N Drive
On Campus
Windows 7
- Click on 'Start' then 'Computer'.
- Click 'Map network drive' on the bar at the top of the screen.
- Select the letter of the drive that you want to map to. As a rule of thumb, it is good to use 'N' for your N Drive.
- Enter the location of the drive that you wish to map. For example, the N Drive is \\dfs.rdg.ac.uk\homes\username or a collaborative share folder is \\dfs.rdg.ac.uk\collabs\foldername. You may need to talk to someone who has access to the drive to be able to get this information.
- Click 'Finish'.
- Your drive should now be mapped. To access it, simply open up your File Explorer and click on the arrow next Desktop so that you can see the menu below, then click on 'Computer' and under 'Network Locations' you should see your new drive.
Windows 10
- Click on 'Start' then type in 'This PC' and click on the icon that appears.
- Click 'Map network drive' on the bar at the top of the screen.
- Select the letter of the drive that you want to map to. While these are arbitrary, 'N' is commonly used for your N Drive, and some department have letters for these drives (J drive [\\adminhome], R drive [\\vifs1\psychology$\Research]) so check with colleagues to ensure what your department standard is.
- Enter the location of the drive that you wish to map. For example, the N Drive is \\dfs.rdg.ac.uk\homes\username or a collaborative share folder is \\dfs.rdg.ac.uk\collabs\foldername. You may need to talk to someone who has access to the drive to be able to get this information.
- Click 'Finish'.
- Your drive should now be mapped. To access it, simply open up your File Explorer and click on the arrow next Desktop so that you can see the menu below, then click on 'Computer' and under 'Network Locations' you should see your new drive.
macOS
Temporary
- Hold down the Command key and press 'K' together to open up the 'Connect to Server' window. Alternatively, open the Finder.app (or click on the desktop), go to the top of the screen and click on 'Go', then select 'Connect to Server'.
- Enter the location of the drive that you want to connect to. For example, the N Drive is smb://ndrive/username or a collaborative share folder is smb://collab/departmentname/foldername. You may need to talk to someone who has access to the drive to be able to get this information.
- Click 'Connect'.
- Enter your login details and click 'OK' to mount the drive. It will be accessible from the Finder window sidebar until reboot.
Permanent
- Follow the previous instructions (found in Temporary).
- Enter the System Preferences via the Apple menu.
- Click on 'Users & Groups', then your username and go to the 'Login Items' tab. You may need to click on the padlock to make changes.
- Click on the '+' button to add a new login item.
- Click on 'netdrive.reading.ac.uk' and select the folder that we just mapped (such as your username). Then click 'Add'
- Exit System Preferences. Your network drive(s) are now mapped and will be mounted automatically every time you start your Mac. Please note that you will have to remain on the network in order to be able to access these drives, and if you leave then your Mac will not automatically connect you to the network drive(s) until you have joined again.
- Automatically mounted shares work the same as temporarily mounted shares and can be accessed via the Finder window.
Linux/Ubuntu
- Click on the 'Files' icon to open up your File Explorer.
- Click on 'Connect to Server'.
- Under 'Server Address', type in the location of the drive that you wish to map. For example, the N Drive is smb://ndrive/username or a collaboration folder is smb://collab/foldername. You may need to talk to someone who has access to the drive to be able to get this information.
- Click Connect and a screen should pop up asking for a password.
- Select 'Registered User' rather than 'Anonymous', then enter your username (ab123456) as the username, RDG-HOME as the domain and your University password as the password.
- Chose the level of security that you want, generally 'Forget Password Immediately' is the most secure, but 'Remember Forever' provides the most convenience.
- Click 'Connect'.
- You may need to enter your PCs password in order to store the new network drive password to your keyring, depending on the security that you selected earlier.
- You should now have access to your drive, accessible by going to the File Explorer and clicking on the drive (below 'Computer' and above 'Connect to Server').
Off Campus
Windows 7
- Click on 'Start' then 'Computer'.
- Right click on the white space at the bottom of the screen and select 'Add Network Location'
- Select 'Next' then 'Choose a custom network location' and press 'Next' again.
- In the text box under 'Internet or network address' enter one of the following:
- N Drive only: https://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/hcwebdav/Ndrive/
- Software only: https://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/hcwebdav/Software/
- N Drive and Software: https://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/hcwebdav/
- Click 'Next' and wait. This may take a while and the window may seem to be unresponsive.
- When a credentials box appears, enter your University username and password, with your username in the format 'rdg-home\ab123456'. Tick 'Remember my credentials' if you wish to not have to enter your password again. Click 'OK'
- Enter a name for the network location. It can be something like 'N Drive' or 'netdrive.reading.ac.uk'.
- You may have to enter your credentials again, just do the same format as before.
- You should now see a Success box. Click Finish to be able to access this drive off campus.
macOS
Temporary
- Hold down the Command key and press 'K' together to open up the 'Connect to Server' window. Alternatively, open the Finder.app (or click on the desktop), go to the top of the screen and click on 'Go', then select 'Connect to Server'.
- Enter the location of the drive that you want to connect to. This can be one of the following:
- N Drive only: https://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/hcwebdav/Ndrive/
- Software only: https://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/hcwebdav/Software/
- N Drive and Software: https://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/hcwebdav/
- Click 'Connect'.
- Enter your login details and click 'OK' to mount the drive. It will be accessible from the Finder window sidebar until reboot.
Permanent
- Follow the previous instructions (found in Temporary).
- Enter the System Preferences via the Apple menu.
- Click on 'Users & Groups', then your username and go to the 'Login Items' tab. You may need to click on the padlock to make changes.
- Click on the '+' button to add a new login item.
- Click on 'netdrive.reading.ac.uk' and select the folder that we just mapped (such as Ndrive). Then click 'Add'
- Exit System Preferences. Your network drive(s) are now mapped and will be mounted automatically every time you start your Mac. Please note that you will have to remain on the network in order to be able to access these drives, and if you leave then your Mac will not automatically connect you to the network drive(s) until you have joined again.
- Automatically mounted shares work the same as temporarily mounted shares and can be accessed via the Finder window.
Linux/Ubuntu
- Click on the 'Files' icon to open up your File Explorer.
- Click on 'Connect to Server'.
- Under 'Server Address', type in the location of the drive that you wish to map. For example, the N Drive is davs://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/Ndrive, the software folder is davs://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/Software and both is just davs://netdrive.reading.ac.uk/HTCOMNET/.
- Click Connect and a screen should pop up asking for a username and password.
- Enter your username prefixed with "rdg-home" (rdg-home\ab123456) as the username and your University password as the password.
- Chose the level of security that you want, generally 'Forget Password Immediately' is the most secure, but 'Remember Forever' provides the most convenience.
- Click 'Connect'.
- You may need to enter your PCs password in order to store the new network drive password to your keyring, depending on the security that you selected earlier.
- You should now have access to your drive, accessible by going to the File Explorer and clicking on the drive (below 'Computer' and above 'Connect to Server').