Adding folders to the Path option, I believe, changes LabVIEW's search pattern when you (for example) put down a Function on your Block Diagram that is not explicitly listed in your Project. Most of the time, these are functions that you get from the Block Diagram Palettes, but sometimes (for example, if you just open a Top Level VI directly from disk) they will be sub-VIs that just are not currently in memory. LabVIEW "goes looking" for them, assuming they are in VI.lib, User.lib, or Instr.lib, which have defined locations wherever LabVIEW has been installed (e.g. C:\Program Files x86\National Instruments).
If you want to change the directory that the palette uses, that's a bit more complex. A lot of thought and effort has gone into designing the Palettes to use vi.lib, user.lib, etc. in their default locations.
Are you trying to separate your custom palette material from the default NI functions, or are you hoping to have your Network Drive be used for all of your LabVIEW development? If the latter is the case, the easiest way to do this, probably, is to simply install LabVIEW on the Network Drive in its own folder (I think you can specify, at installation time, the folder LabVIEW uses for itself). This, of course, goes against all of the careful thought that went into designing Windows, including having additional file protection for Program Files. Maybe you should consider "going with the flow" -- if User.lib is good enough for the folks who contribute to the LabVIEW Tools Network, might it be good enough for you?
Bob Schor
