Does anyone know of an app that will trick XP into thinking that a
network drive is actually a local physical drive?  I have several apps
that won't connect to a network drive.  I've seen this done on a
Netgear Storage Center.

Have you tried the "subst" command?  It allows you to create a virtual
drive that's mapped to another drive.  Since it's a really old DOS
command that's still supported on XP, it may work to trick your
application into working.

1. Map a drive to the network share (like the "F" drive)
2. Open a command prompt window by clicking Start, choosing Run, and
entering "CMD".
3. Enter "subst G: F:\"

You should now have a local drive "G" that's mapped to the Root of the
F:\ drive (which should be mapped to your network share).

This might work!

Nope - that just adds another network drive mapping.