Getting rid of disconnected network drives (Explorer)

[Alex Potter]

Hi there,

Is there any way to get rid of the disconnected network drives in windows
explorer?
I've gone to 'Tools', 'Disconnect Network Drive...' and disconnected
everything but they still show up in explorer.
More irritatingly, when I go to map a new network drive, it doesn't get
updated
For example:

C$ On Machine1 (Z)

after disconnecting from this drive and remapping it to C$ On Machine2 ,
it still displays (even after multiple refreshes)
C$ On Machine1 (Z)
even though when browsing I can tell that I am browsing Machine2

Any help would be appreciated!

TIA

Alex

 

[Guest]

check the registry for associations to that drive and delete them

 

[Brian A.]

Disconnect the drive, refresh, right click and delete.
If no go, disconnect, reboot, right click and delete.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Alex Potter]

Rebooting did the trick...although this seems to be a pretty extreme
refresh!

Thanks

Alex

 

[Brian A.]

Perhaps a registry compare before and after can identify a key you can
export. It appears at this moment my reg compare app decided to go on
vacation producing a report.

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Simon Sheppard]

Perhaps a registry compare before and after can identify a key you can
export. It appears at this moment my reg compare app decided to go on
vacation producing a report.

This is a known bug Q303209

Workaround: this WSH script will disconnect and then Map the drives
properly:

http://www.ss64.com/wsh/drivemap.txt


Save it as DriveMap.vbs

'Usage
' cscript DriveMap.vbs <drive> <fileshare> //NoLogo

e.g.
cscript DriveMap.vbs H: \\MyServer\MyShare //NoLogo

 

[Brian A.]

It appears an update of the latest service pack takes care of the
issue.
Mapped drives do not appear to connect or disconnect in Windows Explorer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/812933/en-us

Also net use can be used from a command prompt to disconnect it.
How to connect and disconnect a network drive in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308582/en-us


--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Simon Sheppard]

This is a known bug Q303209

Workaround: this WSH script will disconnect and then Map the drives
properly:

http://www.ss64.com/wsh/drivemap.txt


Save it as DriveMap.vbs

'Usage
' cscript DriveMap.vbs <drive> <fileshare> //NoLogo

e.g.
cscript DriveMap.vbs H: \\MyServer\MyShare //NoLogo

From: Brian A.
It appears an update of the latest service pack takes care of the
issue.
Mapped drives do not appear to connect or disconnect in Windows Explorer
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/812933/en-us

That KB is a different issue (drive not visible) - plus I've seen this
under a fully patched Win XP Sp2

To reproduce the problem:

Create share1 and share2 on the server

Get user1 to map a persistent connection to share1 then logout user

Now remove share1 and Login user1, the old connection is still
'remembered' but it won't actually connect because the share (or server)
is not available any more.

Now try to run a script that disconnects from share1 and connects to
share2, because the old connection is still 'remembered' a new
connection to the same letter will fail. The drive letter is in use.

Attempting to disconnect will also fail, there is nothing to disconnect
because it never did complete the connection to share1.

Using the GUI alone you don't see this problem - it only affects command
line NET USE or WSH

Simon Sheppard

 

[milestr]

You don't need to reboot - pull up task manager, 'end task' on process explorer.exe, then go to the applications tab, click 'new task', type in explorer.exe and voila! Next time you open an explorer window, those pesky disconnected drives will disappear. DO NOT END TASK MANAGER UNTIL YOU RESTART EXPLORER.EXE VIA NEW TASK. If you do, you will need to reboot - killing explorer.exe will also kill your task bar, start button, desktop, etc. etc. etc.....


This trick also works when your task bar, start button, etc. 'disappear' - this brings them back without a reboot.