How to open webfolders or WebDAV folder if you have IE 8 installed

With the release of IE 8 Microsoft remove the ability to open webfolders using open as webfolder. This was done to complete the separation of the web browser from the OS. This document will explain how to open webfolder if IE 8 is installed on your computer for both XP and Vista.

FOR XP:

In XP you will need to mount the webfolder using “My network Places”.

1. Open My Network Places by using one of three methods

a. Click “Start” , “My Network Places”

b. Double click on the “My Network Places” icon on the desktop.

c. Open “My computer” and type My Network Places into the address field or click “My Network Places” under other places on the My Computer window.  

2. You should see a list of webfolder that have been access in the past list. Look at the comments field and search for the address used to access the webfolder. If the webfolder you are trying to connect to is not on the list, add it by clicking on “Add a network place” to launch the Add network place Wizard and follow these steps

Click Next to continue

3. Make sure “Choose another network location…” is selected and click Next.


Enter the URL to the webfolder and click Next.

Enter your User name, in the format of science\username, and your password. If you don’t want it to ask you for a password in the future check the Remember my password box.

Enter a name to help you identify the webfolder and click Next.

If you want the webfolder to open on completion of the wizard make sure there is a check in the box next to “Open this network place when I click finish”. Click Finish to complete the creation of a new network place.

4. To open the webfolder, just double click on the one you want to open from the My Network Places list.

For Vista:

On Vista computer with IE 8 the webfolder need to be mounted as a network drive. To mount the webfolder follow these steps:

1. Open “Computer” by double clicking on the “Computer” icon on your desktop or by selecting Computer from the start menu.
2. Click on “Map network drive” to launch the Map Network Drive wizard.
   
3. Select the drive letter to where you want to mount the webfolder and enter the URL of the webfolder.
   
4. If you want to keep the webfolder mounted check the reconnect at logon. If you are using a laptop that isn’t always connected to the network don’t check the reconnect at logon otherwise you may get error messages stating the computer couldn’t mount the drive when you logon.
5. Click the connect using a different user name link and enter the username you use to connect to the webfolder (using the format of science\username) and your password into the Connect As window.
   
6. Click Finish to complete

To access the webfolder in the future, open the computer icon and you should see it listed under network locations. If it’s not listed after rebooting the computer the reconnect at logon box wasn’t checked when the webfolder was mapped and you will have to remap the webfolder again.