Mapping network drive is a frequently raised request to IT administrators. Even though mapping a network drive in Windows is not a complicated process, it can easily consume a lot of time for the administrators if there are many drives to be mapped and if the number of employees is huge in your organization (frequency of tickets raised increases). That's why, the Drive Mapping configuration enables you to map network drives (remote resources) to the user machines and eases the process. The mapped resource can then be accessed from the local machine using the drive name. This document will elucidate the steps involved to map a network drive in Windows.
IT administrators have different files and software stored in a remote location to be accessed and distributed among the users. Mapping network drives for new users has always been a frequently raised request. With few clicks, you can map network drives to your new users or even automate the process completely using this configuration.
Provide a name and description for the Drive Mapping configuration.
The table given below list the parameters that have to be specified for mapping a network drive:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
|
Drive Name |
The drive letter that has to be mapped with the resource. |
|
Resource to be Shared |
The shared resource in the network that has to be mapped. |
|
Hide from Windows Explorer |
To specify whether the mapping has to be hidden in the Windows Explorer. Select this option, if you want to hide. |
|
Drive Label |
The label name for the mapped drive that has to displayed in Windows Explorer. |
|
Preferences |
You can set preferences to either skip or overwrite if the mapped network drive already exists or to disconnect all the existing network drives before mapping the new one. |
1. To map more network drives, click Add More Drives and repeat Step 2. The mapped network drive gets added to the List of Drives to be Mapped table.
2. To modify a mapping from this table, select the appropriate row, click 
icon and change the required values.
3. To delete a mapping from this table, select the appropriate row and click 
icon.
Using the Defining Targets procedure, define the targets for deploying the Drive Mapping Configuration.
Click the Deploy button to deploy the defined Drive Mapping Configuration in the targets defined. The configurations will take effect during the next user logon.
To save the configuration as draft, click Save as Draft.
Note: The entire process of mapping network drives can be automated effortlessly in Endpoint Central. For example, if a specific network drive should be mapped to a group of managers, then you can create a dynamic custom group for managers, with specific criteria that managers' device alone satisfy, say they use only Windows 10 notebooks, then you can deploy the configuration to that group with the criteria as Windows 10 notebooks. Whenever a user becomes part of that group (by satisfying the defined criteria), the configuration will be applied automatically.