Windows 7 Mapped Network Drive Problems

Hi,

Okay, again frustrated with the ongoing Windows 7 but i'm trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Anyway, I am curious to know if anyone else has had problems with Windows 7 and mapped network drives. If I create a mapped network drive from the Explorer > Tools Menu > Map Network Drive and tell it to reconnect after reboot. It fails to reconnect the mapped network drive as the drive remains in a disconnected state after the reboot.

However, if i delete the mapped network drives that were created through the Explorer and use the old school DOS method with net use B: \\backup\share /persistent:yes the mapped network drive reconnects every time after reboot. Like what the hell Microsoft?

Changing the: net config server /autodisconnect:-1 does not correct the problem with the mapped network drives created within windows explorer.

permissions issue to the resource? They in the same workgroup or whatever? What version of Win 7?

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't think it is a permission issue as the mapped drive created through Explorer works just fine until the system is restarted. Then it has to be manually opened before it will show a connected state. If it was a permission issue, I believe an error would be returned like access denied or you do not have permission to use this resource. oh this applies to all versions of Windows 7. It probably will be fixed in a service pack. Just an annoyance for now I guess to make windows start faster maybe. Perhaps it might be a default local machine system policy that doesn't allow Mapped Network drives to connect after logon. I'm not about to review the local machine polices unless i have a specific location to check otherwise it would take too long to find.

I may have found a solution.

I will try this out and get back to you if it works. Here's the link for those interested.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937624

Just an update... That registry key work around doesn't work for reconnecting mapped network drives after a reboot. Still waiting for another solution besides placing a shortcut of the mapped network drives in the start up folder for all users.

I'm curious, does anyone know if the new SP1 resolves this? I don't know enough on SP1 to suggest it but it may be worth looking into.

Hi Niclo Iste,

That suggestion also has crossed my mind. However, I haven't tried installing the SP1 update yet. I tried this same situation with my PC I have at home running Win 7 32Bit Ultimate with the same network device (DNS-323) mapping a drive letter and I don't have this problem at home. I can reboot and the mapped drive always is connected. So the current PC's in question are running Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit. I attempted to try setting up a virtual machine of Windows 7 Pro on my PC at work running XP SP3 with Microsoft Virtual PC version 6.0.156.0 but it turns out that Windows 7 doesn't appear to install properly with this virtual machine for me to test. Anyway back to the drawing board. When I install SP1 on these PC's I will see if the drive mapping works properly and I will post my results back here again when I have more information. Thanks for all your help with this problem I know i'm not alone as i've found many forms with people having similar problems.

Alright, so I had some time Friday to waste on this problem with the mapped network drives. I know exactly what is happening. First off let me say I was wrong with assuming these were Windows 7 Professional PC's. To my surprise they are Windows Home Premium. Anyway, nothing I can do about that now.

In any case the problem with this mapped network drive is this: The computer's boot to the desktop so damn fast that the network service hasn't had a chance to establish network communication so when the user logon process has finished it has already attempted to map the network drives causing them to be in a disconnected state because the network service isn't running. I have installed SP1 on one of the PC's and while at first I thought the problem was resolved it wasn't. Service Pack 1 doesn't correct this timing issue with the mapped network drives and network service on startup.

Either I need to create a start-up logon delay, or tell the network service to somehow start faster or sooner then it does. As a work around I have placed a shortcut to every mapped network drive in the users startup folder. The only problem with this is that they have to close 3 or 4 windows at startup. Or as many windows as network drives as having the network drives establish connection in the users startup folder creates enough of a delay for the network to actually be ready to use and the mapping correctly works after that.

You'd think Microsoft would know that there is no point mapping network drives if the network isn't infact running yet. Hopefully this bug is resolved at some point.

What is really interesting about this situation: On my home system Running Windows 7 32bit Ultimate. If I have a mapped network drive and it is unable to connect to the share because the network resource is offline my system takes 30 seconds longer to load the desktop while it attempts to make this connection. If the connection is available my PC loads to desktop immediately. Which to me should be the default behavior. I have a feeling that this problem is specific to the Windows 7 Home Version and I'm not too sure what is needed to resolve this.

maybe make a logon script that runs to map the drives after the pc has booted? I also found http://social.technet.microsoft.com/...a-b37ee5dc347a have to read down several to see what others are doing to address it. Perhaps one will work for you. :D

Try Local Group Policy ( gpedit.msc) and Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - System-Logon - enable "always wait for the network at computer startup and logon.
It may help

Hi gemineye,

I thought of trying that suggestion, however gpedit.msc doesn't exist in Home Premium. Just in Pro and Ultimate editions.

nunob you are amazing. I searched high and low and I couldn't come up with that link to that mapdrives program that some guy made to fix this type of problem. I believe that program will definitely address my needs. Thank you so much!

I hope it works I will be excited to see if it resolves the issue. :D

hi all,
am sure i am missing something here. i have a windows 7 machine, and i have mapped some drives on my server, problem is is even tough i can see the mapped drives, i cannot seem to connect to them from another program (Loan Performer). i can see and view files from my computer and all, but do not have the option to select the drive in the package..
anyone please help..
??

Welcome to Windrivers Victorh

I'm sorry no one noticed your new post tacked on to an old thread.

I would appreciate it if you would reply and let us know which Windows 7 version you are using and if the mapped drives are made on your Windows 7 machine to look at folders on your server, or if you are mapping drives from the server to look at the Windows 7 machine.

Is loan performer on the server or on the windows 7 machine? Do the mapped drives have letters or do they just show up in the network area?

Hi victorh,

Not all software supports the use of mapped network drives. Since it is not an actual physical drive it doesn't display because it is just a virtual drive letter pointer to mapped to a network path. Your software program may not support the use of mapped network drives. You may want to contact the software vendor to see if they support mapped drives. I've used a few pieces of software in the past which don't display mapped network drives within the software and as a work around I had to resort to using a UNC path instead. (\\server\sharename\file)