Mapped Drives Freezing, Disappearing, or Blinking on Windows 7
AD domain running Server 2008 R2 on a large network. All fileservers are Windows Server 2008 R2.
Windows XP computers have no problems with mapped network drives.
Windows 7 computers have sporadic problems.
Sometimes if you double click on a drive in Explorer and start to browse through the contents, the Explorer window will blink once or twice and kick you out of the drive. You'll be back at the initial Windows Explorer screen.
Sometimes if you try to access a mapped drive, Explorer will freeze except for a green progress bar that seems to take forever. Then it might let you into the drive after waiting 10 minutes or 10 hours, or it might blink and go back to the beginning as
in #1 above. Sometimes the network drive will disappear from Windows Explorer.
Accessing drives via the command window is much more reliable than Windows Explorer. When a drive starts behaving this way, you can reboot or you can disconnect the drive and remap it using the "net use x: \\servername\sharename" command.
It doesn't seem to matter if the fileserver is on the same subnet or on the other side of the state.
September 22nd, 2011 8:55pm
How fast is your LAN and how heavy is the traffic load
I noticed that mapped drives on my shop are sometimes slow when my servers are busy.
I have added more RAM to my servers and it has helped lots.
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September 22nd, 2011 10:40pm
Hi,
did you try to run "Safe mode with networking" - if not, can you try it:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode
Does it do the same sporadic problems in this mode?
LC
September 23rd, 2011 12:00pm
Hi LC. I can't run my computer (or any of the computers that usually have this problem) in Safe Mode because these computers are used for working. Too many applications won't work in Safe Mode.
I do have a spare laptop that I can try for a while. But, since it doesn't happen all the time, and I don't know how to force the problem, it might take a few weeks before I'll know whether or not running in Safe Mode makes any difference. Even then, it
could still just be a coincidence.
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September 23rd, 2011 5:43pm
Hi Vegan.
My network is very fast, but, like I said, it doesn't matter if the server is on the same subnet or across the state. Network speed doesn't seem to make any difference.
I seriously doubt that the problem is on the server since no XP computers ever have this problem. It
only happens with Windows 7 and a reboot always fixes the problem temporarily.
September 23rd, 2011 5:44pm
OK, I agree with you - "Safe mode" is not suitable for the common work.
Did you try to download and flash the latest BIOS for the mainboard and
install the latest drivers for the network card
?
LC
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September 23rd, 2011 10:17pm
Do you use any policies on your servers outside of AD
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September 23rd, 2011 10:46pm
Vegan, do you mean local security policies as opposed to GPOs?
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September 23rd, 2011 11:53pm
both
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September 24th, 2011 12:09am
Vegan,
There are numerous GPO settings applied to my fileservers via AD. There are no custom local security policies that I know of.
Why do you think a policy might be involved. The mapped drives work most of the time and they always work on XP computers. The problem only exists on Windows 7 computers and only sometimes, and a reboot always fixes the problem temporarily. If there was
a policy interfering with connections, then the problem would be consistent.
I really do not think a security policy is involved.
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September 24th, 2011 12:32am
some policies seem to have effects that differ from XP to vista/7
if you are having issues with Explorer in Windows 7 it could be a problem with the system
have you done anything to the standard windows 7 setup?
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September 24th, 2011 12:53am
Nothing special, no. Some of these computers are set up with all factory defaults plus installed software and joined to the domain.
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September 26th, 2011 6:35pm
Post a screen shot of the policies screen from your domain controller
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September 26th, 2011 9:18pm
Why the domain controller? My fileservers aren't DCs.
I could run gpresult on the fileserver and post those results.
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September 26th, 2011 10:32pm
post thatWindows MVP, XP, Vista, 7. Expanding into Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server, SharePoint etc.
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September 26th, 2011 10:32pm
I ran "gpresult /h gpresults.htm" under normal context then "gpresult /h gpresults2.htm /scope computer" under administrator context. I removed a few security-related polices that didn't seem relevant (e.g. password policies).
Command:
gpresults /h gpresults.htm
User Configuration Summary
Security Group Membership when Group Policy was appliedhide
subdomain\Domain Users
Everyone
SERVERNAME\avUser
BUILTIN\Users
BUILTIN\Administrators
NT AUTHORITY\REMOTE INTERACTIVE LOGON
NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE
NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users
NT AUTHORITY\This Organization
LOCAL
subdomain\Core-engineering
subdomain\Everyone-it
subdomain\NoDriveScript
subdomain\Domain Admins
subdomain\Records Management
subdomain\View-Only Organization Management
subdomain\Mailbox Import Export Role
subdomain\Hygiene Management
subdomain\CSAdministrator
subdomain\Delegated Setup
subdomain\Server Management
subdomain\Organization Management
subdomain\$DUPLICATE-277e
subdomain\Denied RODC Password Replication Group
subdomain\avAdministrator
Mandatory Label\High Mandatory Level
WMI Filtershide
Name
Value
Reference GPO(s)
None
Component Statushide
Component Name
Status
Last Process Time
Group Policy Infrastructure
Success
9/26/2011 2:32:49 PM
Registry
Success
9/19/2011 1:11:31 PM
Computer Configurationhide
No data available.
User Configurationhide
Policieshide
Administrative Templateshide
Policy definitions (ADMX files) retrieved from the local machine.
Control Panel/Personalizationhide
Policy
Setting
Winning GPO
Enable screen saver
Enabled
ScreenSaver ON Policy
Force specific screen saver
Disabled
ScreenSaver ON Policy
Password protect the screen saver
Enabled
ScreenSaver ON Policy
Screen saver timeout
Enabled
ScreenSaver ON Policy
Number of seconds to wait to enable the screen saver
Seconds:
1200
Command:
gpresult /h gpresults2.htm /scope computer
Computer Configuration Summary
Security Group Membership when Group Policy was applied
BUILTIN\Administrators
Everyone
SERVERNAME\avAdministrator
SERVERNAME\avUser
BUILTIN\Users
NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK
NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users
NT AUTHORITY\This Organization
subdomain\SERVERNAME$
subdomain\Domain Computers
Mandatory Label\System Mandatory Level
WMI Filters
Name
Value
Reference GPO(s)
None
Component Status
Component Name
Status
Last Process Time
Group Policy Infrastructure
Success
9/26/2011 1:05:58 PM
Registry
Success
6/29/2011 8:45:27 AM
Security
Success
6/16/2011 3:07:14 AM
User Configuration Summary
No data available.
Computer Configuration
Policies
Windows Settings
Security Settings
Interactive Logon
Policy
Setting
Winning GPO
Interactive logon: Do not require CTRL+ALT+DEL
Disabled
Logon Legal Notice
Network Access
Policy
Setting
Winning GPO
Network access: Allow anonymous SID/Name translation
Disabled
Default Domain Policy
Network Security
Policy
Setting
Winning GPO
Network security: Do not store LAN Manager hash value on next password change
Enabled
Default Domain Policy
Network security: Force logoff when logon hours expire
Disabled
Default Domain Policy
Public Key Policies/Certificate Services Client - Auto-Enrollment Settings
Policy
Setting
Winning GPO
Automatic certificate management
Enabled
Default Domain Policy
Option
Setting
Enroll new certificates, renew expired certificates, process pending certificate requests and remove revoked certificates
Enabled
Update and manage certificates that use certificate templates from Active Directory
Enabled
Public Key Policies/Encrypting File System
Certificates
Issued To
Issued By
Expiration Date
Intended Purposes
Winning GPO
administrator
administrator
7/31/2110 4:36:57 PM
File Recovery
Default Domain Policy
For additional information about individual settings, launch Group Policy Object Editor.
Public Key Policies/Trusted Root Certification Authorities
Properties
Winning GPO
[Default setting]
Policy
Setting
Allow users to select new root certification authorities (CAs) to trust
Enabled
Client computers can trust the following certificate stores
Third-Party Root Certification Authorities and Enterprise Root Certification Authorities
To perform certificate-based authentication of users and computers, CAs must meet the following criteria
Registered in Active Directory only
Administrative Templates
Policy definitions (ADMX files) retrieved from the local machine.
Network/DNS Client
Policy
Setting
Winning GPO
DNS Suffix Search List
Enabled
Nameserver Policy
DNS Suffixes:
subdomain.domain.com,domain.com
Network/Network Connections/Windows Firewall/Domain Profile
Policy
Setting
Winning GPO
Windows Firewall: Allow ICMP exceptions
Enabled
Allow Ping
Allow outbound destination unreachable
Disabled
Allow outbound source quench
Disabled
Allow redirect
Disabled
Allow inbound echo request
Enabled
Allow inbound router request
Disabled
Allow outbound time exceeded
Disabled
Allow outbound parameter problem
Disabled
Allow inbound timestamp request
Disabled
Allow inbound mask request
Disabled
Allow outbound packet too big
Disabled
Windows Components/Remote Desktop Services/Remote Desktop Session Host/Printer Redirection
Policy
Setting
Winning GPO
Do not allow client printer redirection
Enabled
TerminalServices
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September 26th, 2011 11:16pm
I looked this over and I do not see anything out of the ordinary.
In my shop all my machine use Windows 7 or higher, long ago dumped XP
Mixed environments are usually not very successful in my experience. I have often tried to figure out what causes it, nothing stands out.
I use Server 2008 R2 but no AD and out of the box policies and XP and Vista, 7 all can connect to the public folder that is secure
I now use a sync but in the past I was using redirect to the server
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game reviews etc.
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September 26th, 2011 11:27pm
I have learned that we see the problem much less often if we do not map drives to DFS locations and use the actual server and share name instead.
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November 27th, 2011 4:15pm
I often use C++ to manage data, and when I do that I cannot depend on mapped drives.
Its not problematic unless the server is out of order
Windows MVP 2010-11, XP, Vista, 7. Expanding into Windows Server 2008 R2, SQL Server, SharePoint etc.
My page on Video Card Problems is now my most popular landing page.
My Page on SSD is now #2. See my
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November 27th, 2011 4:27pm
Still seeing this problem on mapped network drives on Windows 7 computers.
Here are more details:
It's doesn't happen on most Windows 7 computers. Only one some of them. It is sporadic. After a reboot, a computer will work fine for a few hours and then start having the problem. Or it will work for a week. The problem will come and go over the course of the day.
A network drive will fail to respond. You will probably see a progress bar going through the address bar in Windows Explorer as if Windows is searching (indexing?) the contents of the drive, but it will never complete.
Sometimes the network drives will simply disappear. Double click on a network drive or a subfolder, and the drive/folder will open and display the contents for a split second before going back to the drive list for the Computer.
Sometimes a network drive will appear in the main pane of the Explorer window, but not in the navigation pane on the left.
Saving a file to a network drive will return an error or it will cause corruption and lost data in the file.
There are no errors or warnings in the event logs for the times when this is happening.
This driving me nuts. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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February 1st, 2012 4:30pm
if a machine is sporadically disconnecting, try loading it with the sysprep image of Windows and and see if it works better
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February 1st, 2012 4:38pm
Another symptom:
9. Sometimes if you click on a network drive in the navigation pane of Windows Explorer, it will display the contents in the main pane on the right, but the drive will disappear from the navigation pane, the highlight will jump up to "Computer" instead of
to the drive, and the Title bar will say "... (Not responding)".
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February 1st, 2012 4:39pm
that suggests the network stack is up to no good
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February 1st, 2012 4:41pm
Any suggestions on what to do about it?
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February 2nd, 2012 4:56pm
download the windows automated installation kit, waik and create a standard image one you have one you like for you shop
the problem is using a range of disparate machines, each group needs its own image due to hardware issues
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February 2nd, 2012 5:04pm
Since we have so many different types of computers in our organization, most of our computers weren't built using an image other than what came from the factory.
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February 3rd, 2012 1:50pm
that makes any IT guys job much harder than necessary
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February 3rd, 2012 2:01pm
Nuke and Pave appears to have resolved the problem.
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April 10th, 2012 6:03pm
Did you get a suitable answer to this problem? We experience the same thing (sporadic, only on Windows 7). The machines are all created from same image, so continually reimaging is not the solution. I'm not clear on what "Nuke and
Pave appears to have resolved the problem" means.
April 20th, 2012 1:06pm
No, sorry. I'm sure there is an easier solution, but I've spent too much time on this problem already. Nuke and Pave = format and reinstall.
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April 20th, 2012 1:58pm