Appendix G: Add Network Place Wizard (Windows Server 2003)

Applies To: Windows Server 2003 with SP1

In the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 family operating systems, users and administrators can use the Add Network Place Wizard to create shortcuts to shared folders and resources on the network or on Web or File Transfer Protocol (FTP) servers. If you don’t have folders on a Web server already, the Add Network Place Wizard helps you create a new folder for storing files online.

The content in this appendix includes the following information:

• An overview of the Add Network Place Wizard

• How to control the use of the Add Network Place Wizard

Overview: Add Network Place Wizard

The Add Network Place Wizard is enabled by default for all users. In operating systems in the Windows Server 2003 family you access the wizard through Windows Explorer\My Network Places. After you click My Network Places and then double-click Add Network Place, the wizard appears.

You can use the wizard to sign up for a service that offers online storage space, or to create a shortcut to a Web site, an FTP site, or other local network connection. To add a shortcut in My Network Places to a folder on a Web server, the Web server must support network places. Support for network places requires the Web Extender Client (WEC) protocol and Microsoft FrontPage® Server Extensions, or the Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) protocol and Internet Information Services (IIS). You must also have read and write access to the Web server.

In a highly managed network environment administrators might want to prevent users or administrators from storing or accessing folders on a Web server. You can remove access to the Add Network Place Wizard using Group Policy.

For more information about the WEC and WebDAV protocols, see Help and Support Center.

Controlling the Use of the Add Network Place Wizard

You can block users and administrators from accessing the Add Network Place Wizard in My Network Places by configuring a Group Policy setting.

Configure the following Group Policy setting in User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer: Remove "Map Network Drive" and "Disconnect Network Drive."

When you enable this policy setting, in addition to preventing users from using Windows Explorer or My Network Places to map or disconnect network drives, you also remove the Add Network Place option from My Network Places. Users can still connect to another computer on your intranet by typing the name of a shared folder in the Run dialog box.