How to access a locally-shared folder via UNC path when not connected to a network

As a developer, I have a program running called AppFabric. AppFabric requires a UNC path to a shared folder to store its settings (for instance, \\machine\share pointing to c:\folder_to_share). Now, sometimes I'm in a place where I can't connect to a network. At those times, the UNC path \\machine\share doesn't appear to exist anymore.

So how would I access a UNC path pointing at a local share when I don't have a network connection? This is in Windows 7. Note that as soon as I connect to a network, the UNC path is usable again, and also note that this program will not allow drive letters but requires a UNC path (I know, boo!).

Thorin

Posted 2011-08-14T23:35:10.350

Reputation: 133

Answers

If the networking, or lack there of, is causing the issue you can always install the loopback adapter to force IP networking, even if its not there.

Keltari

Posted 2011-08-14T23:35:10.350

Reputation: 57 019

It was indeed the lack of network adapter. Thanks for suggesting the Microsoft Loopback Adapter; a couple of minutes of googling and following directions, and I had it installed. For others looking, here's the link I found and followed for Windows 7: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itpronetworking/thread/259c7ef2-3770-4212-8fca-c58936979851/

– Thorin – 2011-08-15T00:37:59.377

I think the issue is that you are not forming your UNC paths correctly (based on your post). It should be \\machine\share. You are missing a slash.

Keltari

Posted 2011-08-14T23:35:10.350

Reputation: 57 019

Hope you don't mind my edit! He was using double slash. If formatting gets messed up, try placing it in quotes. – William Hilsum – 2011-08-14T23:46:32.977

Thanks for the edit, William, to clean up my formatting. I had entered double-slash but didn't check close enough what the output was in the post. – Thorin – 2011-08-15T00:38:53.650

Firstly, a few other names to test are \\localhost and \\ip.address.of.machine.

If this doesn't work, I'm guessing that this is down to selecting Public Network as your zone/area in Network and Sharing Centre which disables File and Printer sharing.

With File and Printer sharing disabled, there is no way to emulate this (and I wouldn't recommend it for security reasons).

However, if you know what you are doing, you can either change the zone by clicking on it (1), or click on Change Advanced Sharing Settings (2) and manually enable it for your zone.

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William Hilsum

Posted 2011-08-14T23:35:10.350

Reputation: 111 572

What if localhost works? – Edward Olamisan – 2016-01-06T17:54:48.900