Web Access to Your Network Shares

The easiest option across a number of devices is to go to webfiles.fortlewis.edu or you can go to thefort.fortlewis.edu and open the task called "My Files".

You can also directly connect/map your shares with the help of the FLC VPN connection by following the appropriate instructions below.

Access Network Drives from Home in Windows 10 

With Windows 10, you can directly map your networked drives once you have connected to the FLC VPN (remember that the VPN places your computer into the FLC network environment).  Follow the steps in the VPN Setup Guide. 

  1. Connect to the FLC VPN (Instructions Link is above).
  2. Wait about a minute and then open your File Explorer (File Explorer is the Manila folder Icon in your taskbar) to see if the drives are visible and accessible.  They should show up under “This PC” on the left half of the screen.
  3. If the network drives do not become visible, you can map the network drives as described here: Open File Explorer and find the tab for "This PC" on the left side menu. Right-click it and choose "Map Network Drive."  You should see this menu:
    Image of Map Network Drive dialog box in Windows 10
  4. Make sure that the box for “Reconnect at Sign In” is selected.
  5. Assign a drive letter (If you do not know which you should use, just pick any), then type in: \\fortlewis.edu\shares into the folder path (do not push enter or return yet).  Click the Browse button.
  6. Browse to the "shares" folder and find your folder, click it and then select “OK”.
  7. Click Finish.

The folder should now be mapped, and it will open for you.

Please Note that when you are done working with your network drives, you should be sure to disconnect the VPN.

Mapping Network Drives with Mac OS

With MAC OS, you can directly map your networked drives once you have connected to the FLC VPN (remember that the VPN places your computer into the FLC network environment). Follow the steps in the VPN Setup Guide.

  1. Connect to the VPN as described above.
  2. Open Finder and on the Finder menu select Go -> Connect to Server
  3. Enter smb://fortlewis.edu/shares in the "Server Address" field.
  4. Click the "Connect" button
  5. If prompted for a username and password type in your Fort Lewis credentials. Username needs to be fully qualified by being in one of the following formats: "username@fortlewis.edu" or "fortlewis\username".
  6. Alternatively, you can also login to The Fort website and find and Run the app called: My Files, which will also give you access to your network drives

Please Note that when you are done working with your network drives, you should be sure to disconnect the VPN.

If you have any problems or don't see instructions for your operating system please contact our Help Desk by email: askIT@fortlewis.edu or by phone: 970-247-7444.