How do you create a UNC share in Win 8.1?

[GKent]

In the section on Sharing IMatch Databases>Location of Database, it says, "Users can then open the database either via a mapped drive or, better, via an UNC share." I have searched the web for a couple of hours now and I cannot figure out how to create a UNC share in Windows 8.1. Is that possible? If so, how? Thanks in advance for the help.  -- Greg

[Mario]

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/share-files-folders

[Carlo Didier]

There isn't anything like a "UNC share" really. You can share something (like a folder on a harddisk) and UNC is just a way of indicating the path to access something. See Wikipedia (scroll down to "Uniform Naming Convention").

[GKent]

Thanks for the help.

I still do not see how do to this. I am new to Windows 8.1.  I am jumping to 8.1 from XP.  In XP I knew how to map a drive, and I think that in XP, instead of navigating to find what I would want to share, instead it is better to type in the path. But in Win 8.1 there isn't anything about mapping a drive, only about sharing, and the link that Mario gave says nothing about UNC. And I can't find anything in the Win 8.1 share process that lets me type in a path.

Sorry if I'm not describing things well, or maybe am just plain confused, which, admittedly I am.

Any more pointers?

Greg

[Mario]

All Windows versions support the UNC path naming convention. It's just a way to access a share without the need to map a drive.

[GKent]

I understand what is being done, just not how in Win 8.1. And the "how" is what I have spent so much time researching on the web and not finding an answer.

I think that the attachment, which contains a series of screenshots, is where I need to do something. What? Where? Somewhere else?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Greg

[attachment deleted by admin]

[David_H]

I understand what is being done, just not how in Win 8.1. And the "how" is what I have spent so much time researching on the web and not finding an answer.

I think that the attachment, which contains a series of screenshots, is where I need to do something. What? Where? Somewhere else?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Greg

No; that's it. When you click on advanced Sharing, and click on OK,  you will have created a share \\mycomputer\drivers - that's the UNC path to that folder.

On the other computer(s), you can now either map a drive (say P:) to \\mycomputer\drivers and then access it through Explorer or IMatch normally - P:\Database OR you can use the UNC path; \\mycomputer\drivers\Database

If you create the share through that advanced sharing dialog, make sure you set the permissions - it might well default to Read Only which then causes no end of confusion.

[GKent]

Thanks so much for the help.

Here was the issue:

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 raised the level of difficulty again. The Tools menu disappeared, and the "map network drive" option is now in the Computer Ribbon. If the Ribbon is minimized, you have to click the Computer menu. The tricky part is that the Ribbon is only displayed if you click the Computer symbol (Windows or the This PC icon (Windows 8.1) in the File Explorer's navigation pane.

I can't believe how many hours it took me to find this. Ugh.

Again, thanks

Greg

[Carlo Didier]

I can't believe how many hours it took me to find this. Ugh.

Greg, I'd think it is voluntarily obscured by Microsoft. "Mapped drives" are a thing of the past for them. At my company, we nearly completely abandoned them several years ago, except for very old applications that don't understand UNC paths and network places.

[GKent]

Thanks for the help.
I'm still working on my network share and have created a photo showing what I've done and the problems I'm still having.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Greg

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Mario]

A UNC share uses this syntax:

\\COMPUTER\Share\Folder

If you have a folder "images" under the P share, this should work:

\\RUTH\P\images

[GKent]

Thanks.

In this "P" drive, I have the IMatch database in a folder called "IMatch Database" and the photos in a folder called "Photos." But there are also other things on that drive that I would like to have easy access to.

Would it work if I create a mapped drive (a UNC share) from my computer to the whole P drive (the USB 3 drive on my wife's computer)? 

Greg

[Mario]

Just make sure that you don't include the folder containing your IMatch database in your IMatch database.

You can access any folder you share via a UNC share. It's really not that complicated.

If you share the entire drive, you can access all folders on that drive using the syntax I have included in my last post. Use Windows Explorer (it's address bar) to try out your shares.

[GKent]

Thanks, Mario.

You said:

[/quote]Just make sure that you don't include the folder containing your IMatch database in your IMatch database.

Don't include the folder containing the IMatch database in the mapped drive from my computer? But I have to, don't I?

I have the IMatch database in a separate folder from my photos. But my question is: is it okay to map the whole drive (including both folders) from my computer?

I am sure that this is not all that complicated, once you have done it. But I'm not sure what the consequences are of making a mistake. 

Thanks in advance for you patience and continued help.

Greg

[Mario]

Yes. See the IMatch help why this would be bad for performance. Search for Database in the help index and then click on Basics in the result list.

[GKent]

Mario and Carlo, thanks for all of your help.

It looks like in Win 8.1 that it only does UNC shares now. From my computer I selected P (my USB 3 drive on my wife's computer) and it filled in the UNC path itself.  See attachment.

Greg



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