Posts Tagged ‘Computers’

Mapping Drives Within A Network

February 20th, 2010



One thing that everyone should do, whether it is a home or business network, is map shared folders to other computers in the network. This enables users to create shortcuts of the shared folder, provides for quick access and ease of use. Once the shared folder is mapped it will appear as a network drive under “My Computer”.

First thing you have to do is enable file sharing for a particular folder:

1. Locate the folder you wish to share.

2. Right click on it and then left click “Sharing and Security”.

3. If you see an item that says to enable file sharing, click that at this time.

4. Then select enable file and print sharing.

5. Select the check box that says “Share This Folder On The Network” and “Allow Network Users To Change My Files”.

6. Click “Apply” and then “Ok”.


So now, that folder is able to be seen by other computers on the network. Now the next step is very important. This is where alot of people run into problems. Every computer on the network MUST have the same WORKGROUP name. To find the workgroup name, right click “My Computer” then left click “Properties”. Now click on the “Computer Name” tab on top. There you will see the name of your workgroup. The Microsoft default is MSHOME or WORKGROUP. You are allowed to change it in this box as well. Again, make sure all the computers in the network have the same workgroup name.

After that has been confirmed, now go to the computer(s) where you wish to access the shared folder. Here are the steps to map it to that computer:

1. Right click “My Computer”.

2. Left Click “Map Network Drive”.

3. The top line will contain the drive letter the computer is going to assign to the mapped drive.
You can change this to whatever letter you like that is not currently being used.
4. Click “Browse”.

5. Select your Workgroup name and click the + sign next to it.

6. Now select the computer name from which the folder is being shared from.

7. Finally select the shared folder and click “Ok” and then click “Finish.”

A new window will open up displaying the shared folder. You can close that out. Now your mapped drive can be found by opening up “My Computer”. It will appear under “Network Drives” with the letter you assigned it. From here you can create a shortcut of that drive and it will place it on your desktop.

By: John Vizaniaris

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Network Inventory and Software Audits With NEWT Professional

January 15th, 2010



As many IT professionals know, when a business expands, so does the need to keep track of the growing number of computers within that network. With the increase in computer systems comes an equally increased difficulty in managing them. Once upon a time, conducting software and hardware inventory involved physically visiting each machine to record configuration data by hand. Even though this is thankfully no longer required due to improvements in operating systems and third party software, IT professionals can still use the help of better software to assist in PC auditing and network inventory.

NEWT Professional has been in development since 2003, with continuous improvements to speed and ease-of-use, and is now capable of scanning 100 computers in less than 5 minutes. The time and effort savings offered by the speed along with its numerous scannable items is valuable to organizations of many sizes. That value has even increased with the recent addition of the first 25 nodes for free.

There are two basic methods used within network management products. First is using an agent to collect data from each machine, second is the agent-less method. The agent method usually requires software to be installed on each system within a network, and must be updated manually. On the other hand, agent-less products often still require visiting individual machines to correct security issues. They may also take hours or days to inventory the entire network. However, NEWT Professional’s advanced network inventory techniques have reduced problems often encountered using agent-less technology, reducing audit time from hours or days to just minutes.

NEWT Professional works with both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and even Windows NT 4. Read/write access to the ADMIN$ share (administrator or “admin dollar” share) is usually the only requirement for successful audits. Improvements in the inventory engine has greatly reduced network bandwidth usage so that even slower Internet-based connections such as a WANs (Wide Area Networks) can be audited with little impact.

Because NEWT Professional is so useful for providing total network inventory on a wide variety of networks, many consultants and Managed Service Providers (MSP) have found the software useful for gathering information about customer networks. In addition to the usual software and hardware inventory data, such as CPU info, Windows and Office product keys and system serial numbers, NEWT Professional also offers unique low-level information such as USB type (1.x or 2.0), accurate hard drive types (IDE, SATA or SATA-II), true hard drive serial numbers, monitor type (LCD vs. CRT) and even CPU & hard drive temperature.

Once data is collected, it may be viewed in NEWT’s easy-to-read spreadsheet views, saved to NEWT’s proprietary format, exported to text, HTML or Excel, or a fully relational MS Access (MDB) database. In short, NEWT professional is a useful tool for network professionals, allowing them to perform network audits quickly and affordably.

By: Neyda Tayner

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Setting up a Wireless Network

October 16th, 2009



Some people see the task of setting up a wireless network within their home as a daunting task but it really does not need to be. In our present generation we are surrounded by many wireless possibilities. This is ok as long as we protect ourselves and familiarize ourselves with how it all works.

First of all you need to decide how you want your network setup and what you will need to accomplish this. In most cases a home will have one desktop computer and then one or more other computers located elsewhere within the house. These other computers may be other desktops or mobile laptops which doesn’t really matter except that you will need to find the appropriate wireless adapter for these computers. A desktop will need either a wireless PCI adapter or USB adapter while a laptop can use a PCMCIA adapter card or USB adapter. Most new laptops come with wireless already built into the system so you may want to verify that before buying an adapter. Then you need to also get a wireless router. It is preferrable if you purchase the router and the adapter from the same manufacturer but it is not a necessity. As long as they are both the same technology they should work together. 802.11g is the most commonly used signal. The wireless router works as a base station that transmits your internet signal wirelessly. Your wireless adapters connect your computers to the router with that signal.

First of all you should unplug your broadband modem. This may be DSL, Cable or FIOS. Also your router should be unplugged. Now connect a network cable from the modem to the Internet, WAN or WLAN port on the back of the router. Plug in the modem and turn it on. Wait a few minutes to make sure that it is connected with the internet. Then plug in and turn on the router. The lights on the front of the router should come on after about a minute indicating that the modem is connected. Now turn on the computer if it is not already turned on. Most people will plug the main computer directly into the router and make the others wireless thus eliminating an unneeded wireless adapter.

So now you will plug a network cable from one of the LAN ports on the router directly to the LAN port on the main computer. Windows XP will recognize an internet connection and give you a popup message with this indication. Next you will open your internet browser ( Internet Explorer or Firefox ) and type in the address that came with the documentation with your router. You may be prompted for the default password. The page will show your router’s configuration. From here you can enter in a Wireless Network Name which is called the SSID. Make sure that this name is unique for your own protection. Also set the WPA or WEP which should also be a unique type of word.

This is a passphrase protection which you will not have to remember. Then finally an administrators password. Make sure that you do not forget this password because you will need it if you ever want to change anything. Now that the router is setup we will move on to the adapters. Plug in the adapter appropriately on your other computer or computers and Windows will recognize it and show that there is a wireless connection device. Note that a desktop must be shut off when installing a PCI adapter. At this time Windows may prompt you to install any software that came with the adapter. Once that has been done, right click on the Wireless Network Icon in the bottom right hand corner of your Windows screen. It will say View Available Wireless Networks. Locate your wireless network name and click connect. Your wireless network should now be setup.

By: Randall Martin

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