steranka
asked on
Why does net use \\host fail (System error 53, network path not found, error) but net use \\IP-ADDRESS work?
I'm curious why I sometimes find that I can access a remote share only with the IP address.
Does anyone know why?
What follows is a description of the events.
Step 1: Try to "login" to a remote computer.
net use \\SOMEHOST\IPC$ /user:DOMAIN\USER
Observe the error
System error 53 has occurred.
The network path was not found.
Step 2: Try to "login" to the remote computer using the IP address
First I ping SOMEHOST, to get it's IP address, then I run the command:
net use \\IPADDRESS\IPC$ /user:DOMAIN\USER
I'm prompted to enter the password, and then I'm logged in. After this I
can map remote drives as I would expect to be able to do so.
So... What is the configuration that prevents the hostname from being used?
But allows the IP address to be used?
How can I dis-allow both?
How can I allow both? NOTE: I guess I know how to do this, it happens by default.
NOTE: I'm looking for what security policys are set to allow/disallow this behavior
and how security policies can be set (what tool is used).
I'd also like to confirm that Win2000 Active Directory Security Policy are downloaded
to domain clients (Win2000 pro clients that are in the domain).
Also, Is it possible to configure this on a host by host basis?
Thanks
Does anyone know why?
What follows is a description of the events.
Step 1: Try to "login" to a remote computer.
net use \\SOMEHOST\IPC$ /user:DOMAIN\USER
Observe the error
System error 53 has occurred.
The network path was not found.
Step 2: Try to "login" to the remote computer using the IP address
First I ping SOMEHOST, to get it's IP address, then I run the command:
net use \\IPADDRESS\IPC$ /user:DOMAIN\USER
I'm prompted to enter the password, and then I'm logged in. After this I
can map remote drives as I would expect to be able to do so.
So... What is the configuration that prevents the hostname from being used?
But allows the IP address to be used?
How can I dis-allow both?
How can I allow both? NOTE: I guess I know how to do this, it happens by default.
NOTE: I'm looking for what security policys are set to allow/disallow this behavior
and how security policies can be set (what tool is used).
I'd also like to confirm that Win2000 Active Directory Security Policy are downloaded
to domain clients (Win2000 pro clients that are in the domain).
Also, Is it possible to configure this on a host by host basis?
Thanks
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ASKER
Rich,
Thanks a bunch. I was surprised to find that my DNS server was mis-configured and reporting the wrong IP address for the host that I could not login to (aka map to). Once I fixed the DNS entry the problem went away. I was able to "net use HOSTNAME" and "net use IPADDRESS" (both worked).
Also the link on connecting to an alias (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281308) was something I've been looking for for years. Again, thanks a bunch. I'm trying that out right now (connecting to an alias). It's something I've been able to do for years with UNIX but wasn't able to do this in windows.
Thanks a bunch. I was surprised to find that my DNS server was mis-configured and reporting the wrong IP address for the host that I could not login to (aka map to). Once I fixed the DNS entry the problem went away. I was able to "net use HOSTNAME" and "net use IPADDRESS" (both worked).
Also the link on connecting to an alias (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281308) was something I've been looking for for years. Again, thanks a bunch. I'm trying that out right now (connecting to an alias). It's something I've been able to do for years with UNIX but wasn't able to do this in windows.
Glad to be of service.
-rich
-rich
your prob is that your comp is not resolving the DNS. The easiest way around this is to use the ip address rather than the registered domain name.
I experienced this very same problem and was banging my head against the wall for three days. I could not map a drive to any of the networked computers at my home network. I would get "System error 53" and "Network path not found".
I finally found what was wrong. Somehow I had disabled the lanmanworkstation dll using the sysinternal autoruns utility. I had unchecked the autorun entry the Network Providers tab which disabled a registry entry under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControl
Just to add clarity, although repeating what I just wrote, here's how how my registry reads:
Registry location: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControl
Name | Type | Data
ProviderOrder | REG_SZ | RDPNP,WebClient,PGPpwflt,L
I finally found what was wrong. Somehow I had disabled the lanmanworkstation dll using the sysinternal autoruns utility. I had unchecked the autorun entry the Network Providers tab which disabled a registry entry under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControl
Just to add clarity, although repeating what I just wrote, here's how how my registry reads:
Registry location: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControl
Name | Type | Data
ProviderOrder | REG_SZ | RDPNP,WebClient,PGPpwflt,L
-rich