Full URI to a file on another machine in our local network?

Question

On our small-business Windows XP network, I have a file in f:\MyDir\SubDir\text.doc

What would be the URI for that file while I'm on another machine.... if all I knew was that machine's IP address, and the file's path?

I thought it was something like:

\\192.168.10.20\f:\MyDir\SubDir\text.doc

But that can't seem to locate it. (I have full admin access to both machines)

Answer 1

Usually, you have to specifically share the folder over the network.

If you have Administrator rights on the remote computer, you can access fixed disks (not removable ones) through the predefined "administrative shares", named <letter>$. For example:

\\192.168.10.20\f$\MyDir\SubDir\text.doc

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Second, the \\<host>\<share>\<path> format is an UNC path. If you really need an URI, it will likely look like this:

file://192.168.10.20/f$/MyDir/SubDir/text.doc

or:

smb://192.168.10.20/f$/MyDir/SubDir/text.doc

Answer 2

Close, switch the colon to a dollar sign.

\\192.168.10.20\f$\MyDir\SubDir\text.doc

Assuming domain--I've not tested on workgroups.

Answer 3

For UNC: If you create a share from MyDir, omit the drive letter when accessing it remotely: \ip-address\sharename\subdir...

To use the administrative F$ share, be sure to use (remote computername)\administrator as the login (or it will try and fail to use the local admin token)