I work with a bunch of muppets - Please help!

[taffia77]

At my workplace they are about to disable the network drives that appear in My Computer, because apparently, we shouldn't be accessing them through my computer, but through mapped shortcuts on the desktop.
I won't go into the whys or wherefores, but this will seriously hinder myself and my colleagues who actually do know how to use a computer.
What I need to know is if there is a way to make a folder act as drive, and appear in My Computer.
I'm not sure if Daemon Tools does this or not, but it's not an option anyway as I'm on a Limited User Account and that program doesn't install
Are there any free utilities that will do this, or am I missing something obvious that is already available to me in XP?
Cheers

 

[Spike]

lol. please do explain the why's and wherefores of that one. I'm intrigued.

What you're looking for is the XP command line command, SUBST

Usage:
subst {drive letter} {folder location}

eg,

subst z: c:\folder

Or you could use the NET USE command...

http://www.ss64.com/nt/net_use.html

I'm not sure that either of these can be used from a limited account though, and even if they can normally, they'll be disabled if your sysadmin is worth his/her salt.

 

[taffia77]

Yes they have disabled the command line from the limited account, but as I stated I work with muppets so whenever I want to run a DOS command I just creat a new text file in notepad and name it whatever.bat :haha:
The fun I've had in the past.
Seriously, the whys and wherefores are soooo boring!

 

[Spike]

You could pm me the rough jist of it if you like.

Sad, I know, but it'll be bugging me for ages. lol. I can't possibly think of a reason, unless they can somehow log the network access more easily.

whenever I want to run a DOS command I just creat a new text file in notepad and name it whatever.bat

Maybe he's only worth HALF his salt. I'm sure management are looking for salt cutbacks all the time. lol

 

[paranoid guy]

Yeah I'm interested too... I have the same sort of deal at school, although I don't need to get admin rights, I'd love to disable the bloody net nanny, we can't get on to bebo. Whenever I need something that has been taken away, e.g. ms-dos, I just make a shortcut, so maybe if you make a shortcut to the drive and name it something inconspicious?

 

[s3xynanigoat]

not sure if this will help or not...

My computer > Tools > 'map network drive' > give it a drive letter and then browse to the FQDN \ share name.

Maybe this is the way they had it setup before, wasn't really sure from the OP.

Out of curiosity, how would not having these in 'my computer' hinder your work?

Why are they taking this option away?

 

[Spike]

LOL!... See, you've started a circus now. We all want to know. lol

On a more serious note though, by al means try the "map network drive" option. I'd simply assumed that if the sysadmin was worth even half of his salt, that option would have been removed from the tools menu, along with the "folder options".

 

[paranoid guy]

But the great (or terrible, depends on who you're asking) thing about windows is that if something's denied, you can still get to it by just making a shortcut :haha: I love windows

 

[s3xynanigoat]

I see no benefit to removing network drives form 'my computer'. I also see no disadvantage to having them mapped as icons on your desktop. Seems to me it's like apples and oranges.

I've been running through my head why you may want to do this and well... it's not making sense. Maybe they want to do it solely for experience.

Is your organization big or small?