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Windows XP drive mapping persistence

H

Hog

Flightless Bird
I've got a few PC's running XP Pro SP3. Workgroup (no Domain).

I'm having that oft discussed and seldom fixed problem that XP will not
retain login credentials to cload storage/Sharepoint and mapped drives (NAS
etc). Same damn issue for Outlook 2007 as well. The Manage Network Passwords
function doesn't help.

I've read some tech comments that it may even be designed that way. Retain
login name but not password. Some comments that it is a bug. I've tried a
couple of suggested reg changes to no avail.

Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it? I'm using WebDrive to maintain
Sharepoint mappings on my own but it's an expensive little tool and is only
useful for WebDav and the like.

I realise I could create a logon script but in reverse the Net Use command
doesn't like Sharepoint servers. Perhaps someone can suggest an App which
manages mappings and persistence.

--
Hog
 
P

Pegasus [MVP]

Flightless Bird
"Hog" <sm911SPAM@CHIPShotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4c3c70b5$0$28004$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
> I've got a few PC's running XP Pro SP3. Workgroup (no Domain).
>
> I'm having that oft discussed and seldom fixed problem that XP will not
> retain login credentials to cload storage/Sharepoint and mapped drives
> (NAS
> etc). Same damn issue for Outlook 2007 as well. The Manage Network
> Passwords
> function doesn't help.
>
> I've read some tech comments that it may even be designed that way. Retain
> login name but not password. Some comments that it is a bug. I've tried a
> couple of suggested reg changes to no avail.
>
> Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it? I'm using WebDrive to maintain
> Sharepoint mappings on my own but it's an expensive little tool and is
> only
> useful for WebDav and the like.
>
> I realise I could create a logon script but in reverse the Net Use command
> doesn't like Sharepoint servers. Perhaps someone can suggest an App which
> manages mappings and persistence.
>
> --
> Hog


You can neatly sidestep the issue by creating an account/password on the
host machine for the shares that matches your current logon
account/password.
 
H

Hog

Flightless Bird
Pegasus [MVP] wrote:
> "Hog" <sm911SPAM@CHIPShotmail.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:4c3c70b5$0$28004$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
>> I've got a few PC's running XP Pro SP3. Workgroup (no Domain).
>>
>> I'm having that oft discussed and seldom fixed problem that XP will
>> not retain login credentials to cload storage/Sharepoint and mapped
>> drives (NAS
>> etc). Same damn issue for Outlook 2007 as well. The Manage Network
>> Passwords
>> function doesn't help.
>>
>> I've read some tech comments that it may even be designed that way.
>> Retain login name but not password. Some comments that it is a bug.
>> I've tried a couple of suggested reg changes to no avail.
>>
>> Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it? I'm using WebDrive to
>> maintain Sharepoint mappings on my own but it's an expensive little
>> tool and is only
>> useful for WebDav and the like.
>>
>> I realise I could create a logon script but in reverse the Net Use
>> command doesn't like Sharepoint servers. Perhaps someone can suggest
>> an App which manages mappings and persistence.

>
> You can neatly sidestep the issue by creating an account/password on
> the host machine for the shares that matches your current logon
> account/password.


Hello and thanks for picking this up. Few problems with that and mainly the
login on the sharepoint server is in the form of
firstname.lastname@domain.com and of course one cannot create a login name
in that format. I can't change this as we use a shared service. Which is
where I came into this problem!

But I'm going that way on the NAS

--
Hog
 
V

VanguardLH

Flightless Bird
Hog wrote:

> I've got a few PC's running XP Pro SP3. Workgroup (no Domain).
>
> I'm having that oft discussed and seldom fixed problem that XP will not
> retain login credentials to cload storage/Sharepoint and mapped drives (NAS
> etc). Same damn issue for Outlook 2007 as well. The Manage Network Passwords
> function doesn't help.
>
> I've read some tech comments that it may even be designed that way. Retain
> login name but not password. Some comments that it is a bug. I've tried a
> couple of suggested reg changes to no avail.
>
> Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it? I'm using WebDrive to maintain
> Sharepoint mappings on my own but it's an expensive little tool and is only
> useful for WebDav and the like.
>
> I realise I could create a logon script but in reverse the Net Use command
> doesn't like Sharepoint servers. Perhaps someone can suggest an App which
> manages mappings and persistence.


The host (server) that is sharing its resource (i.e., a mapped drive on
your host making a connection to the share on the remote/networked host)
can specify an expiration on idle connections. That is, if the
connection hasn't been used in awhile, the server takes back its limited
resources to reuse for someone else's later connection. I haven't done
server admin - after all, you ARE asking in a workstation group and not
in a server group - but do know as a user of mapped drives that mapped
drives disappear (get disconnected) based on a server-side timeout.
That's why, when possible, I use UNC paths to the shared resource
instead of a mapped drive. That way the connection gets created new
each time I access the remote resource and I don't end up with dead
mappings.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297684

You didn't mention what server OS is running on the NAS device. If it
is an embedded OS (i.e., it's hidden from you) then you'll have to see
if it has configuration options to specify the idle timeout on mappings
to shares. Or see if you can switch to using UNC paths to the share
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(computing)#Uniform_Naming_Convention).

You never mention WHICH service pack level is on the various Windows XP
hosts. Service Pack 2 included some fixes that resolved delays in
reconnecting to a mapped resource to Novell NetWare or UNIX NFS servers
which might apply since you didn't mention what OS runs on the remote
host, like the NAS device (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=814952).
SP2 also included a fix for client-side caching that caused "access
denied" problems (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=837917 and
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=840749). If you read SP2's
description (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811113), it lists several
fixes for mapped drive problems.

Since MS Sharepoint requires a *server* version of Windows, you may have
generated usability problems by running it on a workstation version of
Windows (indicated by "I've got a few PCs running XP Pro" which is
obviously not a server version). For one thing, the workstations have a
maximum of 10 connections so maybe you're hitting that limit that
requires dropping old connections to service the new ones or rejecting
the new connection requests because the queue is full.

With the excessive cross-posting for your message (4 newsgroups), was
there a reason why you didn't just post in a sharepoint newsgroup to ask
about its use? I wasn't sure if your primary concern was with the use
of Sharepoint or just in mapped drives and their loss but which is
totally independent hence irrelevant to Sharepoint.
 
H

Hog

Flightless Bird
VanguardLH wrote:
> Hog wrote:
>
>> I've got a few PC's running XP Pro SP3. Workgroup (no Domain).
>>
>> I'm having that oft discussed and seldom fixed problem that XP will
>> not retain login credentials to cload storage/Sharepoint and mapped
>> drives (NAS etc). Same damn issue for Outlook 2007 as well. The
>> Manage Network Passwords function doesn't help.
>>
>> I've read some tech comments that it may even be designed that way.
>> Retain login name but not password. Some comments that it is a bug.
>> I've tried a couple of suggested reg changes to no avail.
>>
>> Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it? I'm using WebDrive to
>> maintain Sharepoint mappings on my own but it's an expensive little
>> tool and is only useful for WebDav and the like.
>>
>> I realise I could create a logon script but in reverse the Net Use
>> command doesn't like Sharepoint servers. Perhaps someone can suggest
>> an App which manages mappings and persistence.

>
> The host (server) that is sharing its resource (i.e., a mapped drive
> on your host making a connection to the share on the remote/networked
> host) can specify an expiration on idle connections. That is, if the
> connection hasn't been used in awhile, the server takes back its
> limited resources to reuse for someone else's later connection. I
> haven't done server admin - after all, you ARE asking in a
> workstation group and not in a server group - but do know as a user
> of mapped drives that mapped drives disappear (get disconnected)
> based on a server-side timeout. That's why, when possible, I use UNC
> paths to the shared resource instead of a mapped drive. That way the
> connection gets created new each time I access the remote resource
> and I don't end up with dead mappings.
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297684
>
> You didn't mention what server OS is running on the NAS device. If it
> is an embedded OS (i.e., it's hidden from you) then you'll have to see
> if it has configuration options to specify the idle timeout on
> mappings to shares. Or see if you can switch to using UNC paths to
> the share
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(computing)#Uniform_Naming_Convention).
>
> You never mention WHICH service pack level is on the various Windows
> XP hosts. Service Pack 2 included some fixes that resolved delays in
> reconnecting to a mapped resource to Novell NetWare or UNIX NFS
> servers which might apply since you didn't mention what OS runs on
> the remote host, like the NAS device
> (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=814952). SP2 also included a fix
> for client-side caching that caused "access denied" problems
> (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=837917 and
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=840749). If you read SP2's
> description (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811113), it lists
> several fixes for mapped drive problems.
>
> Since MS Sharepoint requires a *server* version of Windows, you may
> have generated usability problems by running it on a workstation
> version of Windows (indicated by "I've got a few PCs running XP Pro"
> which is obviously not a server version). For one thing, the
> workstations have a maximum of 10 connections so maybe you're hitting
> that limit that requires dropping old connections to service the new
> ones or rejecting the new connection requests because the queue is
> full.
>
> With the excessive cross-posting for your message (4 newsgroups), was
> there a reason why you didn't just post in a sharepoint newsgroup to
> ask about its use? I wasn't sure if your primary concern was with
> the use of Sharepoint or just in mapped drives and their loss but
> which is totally independent hence irrelevant to Sharepoint.


Thanks but is seems to be an o/s problem. I did say SP3. Everything is right
up to date on all. It happens each time the workstation reboots. It includes
Outlook 2007, which will not retain the password (Exchange Server). Using
the OutlookAuto app works ok though.

It's an issue on the workstation o/s and specific to losing the stored
password, sometime name, on reboot. It is either a feature of the o/s. A
reg tweak that is needed. An o/s installation fault. Or something!

--
Hog
 
I

ichase@thepostoffice.co.uk

Flightless Bird
On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:56:58 +0100, just as I was about to take a
herb, "Hog" <sm911SPAM@CHIPShotmail.co.uk> disturbed my reverie and
wrote:

>Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it?


Email me for the fix. My email is valid.
 
P

Pegasus [MVP]

Flightless Bird
<ichase@thepostoffice.co.uk> wrote in message
news:k64346hnm7ia826pmcbm8j9mchp61bable@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:56:58 +0100, just as I was about to take a
> herb, "Hog" <sm911SPAM@CHIPShotmail.co.uk> disturbed my reverie and
> wrote:
>
>>Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it?

>
> Email me for the fix. My email is valid.


Mhm. Why not publish your solution here so that it becomes subject to the
usual peer review process?
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

Flightless Bird
On Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:15:55 +0100, ichase@thepostoffice.co.uk wrote:

> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:56:58 +0100, just as I was about to take a
> herb, "Hog" <sm911SPAM@CHIPShotmail.co.uk> disturbed my reverie and
> wrote:
>
> >Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it?

>
> Email me for the fix. My email is valid.



Not to accuse you of anything, but Hog would be foolhardy to do that,
whether it's you, me, or anyone else. He has no way of knowing whether
your fix would be correct, and he has no way of knowing whether you
would tell him to do something that could be very damaging.

If you have a fix for Hog, post it here, so we can all see it and make
sure that it's neither wrong nor dangerous.


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup
 
H

Hog

Flightless Bird
Ken Blake, MVP wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Jul 2010 12:15:55 +0100, ichase@thepostoffice.co.uk wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:56:58 +0100, just as I was about to take a
>> herb, "Hog" <sm911SPAM@CHIPShotmail.co.uk> disturbed my reverie and
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Has anyone ever got to the bottom of it?

>>
>> Email me for the fix. My email is valid.

>
>
> Not to accuse you of anything, but Hog would be foolhardy to do that,
> whether it's you, me, or anyone else. He has no way of knowing whether
> your fix would be correct, and he has no way of knowing whether you
> would tell him to do something that could be very damaging.
>
> If you have a fix for Hog, post it here, so we can all see it and make
> sure that it's neither wrong nor dangerous.


It's ok but thanks. I just gave up and did something else

--
Hog
 
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