Here are some general guidelines for successfully using network stations:

"Lost Drive Mappings"

Normally, when you "boot up" a network station, the network server will already be up and running, and your station will automatically and seamlessly log on to the network. It will prompt you for your user name and password, and as the station completes the network logon, it will also assign drive letters (logical drives) to shared spaces (shares) on the server. These are the connections (drive mappings) through which you send and receive data, either documents or database information.

If there is a problem accessing the server -- such as the server not being up, completely, or a damaged cable -- Windows will open a dialog stating this, prompting whether you want to restore the connection next time, with two buttons, Yes and No.

You should always press Enter or click Yes! Responding "Yes" will keep the drive mappings in place for next time.

If you respond "No", Windows will discard the drive-mapping settings, and you will need to reassign them.

Click here for a "how-to" document on how to do that. This is a PDF document and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to read it, which is free download, and you should have a copy on your machine. If you don't, click here.

Shutting Down

These days, this goes mostly without saying, but we might as well add it here: Always, always shut down your network stations properly.

This means...

1. Close all your applications,
2. Click Start and Shut Down (or press the hot key Alt+F4), and
3. Press Enter (or click OK).

Doing anything else could leave work unsaved, corrupt databases, and all kinds of things we won't want to think about.