How do I get windows 7 to Index a network mapped drive?

Question

I would like to change the location of my lobraries in Win 7 to a network drive but every time I change the location, it says it cannot be used because it's not indexed, so how do I get a network drive to be indexed or if there is a way around it I'd accept that too.

Answer 1

here's a solution... that indexes the contents of a folder on another networked computer - WITHOUT MAPPING THE NETWORK...
I don't like to spend a lot of time screwing around with the "mindboggling" os conflict stuff of Microsoft with Windows 7, Vista, xp-pro, etc.
THIS WORKS FOR ME... but since I'm just an "average user," I can't always explain the "intuitive" computer solutions to problems that I come up with in a sequential "step like" manner...
This SOLUTION may be useful in resolving other networking conflict issues when you are using various hardware and software.
The TWO computers I'm using for this example:  a gaming Windows 7 x64 laptop, and an XP-Pro desktop.  (I also have a Vista laptop, and another desktop with XP-home... but I don't use those that often - so I don't really care if this "solution"
works on those, etc.)
Anyway, I'll tell you the steps I did, though, I don't really understand "how all this works" - it just does.
Some points first, before I give you a "step by step..."
1.  I can always access ALL NETWORK LOCATIONS AND FILES from my "Windows 7 x64" laptop.
2.  I often can't access all network locations, etc. from my XP-Pro desktop... sometimes I can, but I don't know what I have done to cause this... and it's not to important to me... as long as MY MAIN LAPTOP can access everything on the network all
the time. (This probably has something to do with WIN 7 being "backwardly compatible" with previous hardware/software like XP but NOT THE REVERSE, etc.  So, whenever I'm doing something "involving my network" ... I try to work "top-down" from the superior
WIN 7 system, etc.
OK... here's what I did... "experts" can figure out "if this is useful to you" and whether it has "other potential uses, etc."
here's a rough sketch of the "problem I was having" and the solution.
I often jump between two computers on my network... the win7 laptop and the xp pro desktop... and I wanted to have a "notepad file" that I use as a daily "do list," and I wanted to have it's contents change and be in sync, no matter which computer I had
updated the notepad file on.  Now, I know THAT CAPABILITY is simply a matter of having it shared on the network.  Now I originally created the notepad file on the xp desktop.  Then, I went upstairs and found the shared folder I had put it in
from the desktop... and, of course, I could "change the contents of the file in sync" between the two computers... 
Now, the problem came in when (from my laptop I could NOT INDEX the "shared folder on my desktop.")  I tried MAPPING the network drive, and IT WOULDN'T do it...(some kind of issue between win7 and xp, etc.)
ANOTHER COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH occurred to me... AND THAT WORKED...so here's what was involved... and it INDEXED THE "SHARED FOLDER ON THE DESKTOP COMPUTER" without "mapping the network."  ...why this works... YA GOT ME... BUT IT DOES!
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:  (all below is for WIN 7 X64 networked with older systems like XP... this method may work in other cases, too)
1.  I created a "notepad" file on my xp desktop.  (called the file "bingo.txt")
2.  Created a "folder" and named it "bingo" also.  (made this a "shared folder" and put the "bingo.txt" file in it)
3.  Did a "network locations" search for this folder and put it in with the other shared folders/files in the "desktop network" location.
4.  Went upstairs to my "win7 laptop" 
a.  pressed the Start button and entered "favorites" (without the quotation marks) into the little "search" rectangle that appeared just above the Start button.  The "Favorites" folder appeared at the top of the list.  I clicked on it and
the Favorites folder opened... then I "right clicked" on the "Recent Places" folder and created a "shortcut" on my desktop.
b.  Now, whenever I click on any folder or file including the "shortcut to bingo.txt (which is on my win7 laptop for quick access)...well, the NETWORKED FOLDER:  "bingo" suddenly shows up in "Recent Places" as a shortcut.  THESE SHORTCUTS
CAN BE DELETED since that's all they are ... JUST BE SURE you are still in the RECENT PLACES FOLDER.  For example:  I clicked on a "shared network folder" and almost deleted it by accident... NOT REALIZING THAT I WAS NO LONGER IN THE "Recent Places"
folder...so, make sure before you delete.  It's of course OK to "select all" and delete all the shortcuts that accumulate over time in the "Recent Places" folder, etc.  Also I set the "sort" on the Recent Places folder to date/time, so that the "most
recent" place I have been "is always at the top of the list.
c.  So, far - and this is interesting - ONLY FOLDERS SHOW UP in the locations you visit then look for in the "Recent Places" folder.  So, for example, when I click on the shortcut (on my win7 laptop) for "bingo.txt"... and then later check the
Recent Places folder... well, only the "shared network folder BINGO appears there!"  (not the bingo.txt file that's in it... I didn't click on the actual folder, just the bingo.txt shortcut, but what appears in the Recent Places folder IS ONLY THE NETWORK
FOLDER)  
d.  Now, the mystery: (my win7 computer was "indexing" in the background all this time) WHEN I DID A SEARCH FOR "bingo" ...the "bingo.txt" file was at the top of the list... I "right clicked" on it to check the properties (thinking the index has just
located the shortcut on my desktop maybe)...BUT THE PROPERTIES ...showed the "networked location" on my desktop downstairs.
e.  IN CONCLUSION:  I now have the capability to INDEX folders/files ON OTHER NETWORKED COMPUTERS from my "win7 x64 laptop" WITHOUT HAVING TO MAP THE NETWORK DRIVE!!!  (maybe because the index catches the "bingo folder" being CURRENTLY ACCESSED
INDIVIDUALLY when I pull up the "Bingo.txt" by clicking it's shortcut on my laptop....
you guys can play around with this... DON'T KNOW WHY the "index" didn't show "bingo.txt" (residing on my desktop downstairs) until I placed a "shortcut" to the "Recent Places" folder on my laptop desktop screen... might have something to do with the "complex
index parameters" of Win 7, etc... but I don't have the time to try an trace it down, or test it, etc.  
... The win 7 indexing system MAY INDEX ANY SHARED FOLDER from another networked computer WHEN IT'S BEING ACCESSED LIVE on the win 7 computer... is probably what's happening... so I didn't have to "map the network drive" but I did have to "BE ACCESSING A
FOLDER from another computer" for it to INDEX THAT FOLDER... now I don't, for example, know whether the INDEX system of my win7 laptop (running in the background) might not index a folder IF IT WAS DOING SOMETHING ELSE IN A BRIEF TIME that I was accessing
the folder from the other computer.
Win 7 index, from my experience, does seem to give some preference to INDEXING files you have recently or are currently accessing... if that helps.
anyway,
hope this helps some
flashrob (my website:  dimestop.com if you're interested... probably put some of my fixes there, more permanently, etc.)