Networks Accessing Network Hard Drives that are not shared?

Is it possible to access a remote hard drive as though it were shared, even though it is not shared?

(Considering I have the admin password for each machine in question, and admin rights on the AD Domain controller, etc.)

Here's the situation:

1. User A moves to a new computer
2. User B takes over User A's old computer
3. User A realizes he/she needs old files from "My Documents"
4. Admin makes User B log out of User A's old computer
5. Admin logs in as admin on User A's old computer and moves files to network storage
6. Admin logs out, and let's User B log back into User A's old computer
7. Admin makes user A log out of his/her new computer
8. Admin logs in as admin on User A's new computer
9. Admin moves files from network storage to User A's "My Documents"
10. Admin logs out and lets User A log back in

Here's what I want to do:

1. User A moves to a new computer
2. User B takes over User A's old computer
3. User A realizes he/she needs old files from "My Documents"
4. Admin opens 2 windows, 1 with User A's old computer hard drive, and 1 with User A's new computer hard drive
5. Admin copies old "My Documents" to new "My Documents"

Ideas? (and no, we don't have enough network storage to keep the files on the network, and since people don't move around that much, it isn't worth sharing everyone's drives)

 

By default, each of the drive letters are shared as C$, D$ which are administrative shares.
You should be able to access the share using \\machinename\C$ as long as you have either network admin rights or admin rights on the remote machine.

 

Yep, what he said.

 

Thanks guys, I can't believe I didn't know that already, this will save me TONS of time!

 

Don't feel bad - I had no idea either. I knew you could view each machine's name and installed printers, etc. when you browsed the entire network, but that doesn't display the administrative shares.

Does anyone consider this a security risk? I've found instructions on disabling administrative shares using a Group Policy, but I'm not sure if it's worth it or if I might wreck something important by doing so.

Note: The link above is to Experts-Exchange.com. You need to log in to view the answer. Sorry, but it was the best explanation I found.

 

Experiment with roaming profiles, storage ain't that expensive nowadays and it'ill centralize user data for easier backups.
Admin shares can be removed, however some applications (like remote management) might require that still.

 

As long as your administrator accounts have strong passwords, then not really.