Exchange
--
Questions
--
Followers
Top Experts
After Windows 10 upgrades mapped drive letters are inconsistent.
I upgraded 8 workstations from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro with the update program. Â All these workstations are connected to a SBS2011 Standard. Â They are not connected to the servers domain. Â The workstations Windows logins and passwords matches their user credentials. Â This makes it easy to map the shared folder on the server. Â They are also connected to Exchange 2011 that is running on the same server.
The problem is that all the workstations randomly get the message "Not Responding" when open a network program or just opening a folder on the network drive. Â It seems like it happens for a couple of hours and then it is fine. Â I can find no pattern. Â
Also sometimes you go to open a shared folder that should have 24 subfolders in it and you see only 1 folder and maybe 1 subfolder under that.
Sometimes Outlook has trouble connecting to the exchange.
With all of these you get the spinning wheel but if you wait long enough it eventually opens.
Any ideas???
This problem started at the same time that we performed the workstation upgrades. Â Ther
The problem is that all the workstations randomly get the message "Not Responding" when open a network program or just opening a folder on the network drive. Â It seems like it happens for a couple of hours and then it is fine. Â I can find no pattern. Â
Also sometimes you go to open a shared folder that should have 24 subfolders in it and you see only 1 folder and maybe 1 subfolder under that.
Sometimes Outlook has trouble connecting to the exchange.
With all of these you get the spinning wheel but if you wait long enough it eventually opens.
Any ideas???
This problem started at the same time that we performed the workstation upgrades. Â Ther
Zero AI Policy
We believe in human intelligence. Our moderation policy strictly prohibits the use of LLM content in our Q&A threads.
I'd start with checking the settings from ipconfig /all (from a cmd prompt) on the workstations. Â Confirm that DNS points ONLY to the DNS server on the SBS. Â Also, I would disable IPv6 on the workstations (not on the server) to see if that makes a difference. Â If IPv6 is not set up correctly, this sort of problem can happen.
Are you pointing to the server by name or by IP address in your mappings? Â Name should work, but using the IP address instead can be a handy troubleshooting tool to confirm that it is a DNS issue.
Lastly, why aren't the workstations connected to the domain? Â There may be good reasons for your configuration, but you'll very likely find that joining the domain makes many things more secure, reliable, and manageable.
Are you pointing to the server by name or by IP address in your mappings? Â Name should work, but using the IP address instead can be a handy troubleshooting tool to confirm that it is a DNS issue.
Lastly, why aren't the workstations connected to the domain? Â There may be good reasons for your configuration, but you'll very likely find that joining the domain makes many things more secure, reliable, and manageable.
I have all the computers set with a static IP for IPn4 and IPv6 is not used or set up. Â The DNS primary is pointing to the servers local static IP but I do have the secondary DNS pointing to the internet providers DNS number.
The mappings for the server are all by server name \\server\shared and not IP.
The workstations are not connected to the domain because the workstations have been configured that way for about 12 years and when I have suddenly changed it in the past to connect to the domain it creates a new desktop and settings so it loses all of the users computer personality.
This customers users are very set in their ways and they are all about to retire this year so they are resistant to change. Â Any change in their desktop would be devestating to them so I have kept it as is with a peer to peer workstation mapping. Hopefully that is not the only fix for this problem.
The mappings for the server are all by server name \\server\shared and not IP.
The workstations are not connected to the domain because the workstations have been configured that way for about 12 years and when I have suddenly changed it in the past to connect to the domain it creates a new desktop and settings so it loses all of the users computer personality.
This customers users are very set in their ways and they are all about to retire this year so they are resistant to change. Â Any change in their desktop would be devestating to them so I have kept it as is with a peer to peer workstation mapping. Hopefully that is not the only fix for this problem.
I also note that the workstations event log reports under "system" event id 10016 and under "application" event id 455 ESENT and id 33 Side by Side.
Hopefully this helps get more responses. Â Thanks!
Hopefully this helps get more responses. Â Thanks!
EARN REWARDS FOR ASKING, ANSWERING, AND MORE.
Earn free swag for participating on the platform.
Something I've run into a bunch of times and it happens or changes for no apparent reason is the first DNS server IP address on the server will suddenly change from the 172.xx.xx.xx address I assigned to it to 127.0.0.1.
Consider looking at that setting.
Scott
Consider looking at that setting.
Scott
Is there a router involved in the setup?
You should not lose profile settings when joining to a SBS server.
You should make sure all SBS patches are applied to the server and workstations and join using the SBS wizard through Edge only on Windows 10.
SBS in particular always works best when using the wizards(for EVERYTHING!).
You should make sure all SBS patches are applied to the server and workstations and join using the SBS wizard through Edge only on Windows 10.
SBS in particular always works best when using the wizards(for EVERYTHING!).
Get a FREE t-shirt when you ask your first question.
We believe in human intelligence. Our moderation policy strictly prohibits the use of LLM content in our Q&A threads.
I have never used the SBS wizard. Â You say through edge which is Microsofts latest browser? Â How do you access the SBS wizard from a workstation?
Hi captjcret,
I've struck similar problems with mapped network drives when upgrading workstations networked to a server.
I found the only reliable way to correct the problems was to disconnect the mapped drives from the server and reconnect them again after upgrading.
Not an ideal solution if you've upgraded a lot of workstations, but doing that has worked for me several times now.
Suggest you give that a try on one of the workstations and see if it helps ease the connectivity issues you're having. Just disconnect the drive mappings through explorer, and then remap them again and test.
Hope that's helpful.
Regards, Andrew
I've struck similar problems with mapped network drives when upgrading workstations networked to a server.
I found the only reliable way to correct the problems was to disconnect the mapped drives from the server and reconnect them again after upgrading.
Not an ideal solution if you've upgraded a lot of workstations, but doing that has worked for me several times now.
Suggest you give that a try on one of the workstations and see if it helps ease the connectivity issues you're having. Just disconnect the drive mappings through explorer, and then remap them again and test.
Hope that's helpful.
Regards, Andrew
EARN REWARDS FOR ASKING, ANSWERING, AND MORE.
Earn free swag for participating on the platform.
@pgm554
When a machine is first connected to a domain, Windows will always create a new profile based on configured new profile defaults and that has always happened whether I used the Windows wizards or not. (?) Â How are you connecting workstations to an SBS domain so that Windows retains and uses the existing workstation profile?
You should not lose profile settings when joining to a SBS server.Interesting. I just wanted to add, that in my experience, the opposite has always been true.
When a machine is first connected to a domain, Windows will always create a new profile based on configured new profile defaults and that has always happened whether I used the Windows wizards or not. (?) Â How are you connecting workstations to an SBS domain so that Windows retains and uses the existing workstation profile?
To protect and preserve profiles (domain or workgroup/local), I've successfully used the free profwiz.exe (google it) many times. It "compiles" the profile into a .zip and places it onto a network share. Then you join the workstation to the domain and run the profwiz.exe again and place the profile back onto the computer as a "domain profile"...nothing lost.
Scott
Scott
@Scott
Thanks for confirming that Scott. It jells with my own thoughts and experiences.
So without a third-party migration tool like profwiz.exe, it is inaccurate to say (as per the previous comment made here) that you will "not lose profile settings when joining to a SBS server."
If only Microsoft wizards are used, you'll always end up with a fresh profile that will need to be configured to the users' tastes again, or manually copy a variety of settings from the old profile.
I've successfully used the free profwiz.exe (google it)
Thanks for confirming that Scott. It jells with my own thoughts and experiences.
So without a third-party migration tool like profwiz.exe, it is inaccurate to say (as per the previous comment made here) that you will "not lose profile settings when joining to a SBS server."
If only Microsoft wizards are used, you'll always end up with a fresh profile that will need to be configured to the users' tastes again, or manually copy a variety of settings from the old profile.
Get a FREE t-shirt when you ask your first question.
We believe in human intelligence. Our moderation policy strictly prohibits the use of LLM content in our Q&A threads.
It is starting to look like if I delete the drive mappings and reboot and then recreate the mappings from scratch everything seems much more stable. Â I also have noticed that IP6 is enabled and we dont use it so I also turned that off. Â My test computer I have been remoting into for the last few days and it seems pretty stable. Â Tomorrow I will go to the site and make the same changes to the other 7 computers and see if that fixes the problem. Â Otherwise I will try profwiz on a computer that is rarely used and see what it does to the profile. Â Thanks for all your help and I should have some results to report by tomorrow night. Â Thanks again!!
It is starting to look like if I delete the drive mappings and reboot and then recreate the mappings from scratch everything seems much more stable.
That's been my experience as well captjcret. I know it's a pita, but it works and I've struck the situation many times.
I also have noticed that IP6 is enabled and we dont use it so I also turned that off.
I do the same, but only when errors indicate it is needed. IPv6 is barely used anyway but I've found that most times, it doesn't cause problems if left on.
Tomorrow I will go to the site and make the same changes to the other 7 computers and see if that fixes the problem
I suspect it will :)
Good luck.
Sorry ,but it's been my experience that the profiles for the user desktop does indeed remain intact when using the connect wizard. in SBS 2011.
Done it many times.
I remember being surprised the first time I ran the wizard expecting otherwise(no desktop short cuts and such).
Done it many times.
I remember being surprised the first time I ran the wizard expecting otherwise(no desktop short cuts and such).
EARN REWARDS FOR ASKING, ANSWERING, AND MORE.
Earn free swag for participating on the platform.
I remapped the drives and everything seemed pretty stable. Â I had one workstaton that finally she turned it off for the night and when she turned it back on in the morning and went to a shortcut one her desktop that looks at a folder on the mapped drive, it only displayed one subfolder and not the on others. Â Attached is 2 PDF files with pictures of what it looks like when all the folders are there and what it looks like when there is only one. Â This same thing happens with 1 other workstation.
drive-mapped-missing-folders.pdf
RLT-client-list--REDACTED-for-Jack--.pdf
drive-mapped-missing-folders.pdf
RLT-client-list--REDACTED-for-Jack--.pdf
"but I do have the secondary DNS pointing to the internet providers DNS number": that creates a serious potential issue, though it resolves a different one.
The problem is that your internet provider's DNS doesn't know how to resolve names on your LAN. Â This is normally not an issue as your primary (local) DNS server will be used for name lookups. Â The issue arises if there is any reason your primary server (SBS) fails to respond to a DNS request. Â The workstation will then switch to the secondary DNS and stay with it as long as it responds. Â That works well for external names, but fails for local ones.
This may not be THE issue you are facing, but I'd point DNS on workstations ONLY to DNS servers that can resolve local addresses.  In  your case, it is likely only the SBS 2011 server.
The issue that your configuration DOES resolve is one where your SBS is down and you want users to be able to reach the internet. Â That is handy, not worth the problem I mentioned above, in my view.
The problem is that your internet provider's DNS doesn't know how to resolve names on your LAN. Â This is normally not an issue as your primary (local) DNS server will be used for name lookups. Â The issue arises if there is any reason your primary server (SBS) fails to respond to a DNS request. Â The workstation will then switch to the secondary DNS and stay with it as long as it responds. Â That works well for external names, but fails for local ones.
This may not be THE issue you are facing, but I'd point DNS on workstations ONLY to DNS servers that can resolve local addresses.  In  your case, it is likely only the SBS 2011 server.
The issue that your configuration DOES resolve is one where your SBS is down and you want users to be able to reach the internet. Â That is handy, not worth the problem I mentioned above, in my view.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
Log in or create a free account to see answer.
Signing up is free and takes 30 seconds. No credit card required.
It looks like the combination of redoing the shortcuts, remapping the drives after flushing the DNS and remapping the drives using the IP number of the server  instead of the server name has made things much more stable.
I want to thank everyone for your help because it was a combination of suggestions that seems to have made for a solution to the problem.
Again, Thanks!
I want to thank everyone for your help because it was a combination of suggestions that seems to have made for a solution to the problem.
Again, Thanks!
Get a FREE t-shirt when you ask your first question.
We believe in human intelligence. Our moderation policy strictly prohibits the use of LLM content in our Q&A threads.
Great to hear the problem is solved captjcret and you're most welcome for the help.
Regards, Andrew
Regards, Andrew
Exchange
--
Questions
--
Followers
Top Experts
Exchange is the server side of a collaborative application product that is part of the Microsoft Server infrastructure. Exchange's major features include email, calendaring, contacts and tasks, support for mobile and web-based access to information, and support for data storage.