@echo off
ping localhost -n 1
net use Y: "\\Ds212\y2"
net use Z: "\\ds212\Downloads"
ping localhost

the ping command also causes a time delay.

 

[bodean]

Thanks for the reply

 

[matthelm]

You normally only need a mapped networked drive, if you have an older program that doesn't support UNC paths (network addresses). 99% of newer programs handle UNC paths as well as drive letters.

Heck, with Win7, you can also just use the libraries, and forget both in some cases.

 

[stevech]

And some good PC backup software, such as CrashPlan and Acronis, realize that the UNC or mapped drive letter is going to a NAS - and they use your provided password to access the NAS.

Lots of backup software is not NAS password aware.