My Docs Online FAQ » Windows

Web Folder / WebDAV setup instructions

Richard — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:50:37 +0000

Setting up a Web Folder (or webfolder) in Windows varies by Windows Version. These articles describe the steps involved for each version of Widows. The Mac OS X WebDAV instructions are the same for all versions of OS X. iPad and Android instructions are for preferred WebDAV apps.

Windows 7

Windows Vista (also includes WIndows Server 2003)

Windows XP (also includes Windows Server 2000)

Mac OS X

iPad, iPhone, iOS

Android

Web Folders for Windows 7 loses last character of file extension

Richard — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:49:37 +0000

Windows 7 users uploading files using Web Folders may see the last character of the file name (part of the file extension usually) disappear if a percent sign (%) is part of the file name.

This is a Windows 7 problem.

Two current workarounds are available:

Avoid using percent signs in file names
After upload rename the file to include that last character

Use Web Folders / WebDAV to collaborate, edit, and manage your files in the internet “cloud”

Richard — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:26:39 +0000

Web Folders is the Microsoft term for an internet connectivity method called WebDAV, though you will see it called simply a “Network Location” in Vista and Windows 7, or a “Network Place” in Windows XP.

WebDAV stands for “Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning”. It allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers from Windows PCs and Macs. WebDAV is the term used in Mac OS X.

In the case of My Docs Online the “remote web server” is your My Docs Online account folders and files, which can also be accessed via our other interfaces (through our web site at www.mydocsonline.com, and via tools like our Transporter).

Why use Web Folders? Two main reasons:

First, it’s an easy way to store, retrieve, and share files “in the internet cloud” while seeing the remote files and folders on your PC pretty much as if they were on your PC’s harddrive.

Second, Office applications (notably Word and Excel) can use File Locking via Web Folders to make sure two people don’t edit the same document at the same time.

If you and a colleague, for instance, both try to open and edit the same spreadsheet at roughly the same time, the first one to open the file can do so, and the second one will get a warning that another user has the file open for update, and all the second user will be able to get is a “Read-Only” copy of the file (until the first user closes it).

What about security?

In the case of My Docs Online, access to an account via Web Folders is secured using a Login ID and password. Also, security-conscious users set up their web folder to automatically use SSL encryption.

How do I get started?

Choose your operating system from the list below for specific setup instructions:

When downloading the Desktop App, Windows asks what program created it

Richard — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 21:01:54 +0000

When you try to start the Desktop App (a Java application), and Windows doesn’t know how to handle the “JNLP” file, it is probably one of two things.

Either you don’t have Java installed, or a recent Java update caused the Java Web Start feature the Transporter relies on to stop working.

In either case the solution is a complete Java install/reinstall, which you can get from this link:

http://java.com/en/download/

Note if you use the Transporter you may get the same error. If so installing an updated version of Java should solve the problem.

Web Folder Network Definitions for two IDs

Richard — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 00:59:00 +0000

If you need to have two separate My Docs Online Login IDs / accounts connected via a Windows Web Folder Network Place you need to set up separate definitions using different URLs to avoid the problem of Windows “remembering” the first Login ID.

You can set up the second ID by pointing it to our other, functionally identical webfolders server.

Presumably you have set the first webfolders account up at https://webfolders.mydocsonline.com, if that is the case try setting up the second account at https://webfolders2.mydocsonline.com.

This will cause Windows to treat the second server as “new” so that it asks for an ID and password.

The resulting Network Place can be named anything you choose, so you can name each one to reflect the ID logged in via that Network Place.

File names change when I Save, spaces become underscores

Richard — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:51:56 +0000

Using the Web Browser interface with Internet Explorer 7, if you do a “right-Click…Save Target As” any spaces in the file name become underscores.

Why?

Web URLs are not allowed to have spaces, which are instead replaced by “escape characters” that most find unsightly and many find confusing. If the name of the file you uploaded contained spaces, My Docs Online must use escape characters when we display the link to it.

Beginning with IE7 Microsoft decided to “help” by automatically converting the escaped characters to underscores (“_”) when you save the file.

Options to avoid this problem include:

Use a different browser
Don’t use blanks in file names to start with
Use one of My Docs Online’s other tools to download, for instance:

Web Folders, MS Office File Save works for administrator but not for sub-account

Richard — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:50:28 +0000

There are two common reasons why an Excel or Word file can be opened “read-only” using Web Folders, but cannot be saved back to the My Docs Online Web Folder location.

Folders other than the Group “Root Folder”
If permissions for the sub-account are set to “View Only” the user will be able to open, but not update or save an Office file.

Files in the Group “Root Folder”
The “root folder” is by design always “view only” for all users except for the administrator ID.

The solution is to create a folder to hold the files instead, set the permissions as needed, and move the files.

In general files should not be in the Root Folder, only folders.

MDO file – what is it and what do I do with it?

Richard — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:10:49 +0000

The Download Assistant (Windows) uses a special file with the extension “.mdo” as part of the download process. the file association of .mdo with the Download Assistant is set when the program is installed. The Download Assistant must be installed before you can use the “Download” button in the web browser interface (log in at www.mydocsonline.com).

When using the Download option you must OPEN the mdo file – it contains a “list” of the files selected for download, and launches the Download Assistant, which then asks you where to put the files.

Steps to follow

Internet Explorer:

In the web browser, select file(s) by checking them off
Click “Download” then “Start Download”
Choose OPEN when you see this dialog:

If the icon and file type doesn’t match what is shown above, you need to Install the Download Assistant.

Firefox and Chrome:

In the web browser, select file(s) by checking them off
Click “Download” then “Start Download”
Save the file, then Open the file

Web Folders setup for Windows XP / Windows 2000

Richard — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:15:25 +0000

To avoid encountering setup errors, consider installing this Software Update for Web Folders at Microsoft.com, before proceeding with the setup steps.

If you use Internet Explorer you can use One-Step Setup.

Web Folder setup steps for Windows XP and Windows 2000

Double-click on the MY NETWORK PLACES icon on your Desktop or from your START button.

Click on ADD A NETWORK PLACE from the NETWORK TASKS menu on the left side of the window.

The ADD A NETWORK PLACE WIZARD will open. Click NEXT.

Select the CHOOSE ANOTHER NETWORK LOCATION option. Click NEXT.

In the INTERNET OR NETWORK ADDRESS field enter https://webfolders.mydocsonline.com and click NEXT.

Enter your User Name and Password when prompted.

Enter a Name to label the link, such as My Docs Online or Web Folders Click FINISH.

A Windows Explorer window will appear. You may then Click FINISH to OPEN your My Docs Online account or Click Cancel to exit.

A Shortcut has been created in your My NETWORK PLACES. Open MY NETWORK PLACES. Drag and drop the web folder icon to your desktop for future access.

Watch the video tutorial

What operating systems support Web Folders and WebDAV?

Stephen — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:37:54 +0000

Web Folders are supported on current versions of both Windows and Mac operating systems, except for 64-bit versions of Vista, which does not support Web Folders due to Microsoft issues.

How to tell if you have a 64-bit Vista System.

More information and details on how to configure WebDAV for various operating systems.