Removing obsolete network drives and user IDs from mapping dialog

[Guest]

I use the "Map network drive" tool frequently to access drives on my company
network when I'm working remote, and use the "Connect as a different user"
option to do so. The dialog has two drop-down lists: the list of user IDs,
which seems to be limited to 4 users, all of which, in my case, are obsolete;
and the list of shares, most of which are obsolete, but which (a) don't show
the whole path name, and (b) appears to be unlimited. I end up in both cases
having to type in the user name, and the unique part of the path, every time
I reconnect a drive. I certainly DO NOT want to "reconnect at login", as
this causes the office Open File dialog to hang if I'm not connected.
Does anyone know how to get rid of these entries? None of the drives show
up on "My Computer" as they are always disconnected after I log off.

 

[Guest]

net use /persistent:no
net use * /delete /yes

will remove all drive-mappings.

It might be better to consider making the connections with a batch-file,
that woudl greatly simplify connecting, and leave no clutter when not
connected.

logon.bat

@echo off
net use /persistent:no
net use driveletter: \\server\share /user:username password
net use driveletter: \\server\share /user:username password
net use driveletter: \\server\share /user:username password

 

[Guest]

Thank you, but the question is not how to remove the mappings, but how to
remove the entries from the drop-down list. None of the remote shares on the
list are mapped - they are not persistent. The problem is, I want to use the
drop-down list to specify the share I want to map to, but I don't want all
the obsolete names to show up. I typically want to map to a path that is 60
or more characters long, but the first 40 or more characters are common to
most of the folder's I'm using.
Writing a batch file would help. I haven't written one in about 14 years.
Is the syntax still pretty much the same (using %1, %2 etc for parameters)?

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

I use the "Map network drive" tool frequently to access drives on my company
network when I'm working remote, and use the "Connect as a different user"
option to do so. The dialog has two drop-down lists: the list of user IDs,
which seems to be limited to 4 users, all of which, in my case, are obsolete;
and the list of shares, most of which are obsolete, but which (a) don't show
the whole path name, and (b) appears to be unlimited. I end up in both cases
having to type in the user name, and the unique part of the path, every time
I reconnect a drive. I certainly DO NOT want to "reconnect at login", as
this causes the office Open File dialog to hang if I'm not connected.
Does anyone know how to get rid of these entries? None of the drives show
up on "My Computer" as they are always disconnected after I log off.

Run the registry editor and open this key:

HCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\
Map Network Drive MRU

Note which letter contains the entry that you want to remove, and
remove that letter from the value of MRUList.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

 

[Guest]

Thank you. That cures the obsolete drives problem. Any idea how to remove
the obsolete user IDs from the "different user" list?

 

[Steve Winograd [MVP]]

Thank you. That cures the obsolete drives problem. Any idea how to remove
the obsolete user IDs from the "different user" list?

You're welcome. I'm sorry, but I don't know where the "different
user" list is kept. To see if it's in the registry, connect to a
mapped network drive using a specific user name, and then search the
registry for that name.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Networking)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com