Set up a network drive and access your NAS using Microsoft Windows.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this course you should be able to:

1. Access the files on your NAS using Microsoft Windows.
2. Set up a network drive.

PREREQUISITES

Course Prerequisites:

None

Students are expected to have a working knowledge of:

Microsoft Windows

OUTLINE

1. Configuring your NAS

1.1 Enabling Samba Service

1.2 Creating a Shared Folder and Setting up Access Rights

2. Configuring Windows

2.1 Setting up your Shared Folder as a Network Drive

3. Connect NAS using the server name

4. Connect NAS using ASUSTOR Control Center

1. Configuring your NAS

To access your NAS from an external location using your web browser, please refer to NAS 121: Remote Access.

1.1 Enabling Samba Service

STEP 1

• Log into your ADM using your Web browser.
• Select [Services] [SMB].
• Select [Enable SMB] and click on [Apply].

1.2 Creating a Shared Folder and Setting up Access Rights

STEP 1

• Select [Access Control] [Shared Folders].
• Click on [Add].

STEP 2

• You are now ready to create a new shared folder on your NAS.
• Enter a name for the new folder and click [Next] once you are done. (In the example below, we have entered "MyNAS" as the name of our new folder).

STEP 3

• Set access rights for the folder by selecting the radio button corresponding to the access rights of your choice. (In the example below, the access rights [Read Only for all users, Read & Write for administrators] that have been selected.)
• Once you're done, click [Next].

STEP 4

• Review a final summary of your settings.
• Once you're done, confirm these settings by clicking [Finish].

2. Configuring Windows

2.1 Setting up your Shared Folder as a Network Drive

We will be using a computer running Windows 10 as an example.

STEP 1

• In Windows 10, click [Search] on the [Taskbar].

• Enter two backslashes followed by your NAS's IP address and press [Enter]. For example:

• You can also open Windows Explorer, enter two backslashes followed by your NAS's IP address and press [Enter].

STEP 2

• Windows will now connect to your NAS via SAMBA (Please be sure the SMB service is enabled on ASUSTOR NAS).
• You will then be able to see the shared folders that you have previously created on your NAS. ("MyNAS" in the example below)

STEP 3

• Right-click on your shared folder ("MyNAS" in the example below) and select [Map network drive.].

STEP 4

• Specify the drive letter that you wish to use for the network drive and select the [Reconnect at logon] and [Connect using different credentials].
• Once you're done, click [Finish].

STEP 5

• Enter your NAS username and password into the dialog box that appears and select the [Remember my credentials].
• Once you're done, click [Finish].

Note: If the account password is confirmed to be correct, but keeps getting errors here, please restart Windows and try to connect again.

STEP 6

• When you click on [This PC] in Windows Explorer, you will see that your shared folder ("MyNAS" in our example) has become a network drive on your computer.
• You can now drag and drop files to this network drive and they will be automatically transferred to the shared folder on your NAS.

3. Connect NAS using the server name

WS-Discovery makes your NAS visible to your Windows PC on your local network. To find and browse the contents of your NAS, open the network browser, named "Network" in Windows File Explorer and navigate to the collapsible item named "Computer". (Introduced in ADM 4.0.5)

Note: The NAS server name can be modified in [Settings] [Network] [General].

STEP 1

• Select [Services] [SMB].
• Select [Enable SMB] and [Enable WS-Discovery] and click on [Apply].

STEP 2

• Click on [Network] in Windows File Explorer, and the NAS with WS-Discovery enabled will be available in [Computer].
• Click on the NAS to connect.

• Or enter two backslashes followed by your NAS server name and press [Enter].

• You can also click [Search] on the [Taskbar] In Windows 10.
• Enter two backslashes followed by your NAS server name and press [Enter].

STEP 3

• Enter your NAS username and password into the dialog box that appears and select the [Remember my credentials].
• Once you're done, click [Finish].

STEP 4

• You can access the files of the NAS shared folders in Windows File Explorer now.

4. Connect NAS using ASUSTOR Control Center

You can use ASUSTOR Control Center (ACC) on Windows to access the files of the NAS shared folders. Please refer to NAS 107: Introduction to ASUSTOR Control Center to know how to install ACC on Windows and use more ACC functions.

STEP 1

• Open ACC, be sure the status of the required NAS is [Ready].
• Click on the NAS you want to connect to.
• Click [Connect] [Open Network Drive].

STEP 2

• Enter your NAS username and password into the dialog box that appears and select the [Remember my credentials].
• Once you're done, click [Finish].

STEP 3

• You can access the files of the NAS shared folders in Windows File Explorer now.

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