>>>HI Lutz,
>>>
>>>
>>>>Hi Walter,
>>>>
>>>>not that many, beeing in a niche. But for that they are huge.
>>>>I see more danger in maped drives (like Al pointed out) then benefit. User should understand UNC and the like or he is a CKI problem anyway.
>>>>If you found mapped drives it's a simple indicator that the level of computer use stuck in the early 90s. Says something about your client.
>>>
>>>We've got clients all over the world, including high profiles clinics, hospitals and universities. I yet have to encounter a single client that does not work with mapped drives. I also have to deal with users that are not interested in remembering server shares: they have more important stuff to do.
>>>
>>>The fact that they are all over the place indicates that there is a reason for it, a benefit or else they would have been removed a long time ago.
>>>So I have to disagree with you on this matter.
>>>
>>>>It's all about to be not willing to learn and relearn. {Don't tell me I dislike to learn metro interface / style ;) }
>>>
>>>Even if users could remember and type shares as easy as drive letters (which is obviously not true) users use the computers as a tool to do their work: most have no interest to learn anything about computers and windows than strictly necessary. They are not getting paid for their knowledge on computers but on what they need to do as efficient as possible.
>>>
>>>I see drive letters equivalent to shortcuts on your desktop or taskbar. Get there quickly without having to know where it is buried in the start menu, or even worse... on disk.
>>>
>>>
>>>>What is the problem placing a link somewhere instead of those mappings? Nowaydays you just drag the folder in favourites and you are done.
>>>>I just wonder that nobody mimic CP/M user ....
>>>
>>>Again most users do not how to do that and are not in the slightest interested in doing that.
>>>
>>>Walter,
>>
>>In general, if one need to learn to write one have to learn to deal with a pen. If one is using a comp and one is not a complete encapsuled program, preset by someone one educated one should know what one is doing. Everybody who is to important should a quit with comps or pay somebody. If they can learn how to set up a mapped drive (what obviuosly will fail sooner or later) they can learn a path.
>
>Ehhh. at our clients the paths are setup by the ICT department, not the users. Again, the users are not computer wiz kids, the are exactly what they are named: users. At most enterprise environments users have about no rights to all of that kind of stuff.... and for good reason.
>
>>Where is the problem to put something on favourits? Just a link to klick? This is topmost on the left pane. One could not failIt could even be speaking. Much better then a numb letter.
>>But sooner or later they will learn. The generation that has an idea of drive letters declines. Ask a kid of those days about it.
>
>If I ask my kids about paths and disk locations they are glaring at me: They have absolutely no concept of all of that. Why do you think there is no file explorer on an ipad, galaxy tab, and mobile phones? Because they are users and where documents are exactly saved is totally invisible to the user.
>
>Walter,

There is a huge gap between knowledge of a UNC path, mapped drive (or file system for that) and a wiz kid. Your argument is like a pen user without knowlegde about eraser and sharpener.
Not that I do not know about it. But one have not to enforce them with clumsy tricks. If they are front panel idiot, do it so that they never see explorer and you are done. If not: Again Do the stuff so that it will work with UNC paths.If the user in his wishdom decides to use mapped dirves - fine we have learned a new trap. There will be more. I hope Fabio charge the ones that do such stuff without knowing the KB mentioned above - because if they use it they should know it.
Sooner or later drive letters will die, we will see the same hickup as we had with restricted access to folder / registry keys and so one. The standard is UNC, Windows is mapping anything from UNC to drive letter, because internally it's UNC.
Be prepared and have the printer filled to print invoices.

For the knowledge of the kids you agree with me. (O.K the droids here have a t least one file explorer on it. The kids ones too) That's what I say. But then think it through. If you hide it from the uneducated, why do you need a mapped drive the first place? Do the job right and there is no need for it. It removes a level of failure.

I would like to stop here. I aggree that a lot of peoples doing that, but not that there is need for me to care about. It will run the one way or the other. If I run into Fabios problem I charge the customer for service not related to my product and will be done. :)

I need to care about daughters so called computer lessons problem where the teacher uses a ACCESS @)#! with a german setting in the commands. ZWISCHEN, UND instead of BETWEEN, AND
(idiots)^(idiots)

Lutz