| ticle explains how to "map" to a NAS drive | | | | pane. Wait a moment, and then in the right-hand |
| attached to your local network in Windows Vista. | | | | pane you should see your NAS drive (it may take |
| A NAS(Network Attached Storage) drive is an | | | | a few seconds to appear). You will now see the |
| extra hard drive that can be plugged into your | | | | text to enter for drivename (for instance, |
| home network and accessed from any computer | | | | LS-MEDIA). |
| - although originally intended as data backup | | | | The username and password sections are the |
| devices, many NAS drives are sold as media | | | | username and password you use to access the |
| drives, allowing you to store all of your music, | | | | drive. If you are unsure what these values are, |
| photographs and videos in one place, and then | | | | check the manual that accompanied your network |
| "streaming" the content to computers and media | | | | drive. In this example, we will assume they are |
| players anywhere in your home. These devices | | | | "admin" and "mypassword". (Note that this |
| simply plug into your router with a standard | | | | method of mapping is really only suitable for |
| Ethernet cable and become instantly visible to any | | | | home networks, because although the "echo off" |
| computer on the network. "Mapping" is the | | | | line hides the username and password being |
| process whereby your computer makes a | | | | printed every time the script is run, it can easily |
| connection to such a device. | | | | be accessed by anyone who has logged into the |
| To prevent unauthorised access to such | | | | machine.) |
| information, most NAS drives require you to | | | | Given this information, the text we would type |
| enter a username and password when you first | | | | would be:echo offecho Mapping media server...net |
| attempt to "map" to the drive. Windows Vista | | | | use \\LS-MEDIA mypassword /user:admin |
| helpfully offers to remember this username and | | | | Now save this file and call it something like |
| password for you, so you don't have to re-input | | | | "mapdrive.bat". The .bat extension is important, |
| the information every time you boot up your | | | | because it tells Windows that the file is a script |
| computer. However, there is a problem: it doesn't | | | | that contains commands and can be run; be |
| work. This leaves users with the frustrating | | | | careful here, because programs like Notepad will |
| problem of re-keying in data every time the | | | | automatically add a .txt extension unless you |
| computer is turned on or off. | | | | explicitly type .bat after the filename. Now place a |
| There is a solution, however. Start up a simple | | | | copy of this script in All Programs->Startup (right |
| editing program like Notepad - avoid using a word | | | | click on the Windows button, select "Open all |
| processor, such as Word here, because you want | | | | users", click on "Programs", then "Startup", then |
| to save the document in the simplest file format | | | | copy and paste your script inside this folder). |
| possible. Now enter the following lines:echo | | | | Now, every time you start your computer, |
| offecho Mapping media server...net use | | | | Windows Vista will automatically map your |
| \\drivename password /user:username | | | | network drive and enter the name and password |
| To find out your drive name, make sure your | | | | for you - meaning that when you start programs |
| NAS drive is turned on and attached to the | | | | like iTunes or Windows Media Player, you will have |
| network. Now double click on "Computer" on the | | | | full access to your media collection without |
| desktop, then select "Network" in the Folders | | | | retyping information. |