Windows XP Pro: The Missing Manual, Second Edition

Working with Network Files

Now that you know how to open shared drives and folders from across the network, you can start using the files you find there. Fortunately, there’s nothing much to it. Here are some of the possibilities.

At the Desktop

When you’re working at the desktop, you can double-click icons to open them, drag them to the Recycle Bin, make copies of them, and otherwise manipulate them exactly as though they were icons on your own hard drive. Chapter 3 contains much more detail on manipulating files. (Of course, if you weren’t given permission to change the contents of the shared folder, you have less freedom.)

Tip

There’s one significant difference between working with “local” icons and working with those that sit elsewhere on the network: When you delete a file from another computer on the network (if you’re allowed to do so), either by pressing the Delete key or by dragging it to the Recycle Bin, it disappears instantly and permanently, without ever appearing in the Recycle Bin.

Using Start→Search

As noted in Chapter 1, the Windows XP Search program stands ready to help you find files not just on your own machine, but also elsewhere on the network. When the Search window opens up (choose Start→Search), open the “Look in” drop-down list and choose Browse. You’re offered a list of disks and folders to search—and one of them is My Network Places. Click it and then click OK. You’ve just confined your search to the shared disks and folders on your network. In the Search ...