Strange Drive mapping problem

celticfan11 · October 29th, 2007

Users have an H drive. Which is their home folder setup in the users profile in AD, under the "Home Folder" section. The path set to their home folder is \\servername\2008\%username%

99% of the time it works. SOMETIMES users will login and they will get a mapping of \\servername\homes. Instead of \\servername\2008\%username%

The directory on the server is e:\homes\students\class of 2008
with class of 2008 shared out with the share name of 2008

Permissions are not the issue. This is not specific to any one user, or any one computer. From what i can tell it is completely random. It also does it with login scripts. It will create the wrong drive mapping.

Any thoughts?

celticfan11 · October 30th, 2007

On a side note , i have narrowed this down to 1 model of PCs. All of which were imaged from the same image. Which would make sence. Rebuilding and reimaging is not a possibility right now. I cant imagine what it would be on those PCs, any ideas?

profquatermass · October 30th, 2007

This drive letter is set on your Windows server in the Users account properties.
Assuming you're using Windows 2003 R2 SP2 of course.
Look in the Profile setting the user should have a drive letter set.
If not set one.
Remove any such drive letter in any logon script.

celticfan11 · October 30th, 2007

Originally Posted by profquatermass

This drive letter is set on your Windows server in the Users account properties.
Assuming you're using Windows 2003 R2 SP2 of course.
Look in the Profile setting the user should have a drive letter set.
If not set one.
Remove any such drive letter in any logon script.

no no, all users are setup correctly with an H drive in the profile setting. The login script is a long VB script that maps drive letters depending on if your in a security group or not. That VB script does not map any drives to the H drive. The H drive being the home drive.

profquatermass · October 30th, 2007

It's not a drive map problem it's a share problem.
You're getting H: set to the wrong share not the wrong drive letter. Duh..my mistake.

Don't set your share path to a UNC path. Use a local path.

Change in user profile \\servername\2008\%username% to
e:\homes\students\class of 2008\%username%
for example.
I bet that works.

celticfan11 · October 31st, 2007

Originally Posted by profquatermass

It's not a drive map problem it's a share problem.
You're getting H: set to the wrong share not the wrong drive letter. Duh..my mistake.

Don't set your share path to a UNC path. Use a local path.

Change in user profile \\servername\2008\%username% to
e:\homes\students\class of 2008\%username%
for example.
I bet that works.

Will give that a shot.

Thanks

celticfan11 · October 31st, 2007

Oh i cant do that, the AD server is not on the server as the Home drives.

Also note that all 1500 users in this school system work perfectly except for this class room.

profquatermass · November 2nd, 2007

Originally Posted by celticfan11

Oh i cant do that, the AD server is not on the server as the Home drives.

Also note that all 1500 users in this school system work perfectly except for this class room.

So the question to ask is why would it default to \\servername\homes. when its defined as a completely different path. It must be getting it from somewhere?

Windows does remap shortcuts of UNC paths to another UNC path if it can't find the original. Perhaps it's doing this due to a DNS or network problem in a branch of your network?

You can switch this option off in the Registry.
Just takes one duff shortcut anywhere that's visible with Explorer and then it'll cached the new path and throw away the original. Damn annoying.

celticfan11 · November 4th, 2007

Originally Posted by profquatermass

So the question to ask is why would it default to \\servername\homes. when its defined as a completely different path. It must be getting it from somewhere?

Windows does remap shortcuts of UNC paths to another UNC path if it can't find the original. Perhaps it's doing this due to a DNS or network problem in a branch of your network?

You can switch this option off in the Registry.
Just takes one duff shortcut anywhere that's visible with Explorer and then it'll cached the new path and throw away the original. Damn annoying.

Well id say no on the network because that particular room spans 2 diff switches. Which uplinks to a another closet via fiber, and no other rooms from that original closet have problems. So id say thats prob not it. However that second thing you were talking abotu with the registry, could you explain that further?

**Electronic Punk** · November 4th, 2007

What happens, on an affected machine, if you

- Try to browse to the correct folder manually or map the drive manually
- Go to the command prompt and type 'echo %username%' ?

Is anything appearing in the application or system logs for these machines?

profquatermass · November 4th, 2007

Originally Posted by celticfan11

Well id say no on the network because that particular room spans 2 diff switches. Which uplinks to a another closet via fiber, and no other rooms from that original closet have problems. So id say thats prob not it. However that second thing you were talking abotu with the registry, could you explain that further?

What more do I need to say?
It's a common enough problem.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:1

Look it up.

celticfan11 · November 5th, 2007

Originally Posted by Electronic Punk

What happens, on an affected machine, if you

- Try to browse to the correct folder manually or map the drive manually
- Go to the command prompt and type 'echo %username%' ?

Is anything appearing in the application or system logs for these machines?

nothing shows up in the event logs on the servers or local PCs
the users dont have access to the command prompt
nor can they map a network drive. However they CAN goto their personal folder from the driving mapping of \\storage\homes.

celticfan11 · November 9th, 2007

Originally Posted by profquatermass

What more do I need to say?
It's a common enough problem.

Look it up.

This did not work however i found a solution that sounds promising:

In GP Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon\ Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon (the description reads)

Details on this GPO:
Determines whether Windows XP waits for the network during computer startup and user logon. By default, Windows XP does not wait for the network to be fully initialized at startup and logon. Existing users are logged on using cached credentials, which results in shorter logon times. Group Policy is applied in the background once the network becomes available.

Note that because this is a background refresh, extensions such as Software Installation and Folder Redirection take two logons to apply changes. To be able to operate safely, these extensions require that no users be logged on. Therefore, they must be processed in the foreground before users are actively using the computer. In addition, changes that are made to the user object, such as adding a roaming profile path, home directory, or user object logon script, may take up to two logons to be detected.

If a user with a roaming profile, home directory, or user object logon script logs on to a computer, Windows XP always waits for the network to be initialized before logging the user on.

If a user has never logged on to this computer before, Windows XP always waits for the network to be initialized.

If you enable this setting, logons are performed in the same way as for Windows 2000 clients, in that Windows XP waits for the network to be fully initialized before users are logged on. Group Policy is applied in the foreground, synchronously.

If you disable or do not configure this setting, Windows does not wait for the network to be fully initialized and users are logged on with cached credentials. Group Policy is applied asynchronously in the background.

Note: If you want to guarantee the application of Folder Redirection, Software Installation, or roaming user profile settings in just one logon, enable this setting to ensure that Windows waits for the network to be available before applying policy.

celticfan11 · November 9th, 2007

I will post with the results in a week or so. Or sooner if the problem continues.

profquatermass · November 10th, 2007

Originally Posted by celticfan11

This did not work however i found a solution that sounds promising:

In GP Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon\ Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon (the description reads)

I use roaming profiles and I've always got that particular option on.
Doesn't make sense not to with RP.

Do you also make the users logon script run in the background?

celticfan11 · November 11th, 2007

Originally Posted by profquatermass

I use roaming profiles and I've always got that particular option on.
Doesn't make sense not to with RP.

Do you also make the users logon script run in the background?

Ya i never had to use this GP before so i forgot about it. There is only 1 VB script that runs for users and that does run in the background. When we took over this school system there was practically no GPOs enforced and the servers were fallin apart. The joys of fixing things and making them right

celticfan11 · November 22nd, 2007

so far so good

October 29th, 2007	Top \| #1
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Strange Drive mapping problem Users have an H drive. Which is their home folder setup in the users profile in AD, under the "Home Folder" section. The path set to their home folder is \\servername\2008\%username% 99% of the time it works. SOMETIMES users will login and they will get a mapping of \\servername\homes. Instead of \\servername\2008\%username% The directory on the server is e:\homes\students\class of 2008 with class of 2008 shared out with the share name of 2008 Permissions are not the issue. This is not specific to any one user, or any one computer. From what i can tell it is completely random. It also does it with login scripts. It will create the wrong drive mapping. Any thoughts? CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

October 30th, 2007	Top \| #2
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem On a side note , i have narrowed this down to 1 model of PCs. All of which were imaged from the same image. Which would make sence. Rebuilding and reimaging is not a possibility right now. I cant imagine what it would be on those PCs, any ideas? CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

October 30th, 2007	Top \| #3
profquatermass OSNN Junior Addict Joined: January 2006 Location: Livingston, Scotland Posts: 36 Reputation: 10 Power: 75	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem This drive letter is set on your Windows server in the Users account properties. Assuming you're using Windows 2003 R2 SP2 of course. Look in the Profile setting the user should have a drive letter set. If not set one. Remove any such drive letter in any logon script.

October 30th, 2007	Top \| #4
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by profquatermass This drive letter is set on your Windows server in the Users account properties. Assuming you're using Windows 2003 R2 SP2 of course. Look in the Profile setting the user should have a drive letter set. If not set one. Remove any such drive letter in any logon script. no no, all users are setup correctly with an H drive in the profile setting. The login script is a long VB script that maps drive letters depending on if your in a security group or not. That VB script does not map any drives to the H drive. The H drive being the home drive. CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

October 30th, 2007	Top \| #5
profquatermass OSNN Junior Addict Joined: January 2006 Location: Livingston, Scotland Posts: 36 Reputation: 10 Power: 75	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem It's not a drive map problem it's a share problem. You're getting H: set to the wrong share not the wrong drive letter. Duh..my mistake. Don't set your share path to a UNC path. Use a local path. Change in user profile \\servername\2008\%username% to e:\homes\students\class of 2008\%username% for example. I bet that works. Stuart Halliday

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October 31st, 2007	Top \| #6
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by profquatermass It's not a drive map problem it's a share problem. You're getting H: set to the wrong share not the wrong drive letter. Duh..my mistake. Don't set your share path to a UNC path. Use a local path. Change in user profile \\servername\2008\%username% to e:\homes\students\class of 2008\%username% for example. I bet that works. Will give that a shot. Thanks CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

October 31st, 2007	Top \| #7
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Oh i cant do that, the AD server is not on the server as the Home drives. Also note that all 1500 users in this school system work perfectly except for this class room. CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

November 2nd, 2007	Top \| #8
profquatermass OSNN Junior Addict Joined: January 2006 Location: Livingston, Scotland Posts: 36 Reputation: 10 Power: 75	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by celticfan11 Oh i cant do that, the AD server is not on the server as the Home drives. Also note that all 1500 users in this school system work perfectly except for this class room. So the question to ask is why would it default to \\servername\homes. when its defined as a completely different path. It must be getting it from somewhere? Windows does remap shortcuts of UNC paths to another UNC path if it can't find the original. Perhaps it's doing this due to a DNS or network problem in a branch of your network? You can switch this option off in the Registry. Just takes one duff shortcut anywhere that's visible with Explorer and then it'll cached the new path and throw away the original. Damn annoying. Stuart Halliday

November 4th, 2007	Top \| #9
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by profquatermass So the question to ask is why would it default to \\servername\homes. when its defined as a completely different path. It must be getting it from somewhere? Windows does remap shortcuts of UNC paths to another UNC path if it can't find the original. Perhaps it's doing this due to a DNS or network problem in a branch of your network? You can switch this option off in the Registry. Just takes one duff shortcut anywhere that's visible with Explorer and then it'll cached the new path and throw away the original. Damn annoying. Well id say no on the network because that particular room spans 2 diff switches. Which uplinks to a another closet via fiber, and no other rooms from that original closet have problems. So id say thats prob not it. However that second thing you were talking abotu with the registry, could you explain that further? CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

November 4th, 2007	Top \| #10
Electronic Punk The Last High Joined: December 2001 Location: London Posts: 18,506 Blog Entries: 51 Reputation: 3652 Power: 346	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem What happens, on an affected machine, if you - Try to browse to the correct folder manually or map the drive manually - Go to the command prompt and type 'echo %username%' ? Is anything appearing in the application or system logs for these machines?

November 4th, 2007	Top \| #11
profquatermass OSNN Junior Addict Joined: January 2006 Location: Livingston, Scotland Posts: 36 Reputation: 10 Power: 75	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by celticfan11 Well id say no on the network because that particular room spans 2 diff switches. Which uplinks to a another closet via fiber, and no other rooms from that original closet have problems. So id say thats prob not it. However that second thing you were talking abotu with the registry, could you explain that further? What more do I need to say? It's a common enough problem. [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoResolveTrack"=dword:1 Look it up. Stuart Halliday

November 5th, 2007	Top \| #12
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by Electronic Punk What happens, on an affected machine, if you - Try to browse to the correct folder manually or map the drive manually - Go to the command prompt and type 'echo %username%' ? Is anything appearing in the application or system logs for these machines? nothing shows up in the event logs on the servers or local PCs the users dont have access to the command prompt nor can they map a network drive. However they CAN goto their personal folder from the driving mapping of \\storage\homes. CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

November 9th, 2007	Top \| #13
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by profquatermass What more do I need to say? It's a common enough problem. Look it up. This did not work however i found a solution that sounds promising: *In GP Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon\ Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon (the description reads)* *Details on this GPO:* Determines whether Windows XP waits for the network during computer startup and user logon. By default, Windows XP does not wait for the network to be fully initialized at startup and logon. Existing users are logged on using cached credentials, which results in shorter logon times. Group Policy is applied in the background once the network becomes available. Note that because this is a background refresh, extensions such as Software Installation and Folder Redirection take two logons to apply changes. To be able to operate safely, these extensions require that no users be logged on. Therefore, they must be processed in the foreground before users are actively using the computer. In addition, changes that are made to the user object, such as adding a roaming profile path, home directory, or user object logon script, may take up to two logons to be detected. *If a user with a roaming profile, home directory, or user object logon script logs on to a computer, Windows XP always waits for the network to be initialized before logging the user on.* *If a user has never logged on to this computer before, Windows XP always waits for the network to be initialized.* If you enable this setting, logons are performed in the same way as for Windows 2000 clients, in that Windows XP waits for the network to be fully initialized before users are logged on. Group Policy is applied in the foreground, synchronously. If you disable or do not configure this setting, Windows does not wait for the network to be fully initialized and users are logged on with cached credentials. Group Policy is applied asynchronously in the background. Note: If you want to guarantee the application of Folder Redirection, Software Installation, or roaming user profile settings in just one logon, enable this setting to ensure that Windows waits for the network to be available before applying policy. CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

November 9th, 2007	Top \| #14
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem I will post with the results in a week or so. Or sooner if the problem continues. CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

November 10th, 2007	Top \| #15
profquatermass OSNN Junior Addict Joined: January 2006 Location: Livingston, Scotland Posts: 36 Reputation: 10 Power: 75	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by celticfan11 This did not work however i found a solution that sounds promising: *In GP Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon\ Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon (the description reads)* I use roaming profiles and I've always got that particular option on. Doesn't make sense not to with RP. Do you also make the users logon script run in the background? Stuart Halliday

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November 11th, 2007	Top \| #16
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem Originally Posted by profquatermass I use roaming profiles and I've always got that particular option on. Doesn't make sense not to with RP. Do you also make the users logon script run in the background? Ya i never had to use this GP before so i forgot about it. There is only 1 VB script that runs for users and that does run in the background. When we took over this school system there was practically no GPOs enforced and the servers were fallin apart. The joys of fixing things and making them right CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)

November 22nd, 2007	Top \| #17
celticfan11 OSNN Senior Addict Joined: January 2003 Location: Vernon, CT Posts: 744 Reputation: 340 Power: 121	Re: Strange Drive mapping problem so far so good CPU: Intel 3.2GHz OC'd to 3.4GHz RAM: 1GB PC3200 Harddrive: .710TB combined Local and Network storage Video Card: Geforce 6800 GT 256MB RAM Motherboard: ASU P4P800 Sound: Onboard sound baby Monitor: Faithful 21 inches of PURE CRT Number of Programs Installed: 39 and growing: not counting games, (and yes i use them all)