how do you hook up a hard drive so that all computers on a network can use it?

Question

I want to be able to set up the drive without having it hooked up to a computer. In other words just some how attach it to the network directally.

Answer 1

If you want to hook the drive up independently to a router, you can purchase an external hard drive enclosure that will allow you to do that ( prices I have seen range from 29.99 to over 100.00) depending on what you get. There really aren't many choices if you are hooking up Via eithernet, but that would be easiest in most cases as most routers don't have usb ports. Check these site out and do a site search for external hard drive enclosures. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Simply connect the hard drive to a PC on the network like you would any other.
In Windows Explorer, right click on the corresponding drive, choose Sharing and Security. Choose to share the drive, and enable network users to change files.
On the other PC's, locate the shared drive in Network Neighborhood, right click on the drive, and choose Map Network Drive.
Now the drive will register on the PC as a Network Drive, and users can use it exactly like a local drive.

Answer 3

it has nothing to do with hooking it up, it has to do with the settings on the computer the drive is hooked to.

If the computer is connected to the netowrk, you merely have to set that drive as being SHARED.

Very likely you can right click on the drive and see a SHARING entry on the menu, click it and you should get a dialog box where you can set if you want the drive shared, if you want it password protected, even if you want to set only part of the drive (certain folders) or only certain users, to be able to access it.

Answer 4

You can't.