Red X on mapped drives. Cant seem to fix issue. 1

[butchrecon]

I have a user who has 6 mapped drives. 2 of them ALWAYS have a red x on them as if they were disconnected. We can click on the drive and it comes up fine and can access all files on the network drive. However that annoying red x stays. Normally this is not an issue. However when the user opens up outlook and attempts to place old messages into his personal folders, which are on the mapped drive in question, he cannot unless he FIRST opens the mapped drive. Then he has access to the personal folders all day. I have disable auto connect on the PC. No power management is on for the NIC. He has SP4 installed. No one else is having the issue. Any suggestions?

James Collins
Help Desk Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[bilebalar]

try reading this article

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=297684

 

[butchrecon]

Thanks, but I tried that one already. Did not work. I apreciate the help though. Any more Ideas?

James Collins
Help Desk Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[John Lewis]

You did make the change on the computer acting as the server, right? Also note that the server service needs to restart in order for the registry change to be effective.

Beyond that, a marginal network cable (or hub, card, etc) could cause the behaviour.

 

[chronos1]

Hi there - in Win2k there's sometimes a powersave function for network cards.

If you right click My Network Places, Properties, double click Local Area Connection, Properties, Configure NIC and Power Management tab - uncheck the option to "Allow Computer To Turn Off Device to Save Power".

Try this and see whether it resolves your issue.

 

[butchrecon]

Power saver on the NIC did not work. That was the first thing I tried.

MHKWOOD,

I am a bit intrigued by your response about network cable, card, hub, etc..
The user has 6 mapped drives, no other network issues. Just the red X on the first two mapped drives. Do you think hardware could cause this?

James Collins
Help Desk Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[Teamaker]

Are the 2 drives connected to a NT4 server?
We had a similar problem at my last place and drives mapped to the 2K servers were fine but ones mapped to NT4 servers showed a red X.

I left before getting to the bottom of it i'm afraid so no solution here, but it might give you something to go on.

!!A good cup of Tetley keeps the madness at bay!!

 

[tsuji]

How about this link?

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;138365

 

[butchrecon]

Thansk for the help TSUJI. Unfortunatly I have tried that already. Did not help. This is the type of issue that can just get under your skin and cause sleepless nights.

James Collins
Help Desk Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[butchrecon]

Some more info on the issue. One of the mapped drives points to a share on a WIndows 2000 Server while the other mapped drive points to a share on a HP-UNIX Samba Server.

James Collins
Help Desk Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[bcastner]

If the mapped share requires credentials that are diffrent than the user credentials presented during logon authentication the red-x is the default behavior. Even though the user has cached credentials for the map, alternate credentials are not presented at logon.

 

[butchrecon]

Should that in theory ask the user for the proper credentials? The user can get to the mapped drives fine. They just constantly have the red x on them. I have also tested with other users on the same box. Same issue. Anyone who logs into the machine has the same problem, so it has to be something specific to the PC.

James Collins
Help Desk Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[bcastner]

The workaround is to take your problematic maps and initialize them as non-persistant in the logon script using the Net use x: \\share_server_sharename /peristant:No

Example:

rem Clear the entries in case a prioruser has them marked rem persistant maps

net use s: /delete
net use t: /delete

rem Rebuild the drive mappings

net use s: \\serverX\shareY /Persistant:No
net use t: \\serverY\shareZ /Persistant:No

 

[butchrecon]

I have nearly tried everything I can find on this. This issue only happens on this PC. NO matter what user logs on. Admins as well. Go to the PC next to it and the mapped drives are fine. This is why I think it is specific to this PC. It has to be something in the registry or a network card setting. But everything appears fine.

James Collins
Help Desk Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[teddysherri]

I suggest that you re-create the mapped drives as we have some clients that have this problem but we have not found away around this. But we have also found that re-booting the server restores the drives,but be carefull because if you log in with cache credentials before the server comes back up the drives will continue to have a red croos throught them.

 

[butchrecon]

We have done that. It is only happening to one PC. This is the strangest thing. No matter who logs in the mapping issue is there. They are accessible if clicked on. Only two drives have the issue (out of 6). However, while you are in them and after you get out the red X stays. Go to another PC and there is no issue with mapped drives. Could this be an issue witht the RPC or netbios in the registry?

James Collins
Systems Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[twohawks]

Solution I found...
This is either a bug in XP, or a feature... you decide....
I have had this problem...
What I suggest doing is:
1) Go to the Start Menu and the Run box.
2) Type in the following:
control userpasswords2
now click OK.
You are now in the "other" user accounts" administration screen, and you can change the properties to what you need accordingly.

The problem is is the user was originally setup as "this user" and then is later changed to "that user", it seems "this user" stays persistent until you change it here, thus keeping you from automagically logging in to a Win2k server, or automagically attaching to mapped drives.

Hope this helps ;^)
twohawks

 

[butchrecon]

Will the user have to give credentials when they log in to get to the Smaba mapped drive and the Windows mapped drive?

James Collins
Systems Analyst
A+, MCP, MCSA, Network+

 

[DancingGeek]

James -

Are you still seeing this issue or is it resolved? I am having a similar issue, except that the user is also being prompted for the drive mapping (to enter a password). We have wondered if it is because of a migration from NT domain to Active Directory and an old profile still associated with the NT domain attempting to access it.

~sheri