installed a pc card then lost network drive connection 1

[deebaglee]

Hi I installed a pc card adaptor that read memory cards on my XP laptop, when i turned up the laptop on today i get the message "error connecting to the F: drive the local device name is already in use, this network conection has not been restored
thanks

 

[bcastner]

You have a persistant map to a drive letter on F. When you added the card reader it assigned itself to letter F and now there is a conflict.

With the machine off, unplug the card reader. Start XP.

Start, run, CMD

Net use

(see what map is on Drive F)

net use f: /delete
net use g: replace the previous mapping info for F here /Persistant:yes

exit (to windows)

plug in the card reader.

Remember that whatever you referenced as F: is now G:

In the alternative, leave the device connected, and in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management, change the drive letter of the card reader from F to G. Reboot.

 

[NewToProgramming]

Not sure if this is it, but check to ensure that this PC card adapter's IRQ isn't conflicting with anything.

 

[deebaglee]

Hi thanks for the tips. The situation is that the pc card was just a temporary test. I will not be atttaching it again. I would like the f: drive to remain the same as before if possible please.
I did a net use cmd and the F: drive was mapped to \\server1\data but in the status column i got the message of unavailable

 

[bcastner]

This is a perfectly normal state of affairs with a persistant drive map that gets blocked with the addition of a new device on F:.

Either of the repair steps I outlined earlier will remedy the issue, but if you want to preserve F as the mapped drive use Disk Management to change the drive letter of the card reader.

 

[deebaglee]

Hi checked out disk management only drives that appear on are C & D no sign of the infamous F!

 

[bcastner]

Then remove the reservation for the drive letter by removing the reader in Device Manager.

 

[deebaglee]

you are a star! thanks job done, could i have edited the logon script as an alternative option?

 

[bcastner]

Yes, the logon script could be used but you need a program from the Win2k SDK called devcon.exe:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;311272

You need to find the instance ID of the device, and then the logon script would have the line:

devcon disable pci\'*instance ID[/i}
net use f: \\server1\data

 

[deebaglee]

hi
just a quick question
when i ran the net use command
i noticed that i had three remotes with out any drive letters listed
i belive one is down to the fact that the local system has drive |C,D and E taken up, therefore drive E: which is supposd to be used for one of the "letterless" remotes

 

[bcastner]

Look in Windows Explorer. It should show the drive mappings as well as the remote path.

 

[deebaglee]

hi how could i edit the login script to to say that
net use M: \\server1\apps (this drive is missing as it letter is being used by the local machine

 

[bcastner]

net use M: /delete
net use M: \\server1\apps

 

[deebaglee]

hi
what is the reason for inserting
net use M: /delete

 

[bcastner]

To eliminate any default persistant connections. Win2k and XP by default set the value of the /Persistant: flag to Yes.

This can create problems, particularly if Group Policy has not been changed for force the XP clients to wait at logon for the network to be ready.

By clearing any possible mapping, the subsequent map will succeed in any case as long as the sharename is valid.

For a longer discussion, see Bob Lin's site under the Troubleshooting, Mapping Issues section:

http://www.chicagotech.net/

 

[deebaglee]

bcastner thanks every so much!