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Lost local network mapped drives when internet connection is lost

I have a work network (no server, all on the same subnet) that has 7 computers all running Windows 10 Pro 64 bit, 8 NAS drives, and each computer has various mapped drives. The network is connected to the internet via a WatchGuard router.

Recently we lost our internet connection for several days during that time we were not able to access any of the mapped drives from any of the computers on the network. We could however access the admin setup for the NAS drives from the Windows Network folder.

When our internet connection was restored, abracadabra the mapped drives all worked again. To simulate the internet going down I remove the cable into the router from the internet modem. Once again the mapped drives are lost. Plug it back in and they are restored.

How do I fix this so that we can access the mapped drives regardless of the status of the internet connection.

On each machine, delete all mapped drives (NET USE X: /Delete for all drives X:)
Restart, and remap again and that normally will fix this.

ASKER

Does not work. As soon as I simulate another internet failure the same thing happens again. The error code is 0X80070079.

You mentioned you have a WatchGuard router. That is your failure point. It is your gateway. Once the gateway goes down, you can no longer route.

When you simulate the failure, can you reach the NAS via IP?

Try looking at this Article for Connection lost issues

https://windowsreport.com/fix-semaphore-expired/

Also open cmd.exe and type NET USE X: \\device\folder What numerical error do you get?

ASKER

No I have to disagree. It has nothing to do with that otherwise you could not see it in the Windows Network folder. This is local network access only, nothing involving the gateway.

Do not Browse (as that has become somewhat unreliable). Map network folders properly with NET USE

ASKER

John,

Not sure what you mean by "Do not Browse (as that has become somewhat unreliable). Map network folders properly with NET USE" I click the Map Network Drive icon in the toolbar and type in \\192.168.0.97\FNDocuments.

Also all of my computer use NTFS already not FAT32. This situation in the same on all 7 computers.

Security has changed so much that going to Network on the client and browsing for the NAS may not work. I never use that method any more

Check your network settings on any of the clients just to see if there exists a gateway or paste your IPCONFIG /ALL

I know you stated no gateway, but it's just to rule it out.

ASKER

IPConfig All
IPConfig-ALL.JPG

ASKER

John what method do you use to access an NAS drive or a mapped drive on another computer?

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

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You mentioned that you don't use a gateway.

What is device 192.168.0.1? Would this happen to be your WG?
2019-03-27_153102.jpg

ASKER

Can a shortcut be setup for this if not it is a deal breaker as the users on the network will not be sophisticated enough to do it.

Yes . Once you have the NET USE format, put it in a batch file on the desktop. I do this routinely

ASKER

efrimpol,

You mentioned that you don't use a gateway.

What is device 192.168.0.1? Would this happen to be your WG? That is the watchguard router, my bad, but it is still in the loop all I am doing is disconnecting the cable to the cable modem. Local access has not been disturbed. I can still remote desktop to all of the computers on the network.

ASKER

When I try Net Use a:\\192.168.0.97\FNDocuments I get "System error 67 has occurred".

No John stipulated devicename, not IP.

Try IP address for device. It must have that

also a space after "A:" is required. But in addition I think A: and B: are reserved. A: and B: were equated to the use of floppy drives.

ASKER

I thought I did IP address for device.

correct format

NET USE DRIVE LETTER FULL PATH

net use G: \\192.168.0.97\FNDocuments

Usually you want to use letters above E or F.

A: Floppy
B: Floppy
C: O/S
D: CD/DVD drive

E: could be a USB flash drive or external USB drive
F: could be another USB drive or a mapped drive

ASKER

A and B are not reserved. As I have the same issue with P as a mapped drive. I use A and B so that it came be the same across all of the network computers. Net Use a: \\192.168.0.97\FNDocuments - results in error 85.

ASKER

All the CD/DVD drives on all the computers on the network are drive V:. C, D, E, F are used or not used on the network computers for the disk drives that may or may not be on a particular computer. The I drive for example is the iTunes drive. Drives X and Y are for media cards.

ASKER

Also R, S, and Q are used for thunderbolt 3 drives.

David Johnson, CD

You have a domain so WHY are your DNS servers using a public internet address and not using a private IP address? Ergo using NAME will fail when the internet isn't available. IP address should still work.

Somehow your DNS settings are involved because the issue only occurs when you replicate it by unplugging the WG from the internet.
2019-03-27_153628.jpg

Sorry, Dave. You beat me to punch yet again. ARGH!!

LOL

ASKER

net use A: \\192.168.0.97\FNDocuments still get error 85.

Also, Dave.

He mentioned that there is no domain (no server). It is basically a workgroup setting (remember Windows 3.11??

try a different drive letter that you know is NOT in use

David Johnson, CD

error 85
When a user attempts to map a resource to a network drive using a drive letter that was previously used by another resource, the user may receive the following error message: System error 85 has occurred. The local device name is already in use.

ASKER

"You have a domain so WHY are your DNS servers using a public internet address and not using a private IP address? Ergo using NAME will fail when the internet isn't available. IP address should still work."

There is No domain. No server. All computers (workgroup is "FishNet") on the local network are free standing and independent. The router assigns all of the private IP addresses they are NOT public.

ASKER

David, "

error 85
When a user attempts to map a resource to a network drive using a drive letter that was previously used by another resource, the user may receive the following error message: System error 85 has occurred. The local device name is already in use."

THANK YOU that helped. I disconnected the A: drive and then used the Net use command.

ASKER

Should I be looking at the DNS settings on the router??

Ok, you successfully mapped the drive. Now pull the plug on the internet and see if you can still access the NAS.

To avoid the reliance on the Internet check which each Windows 10 does, disable the Microsoft network connection test via local security group on each system
This will terminate the check.

Double check once disabled that your other equipment does not rely on the presence of an Internet connection.

ASKER

efrimpol "Ok, you successfully mapped the drive. Now pull the plug on the internet and see if you can still access the NAS."

Tried this just now. The results were curious at best. The A drive only worked after I issued the NET USE a: \\192.168.0.97\FNDocuments command. The B drive did not work at all even after issuing the NET USE b: \\192.168.0.98\FNDocumentsBk command.

I have checked the setup of both NAS drives to make sure that they were the same, the only difference of course was the device name. One has Bk appended on the end of the name and the other does not.

I now this "difference" in the device name does not occur until the 12th and 13th characters. Should I rename the b: device the BkFNDocuments instead of FNDocumentsBk?

When you pull the internet feed, what happens on the router? Presumably it is issuing IPs. Does the route reset causing network connections to drop (see event log on each client workstation to see if there is an event attributed to the network) what is logged on the NAS when the internet connection is not present (i.e. does your NAS also functions as a CLOUD meaning it has a connection to the Vendor cloud (Segate/WDC)?
Centrally managed via the cloud?

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/enabling-ncsi-active-probing-prevents-auto-connect/c9f52738-7036-4391-b8d9-9c2ce3e73e92

Use local security policy to disable this option versus registry edit.

I now this "difference" in the device name does not occur until the 12th and 13th characters. Should I rename the b: device the BkFNDocuments instead of FNDocumentsBk?

I'm not sure about this since I don't have a NAS at our facility, but I just did a Windows mapping to one of shares, with a total of "27" characters after the IP address with no issues. But it doesn't hurt to at least try your rename.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600]
(c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

U:\>net use i: \\192.168.1.100\Shared\TP\EasyLabelCMDfiles
The command completed successfully.

U:\>net use i: \\192.168.1.100\Shared\TP\EasyLabelCMDfiles\test
The command completed successfully.

U:\>net use k: \\192.168.1.100\Shared\TP\EasyLabelCMDfiles\testbk
The command completed successfully.

No difference - able to map successfully

ASKER

Ok, that settles the device name question. I only mentioned it because I have run into situations where it did make a difference. I will not be able to test any further today since the network needs to be up to get some end of month work done. Hopefully I can tackle this again tomorrow.

admin's work is never done...

When you get an access error 85, 53 I think,
It suggests a stale session on the server where the share is. The server already reflects an active session.