Mapped drives for multiple users?

Question

I currently manage a network of about 25 computers run by a SBS server. I need to map a drive on each users computer and was wondering if there was a way that I could automatically map all the drives from the server instead of going around to each individual machine.

Thanks for the help

Answer 1

one option is to create a simple batch file on your server and have that batch file run each time the user log-ins.  The way I have it set up on my servers is

go to your Active Directory for Users.

right click a user and select properties

under the Profile tab enter the name of a batch file (I call mine LOGIN.BAT)

now create a batch file (you can use notepad to do it) called LOGIN.BAT

enter

NET USE  <DRIVE LETTER>  \\SERVER\SHARE

where drive letter is the drive you want to map to and \\server\share is what you are mapping out.

for example

NET USE  M:  \\MYSERVER\PUBLIC

this will map a drive M to that location

now place the login.bat file under C:\WINDOWS\SYSVOL\SCRIPTS

(I think it's something like that...there should be an existing folder there already.  If not, you can really place it anywhere you want but you'll have to specify the folder in the User Profile tab where you put the file name).

now whenever they log in, the batch file gets run and maps the drives out to the computer each time.  That way you know they can't s***w it up and un-map a drive because they next time they log in, it's gets mapped out again :-))

I also include the following as part of my login script

NET TIME \\servername  /SET /YES

this sync's their local computer's time to the server's time that way everyone is on the exact same time as the server.

Answer 2

I would do some sort of scripting.

If each user has their own drive, have some statement that sets a variable based on their user name. Then it should be a simple mounting command.

This script could be automatically run at startup, and grab the correct directory. It's the way many institutions solve this problem.

Alternatively, you can use two scripts/programs. The one on the user machine would try to mount a volume on the server (same for all computers) and then the server would decide based on who is connecting which volume should be mounted, and return that to the user machine.

These are two of many options.