History on my question: A couple of months ago, my workgroup name used for
many years (let's call it
ABC) stopped working. I could access my networked computers by using their
paths \\mylaptop\downloads but not their network name. I rebooted but it did
not help.

So I changed the workgroup name to ABC2 and it worked for 2 months up to
today at 4 PM, when workgroup names were last used to share some files.

Suddenly, again, I could use the paths but not the workgroup. I rebooted but
it did not help. I changed the workgroup on 4 of my computers to ABC3,
rebooted, and I see the networks again.
------------------------------------------
Today, in the middle of nothing special, it happened again and ABC3 doesn't
show up on my computer as a workgroup.

So I'm trying to learn how to use the path instead of the workgroup to
receive copied files. After I choose the files to copy, how do I paste if I
cannot navigate to the networked computer in Explorer? If I click "network"
on my Vista computer, it only sees the computer I am on. Similarly in XP.
Unfortunately my computer names are long and descriptive and a pain to enter
by hand.

I tried to create a folder with the path but it considered it an invalid
foldername since it contains symbols like \ or \\.

Am I missing something really easy?

On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:40:43 -0500, "AB" wrote:

History on my question: A couple of months ago, my workgroup name used for
many years (let's call it
ABC) stopped working. I could access my networked computers by using their
paths \\mylaptop\downloads but not their network name. I rebooted but it did
not help.

So I changed the workgroup name to ABC2 and it worked for 2 months up to
today at 4 PM, when workgroup names were last used to share some files.

Suddenly, again, I could use the paths but not the workgroup. I rebooted but
it did not help. I changed the workgroup on 4 of my computers to ABC3,
rebooted, and I see the networks again.
------------------------------------------
Today, in the middle of nothing special, it happened again and ABC3 doesn't
show up on my computer as a workgroup.

So I'm trying to learn how to use the path instead of the workgroup to
receive copied files. After I choose the files to copy, how do I paste if I
cannot navigate to the networked computer in Explorer? If I click "network"
on my Vista computer, it only sees the computer I am on. Similarly in XP.
Unfortunately my computer names are long and descriptive and a pain to enter
by hand.

I tried to create a folder with the path but it considered it an invalid
foldername since it contains symbols like \ or \\.

Am I missing something really easy?

Type one of these in the Start Run (XP or Vista) or
Start Start Search (Vista) box:

\\computer
\\computer\share

You can also create a desktop shortcut to a computer or share by
typing one of those as the location of the item.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Thanks - dragging files to the the desktop shortcut icon worked perfectly.
Thank you so much.

An unrelated question - some people, including you, reply at the bottom of a
message (and one has to cursor down to find the reply) . Many years ago I
learned to reply on top so the reply is immediately found and that is where
the cursor shows up when I hit "reply" in OE. Which is considered the most
polite standard these days?

"Steve Winograd" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:40:43 -0500, "AB" wrote:
(clip)
Suddenly, again, I could use the paths but not the workgroup. I rebooted
but
it did not help. I changed the workgroup on 4 of my computers to ABC3,
rebooted, and I see the networks again.

(clip)So I'm trying to learn how to use the path instead of the workgroup
to
receive copied files. After I choose the files to copy, how do I paste if
I
cannot navigate to the networked computer in Explorer? If I click
"network"
on my Vista computer, it only sees the computer I am on. Similarly in XP.
(clip)

You can also create a desktop shortcut to a computer or share by
typing one of those as the location of the item.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

In message "AB"
was claimed to have wrote:

An unrelated question - some people, including you, reply at the bottom of a
message (and one has to cursor down to find the reply) . Many years ago I
learned to reply on top so the reply is immediately found and that is where
the cursor shows up when I hit "reply" in OE. Which is considered the most
polite standard these days?

In email, it really depends, although in general replying on top is more
common.

On usenet outside of specific groups (microsoft.* being one such
example), inline posting is usually the best way to go.

For one to one communication it doesn't make a big difference, but when
you're talking about newgroups which are one-to-many, you have to
understand that you have readers who may be coming in mid-thread, so an
interspersed posting style allows the reader to know the context of your
text.

On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:16:32 -0500, "AB" wrote:

Suddenly, again, I could use the paths but not the workgroup. I rebooted
but
it did not help. I changed the workgroup on 4 of my computers to ABC3,
rebooted, and I see the networks again.

(clip)So I'm trying to learn how to use the path instead of the workgroup
to
receive copied files. After I choose the files to copy, how do I paste if
I
cannot navigate to the networked computer in Explorer? If I click
"network"
on my Vista computer, it only sees the computer I am on. Similarly in XP.
(clip)

You can also create a desktop shortcut to a computer or share by
typing one of those as the location of the item.

Thanks - dragging files to the the desktop shortcut icon worked perfectly.
Thank you so much.

An unrelated question - some people, including you, reply at the bottom of a
message (and one has to cursor down to find the reply) . Many years ago I
learned to reply on top so the reply is immediately found and that is where
the cursor shows up when I hit "reply" in OE. Which is considered the most
polite standard these days?

You're welcome.

I think that both types of reply are OK. There are people who think
that only one is OK and who state their position with religious
fervor. I don't get involved in religious disputes. :-)
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com