Win 7 - Cannot reconnect to network drives - Click them and they are fine?

[jivetrky]

So I have a number of folders shared on my unRAID server. On all of my Win 7 machines I have the password saved in Cred. Manager as Enterprise so that it stays saved. But every time I start the PC's a bubble pops up in the systray saying Windows Could not Reconnect to Network Drives.

But if I just open Windows Explorer the drives (although they have a red X on them) they connect and work just fine. Don't have to enter passwords or anything like that.


This is really more of a pain on my HTPCs where I have to select each network drive otherwise Media Browser can't see any of the media I have on my server.

Does anyone know why it's not reconnecting?

 

[Automata]

I've had similar issues with my Windows boxes, but it generally doesn't prevent me from accessing files on it if I don't open it. It sometimes does give me the message that it couldn't connect and won't work until I open it; which is more along the lines of what you described. Looking forward to see if there is a fix for this.

 

[RollingThunder]

So I have a number of folders shared on my unRAID server. On all of my Win 7 machines I have the password saved in Cred. Manager as Enterprise so that it stays saved. But every time I start the PC's a bubble pops up in the systray saying Windows Could not Reconnect to Network Drives.

But if I just open Windows Explorer the drives (although they have a red X on them) they connect and work just fine. Don't have to enter passwords or anything like that.


This is really more of a pain on my HTPCs where I have to select each network drive otherwise Media Browser can't see any of the media I have on my server.

Does anyone know why it's not reconnecting?

My systems are setup similar to yours with D: drives shared while giving the same messages booting one or both machines. I ignore them, everything works when clicked on and the red "X" disappears. I'm using XP Pro and Vista 64. It's not Windows 7.

 

[jivetrky]

My systems are setup similar to yours with D: drives shared while giving the same messages booting one or both machines. I ignore them, everything works when clicked on and the red "X" disappears. I'm using XP Pro and Vista 64. It's not Windows 7.

Oh yeah, it's not as if the shares do not work. But if I don't open the shared folder/drive first, certain programs will not work. (Media Browser, Meta Browser being two major ones for me)

With Media Browser, on the HTPC's, if they are freshly booted, the media will not show up in Media Browser unless I ALT+TAB to Windows and open each share manually. Not a major deal but still an annoyance. And if I didn't happen to be home and the HTPC rebooted or lost power for whatever reason, it would be a major pain in the butt to explain how to fix it to my wife.

And with Meta Browser, I leave it open all the time and "fresh rips" of TV shows all go into a specific folder. Meta Browser monitors that folder and automatically uploads them to the server and fetches it's META info and renames the files to my needs. But if I forget to open the shares it can't do this.

 

[jiggamanjb]

I have the same problem too. I have yet to figure out a resolution. Three machines running Win 7 Ultimate.

 

[jivetrky]

Bump

 

[orion456]

Windows does seem to have weird network quirks. I often lose network nodes that only return upon reboot. So far I have not been able to reset the network using anything except rebooting.

You can try:

net stop netman
net start

Sometimes that will show the connection restarting.

 

[jivetrky]

Well, something I really can't explain is that this no longer happens on this machine but still happens on my two HTPC's. All three are 64 bit, but this one is Ultimate whereas they are Home Premium. Not sure what was done to mine but I sure wish it would happen on those ones.

 

[realmadrid12]

Its because your drive connections are initializing before your nic card does.

Either you can just deal with the pop up or you can use logon and logoff scripts to attach and detach the drives at a specified time by using a ping to a known dead ip (ex. 1.1.1.1)

Its not hard to do but its really not worth the trouble, but it is a solution. You would just use net use as a batch script: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/net_use.mspx?mfr=true

Edit: heres your timer,

ping 169.0.0.1 -n 5 > nul

That way when the script starts a startup it will wait a few seconds for your nic to start up. You can change the time by adjusting the number.

More edit: if you need help with the script i can write it up real quick

 

[JCLW]

Its because your drive connections are initializing before your nic card does.

Either you can just deal with the pop up or you can use logon and logoff scripts to attach and detach the drives at a specified time by using a ping to a known dead ip (ex. 1.1.1.1)

Its not hard to do but its really not worth the trouble, but it is a solution. You would just use net use as a batch script: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/net_use.mspx?mfr=true

Edit: heres your timer,

ping 169.0.0.1 -n 5 > nul

That way when the script starts a startup it will wait a few seconds for your nic to start up. You can change the time by adjusting the number.

More edit: if you need help with the script i can write it up real quick

Agreed.

Alternatively if what you are having problems with are services you can set them to delayed start (services.msc).

 

[jivetrky]

Ya know, I just realized an event that, I think, coincided with my drives on my main PC connecting at startup. I installed my newest version of Kaskersky. I wonder if it's possibly checking the drives or trying to connect to them after bootup and that's why they show as connected. Whereas I don't have A/V on my HTPC's.

 

[jivetrky]

Agreed.

Alternatively if what you are having problems with are services you can set them to delayed start (services.msc).

So if I just setup a batch file to go on startup that pinged my media server, that would cause the drives to all connect?

 

[jivetrky]

Agreed.

Alternatively if what you are having problems with are services you can set them to delayed start (services.msc).

I assume you mean delaying the service for Network drives? If so, do you know what service I would delay?

EDIT: Is this what I'd do?

 

[jiggamanjb]

Its because your drive connections are initializing before your nic card does.

Either you can just deal with the pop up or you can use logon and logoff scripts to attach and detach the drives at a specified time by using a ping to a known dead ip (ex. 1.1.1.1)

Its not hard to do but its really not worth the trouble, but it is a solution. You would just use net use as a batch script: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/net_use.mspx?mfr=true

Edit: heres your timer,

ping 169.0.0.1 -n 5 > nul

That way when the script starts a startup it will wait a few seconds for your nic to start up. You can change the time by adjusting the number.

More edit: if you need help with the script i can write it up real quick

Thanks for responding to this. I don't know why I didn't think of doing this before since I run the same basic script on the company domain.

Saved file as mapdrive.bat and called it from the startup folder.

Removes all maps to start just in case of anything being mapped wrong. Pauses 30 seconds for all hardware to initialize, then maps the drives. I'm happy now!!

@echo off
net use * /delete /yes
ping 123.45.67.89 -n 1 -w 30000 > nul
net use W: \\server\movies
net use X: \\server\tor
net use Y: \\server\music
net use Z: "\\server\mol docs"

 

[realmadrid12]

ping 123.45.67.89 -n 1 -w 30000 > nul

Just keep in mind that could actually be a valid public ip lol. Its owner is in korea and at this point it doesnt respond. I would rather see you use something like 1.1.1.1 or even 0.0.0.0 just to be safe. Will it really cause any issues? well I doubt it but why not keep your scripts and connections to yourself eh?

Edit: and no problem bat scripts save lives!

 

[realmadrid12]

I assume you mean delaying the service for Network drives? If so, do you know what service I would delay?

EDIT: Is this what I'd do?

I wouldnt go that route because your still gonna have the same issue as before. Just use the script that was posted above. Done like dinner and hey it was already written for you!

 

[jiggamanjb]

Just keep in mind that could actually be a valid public ip lol. Its owner is in korea and at this point it doesnt respond. I would rather see you use something like 1.1.1.1 or even 0.0.0.0 just to be safe. Will it really cause any issues? well I doubt it but why not keep your scripts and connections to yourself eh?

Edit: and no problem bat scripts save lives!

I use 0.0.0.0 usually but had left in that other IP when I had copied over some old script. Thanks for the reminder to change it out. It wouldn't be fun if that site came online all of a sudden

Why would I keep my scripts to myself?

 

[jivetrky]

I wouldnt go that route because your still gonna have the same issue as before. Just use the script that was posted above. Done like dinner and hey it was already written for you!

haha, ok, I'll do that then! Thanks

 

[realmadrid12]

Why would I keep my scripts to myself?

Well what i meant is to keep your connections to your self. In the case of a ping it doesnt matter really but when you start running more complex scripts that have keys or maybe passwords and your proprietary software you dont want others to see that stuff. Than again at that point you would just use a vb or PS script. So with that ill just stop blabbing as I think you get my basic point

 

[jivetrky]

I use 0.0.0.0 usually but had left in that other IP when I had copied over some old script. Thanks for the reminder to change it out. It wouldn't be fun if that site came online all of a sudden

Why would I keep my scripts to myself?

I assume me meant, why send a ping to possibly some random person's computer.



So would it be best to use something generic? or possibly an IP for one of my ISP's servers or something like that?

OR, could it just work with an internal LAN IP? Like could I ping 192.168.1.103, the static address of my media server? Or does it have to be external?