Mapping a network drive This presentation describes how to map a network drive. Like most techhie things it sounds difficult but actually is easy when you know how & why. When accessing files that are physically located on a computer on the same network as yours, it’s a pain trying to remember complicated file paths (//acomputer/some/complicated/filepath). It’s a lot easier if you only have to remember where the files are once but afterwards can access them as if they were located on the computer terminal you are using. Mapping the network drive does this. You simply tell the computer what the file path is once and it then assigns (‘maps’) it to a drive letter eg Z: and remembers it for you. In future to access that location you can use Z: rather than //acomputer/some/complicated/filepath. Easier still, Z: is now listed when you click My Computer.

Mapping a network drive The reason for using this with Miquest Queries is simply to make the process of putting the Queries in the location the clinical system uses to run them and for downloading and accessing the resulting Response files easier and less error prone. It also means that users don’t have to access their file server with floppy discs as it can all be done more quickly from a peripheral terminal. The one thing you do need to decide is where the clinical system needs the queries to be able to access them. For EMIS LV without S: & H: drives this is the //Emis1234a/SHARED/ directory on the server. (Where 1234 is your EMIS national user number) Otherwise map to your server at Microsoft networks/pcare/YourSurgeryServer/Shared/CDSSH. For Vision it can be any networked drive. We suggest using C:/Temp. It is similar for PCS. It is these locations you should map.

Mapping a network drive First open my computer from Desktop or Start menu and select Tools, Map Network Drive

Mapping a network drive Next find the location you want to map (the place where the Miquest queries are accessed from by the clinical system) by clicking Browse

Mapping a network drive For EMIS LV you may now be able to see the shared directory on the server. If so highlight it and click OK.

Mapping a network drive If not you may have to browse the Entire Network to drill down to it. (If you want to map a directory on the machine you are using eg C:\Temp you need to share it first and allow users to change files by right click on it in My Computer, Sharing & security…)

Mapping a network drive Once you have found the location you want to map and have clicked ok the screen should look something like this, where the path you want is in the Folder: box. Click Finish. Now our Miquest software can access the Z: drive for writing and analysing queries.