Erase & Restore Map Network Drive Option in Windows XP/Vista

Mapping a computer onto another one eases the network or file sharing between the two devices. This process is made easier to increase accessibility to the users by introducing  a “Map Network Drive” option in Windows. The process of mapping two devices involves wireless or wired connectivity between the two devices such that they recognize and map onto one another, enabling the user to transfer files or to share a common network in between the two devices.

[Related: How to Map A Network Drive From Windows XP To Windows 7.]

Why remove the Map Network Drive option :

Though this process of mapping two devices eases the connectivity of two or more computers, it may be so that a user does not require this feature. Not being a part of a homegroup or not requiring to share any network, a user sees the “Map Network Drive” option as a useless extra feature in Windows that is as good as not present. Hence, he may want to remove this option from where it belongs .

The “Map Network Drive” option appears when a user right clicks on “Computer”. Clicking this starts the connecting process between two or more computers (the same process has to be run on all computers needed to be connected).

Removing and Restoring the Map Network Drive Option :

The “Map Network Drive” option in Windows can be removed by either editing the Windows Registry or by importing a registry file to be incorporated into the registry.

Editing the Windows Registry :

Editing the Windows Registry is a process to remove the “Map Network Drive” option in Windows. Since editing the registry is a process that involves even a small amount of risk, we recommend that you keep a backup of your current registry settings. Learn How to create a backup of your Windows Registry.

Now follow the steps below :

1. Click “Start” and then select “Run” or simply press “Windows Key + R” to open the run box.

2. The run box appears. Type in “regedit” and press ENTER. Confirm any User Control Account messages appearing to continue.

3. The Windows Registry Editor opens up. Navigate to the location

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

4. On the right-hand-side of the Registry Editor box, right click on any blank space and create a new 32-bit DWORD value. Name it “NoNetConnectDisconnect”.

5. Right-click on the registry file just created and select to “Modify”.

6. Specify the DWORD value of the newly created registry value as 1.

7. Close the Registry Editor and reboot your system.

When the system reboots, it can be seen that the “Map Network Drive” option is removed. Right clicking on the “computer” icon shows no such option, unlike it used to do previously.

Restoring the “Map Network Drive” option can be done by simply changing the DWORD value of the created file from 1 to 0. It can also be done by deleting the file created.

Importing a Third Party Registry Hack :

The “Map Network Drive” option can be removed by simply incorporating a “.reg” file into the Windows Registry. This file named “RemoveMapNetworkDrive.reg” when added to the registry, acts as a registry hack which removes the option from your system. To use this hack, proceed in the steps mentioned below :

1. Download the file “RemoveMapNetworkDrive.reg” onto your system.

2. The file downloaded is a “*.zip” file. Extract it to retrieve the original “*.reg” files “RemoveMapNetworkDrive.reg” and “RestoreMapNetworkDrive.reg”.

3. Double click on the extracted file “RemoveMapNetworkDrive.reg” to incorporate it into the Windows registry. Confirm any messages appearing to complete the task.

4. After the file has been added to the registry, reboot your system.

On restarting the computer, we see that the “Map Network Drive” option has been removed when the “Computer” icon is right-clicked upon.

If you wish to restore the “Map Network Drive” option, just double click on the extracted file “RestoreMapNetworkDrive.reg” to add it to the registry. Confirm any appearing messages and reboot your system. The option is restored after the system restarts.

[Tip : How to Map a Network Drive from Windows XP to Windows 7.]