Mapped network folder loads infinitely after computer restart

HarkBackster 1 Reputation point
2021-11-30T10:21:38.697+00:00

Hello,

I've mapped a network drive in one of the computers connected to my company's domain.

Now, it works absolutely fine: No stalling, doesn't crash or jamms, loads everything inside of it very quickly.

The thing is, after a restart - after opening File Explorer to view the network locations, I see the mapped drive, but without the blue bar beneath it which indicates its storage capacity. It does not show with a red x, or says it's disconnected or unable to connect, it's just there, but without the blue bar. And when I try to open it, File Explorer starts to load it... But the loading NEVER ends. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting it, and even so - After restart it just goes back to this state.

After scouring google for answers, I've attempted the (Net use) command to see what's up with that drive. It shows the drive, the IP address, and the status.
The thing is, the status is constantly stuck on (Reconnecting).

Could really use a hand in this bit,

Thanks.

Windows 10
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Windows 10 Network
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Windows 10: A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.Setup: The procedures involved in preparing a software program or application to operate within a computer or mobile device.
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  1. Gary Nebbett 5,721 Reputation points
    2021-11-30T12:43:54.843+00:00

    Hello @HarkBackster ,

    You could try reading https://gary-nebbett.blogspot.com/2021/06/mapped-network-drive-reconnection.html to see if it is possibly relevant. The link mentions:

    • It seems that older SMB servers (NAS devices and Windows Server 2003) don’t expect a new connection to start with an SMB2-Only negotiate. They can behave in various incorrect ways, such as returning an error message, not responding at all, breaking the connection, etc., and this results in different error messages being shown to the user.

    I don't think that getting "stuck" on reconnecting is a common symptom, but it is a plausible symptom. There is a test described in the link that could provide clarity (the section "Verifying whether this issue is active").

    Gary

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  2. HarkBackster 1 Reputation point
    2021-11-30T13:33:26.677+00:00

    @Gary Nebbett Thank you for your reply,

    I did not understand the document you sent me entirely, but what I did manage to gather was that the connection I'm trying to initiate with the Drive may require an older protocol of SMB. One that isn't ticked in the Windows Features tab, SMB 1.0 . I should elaborate: The connection I'm trying to achieve uses this protocol. Without properly enabling it in the Features tab, the connection wouldn't work. Now the thing is, I did in fact tick it - and it works. But after a restart, the drive just wouldn't load. Even right-clicking the drive seems to cause File Explorer to stop responding at all.

  3. Limitless Technology 39,331 Reputation points
    2021-11-30T19:36:27.973+00:00

    Hello @HarkBackster

    This is a usual problem but can have many different points of failure and solutions applicable. Instead of summarizing them, I would recommend to check the next Microsoft post, where the community have provided different troubleshooting, solutions or workarounds to the different issues that can provide a mapped drive to appear unresponsive after restart:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/mapped-drive-will-not-connect-after-reboot/b75070b2-ca35-4560-a486-dd7747d2a82d

    Hope this helps with your query,

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