network home folder not mapped correctly

[Guest]

All users in my Active Directory domain have a home folder configured in AD
to automatically attach their z: drive to \\server\home\username where home
is the name of the share on the server.
Frequently when clients login to the domain from XP Pro computers that have
just been rebooted, their z: drive gets mapped to \\server\home instead of
\\server\home\username. If they logout and login again, the mapping is
correct. This only happens on XP. All 2000 Pro clients always get mapped
correctly.
Any ideas?

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

All users in my Active Directory domain have a home folder configured
in AD to automatically attach their z: drive to
\\server\home\username where home is the name of the share on the
server.
Frequently when clients login to the domain from XP Pro computers
that have just been rebooted, their z: drive gets mapped to
\\server\home instead of \\server\home\username. If they logout and
login again, the mapping is correct. This only happens on XP. All
2000 Pro clients always get mapped correctly.
Any ideas?

Do you use a login script?
What permissions do your users have on the "home" share, and what
permissions do they have on their own subfolder

 

[Guest]

I use a login script to map all other network drives.
Their home drive letter is done through the AD.
All users have Full Control to their own home directory.
All Domain users have List Folder contents to the root home directory.
Everyone has Full Control to the home share.

It can't be a permissions issue if it works sometimes but not others.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

I use a login script to map all other network drives.
Their home drive letter is done through the AD.

Are you using a W2k domain? I've seen this before but don't recall the
resolution...

Do you have the same problem if you use something like

net use z: /home ?
and/or
net use z: \\server\home\%username% ?

....presuming you're using a batch file? (I like to append /persistent:no as
well)

All users have Full Control to their own home directory.
All Domain users have List Folder contents to the root home directory.
Everyone has Full Control to the home share.

That should be fine.

It can't be a permissions issue if it works sometimes but not others.

Agreed.

When this error occurs, what path do you see specified in the the
%homeshare% variable (type 'set' in a command prompt)?
How many DCs do you have, and does it make any difference which DC
authenticated them? (you can see this in Set as well).

As mentioned, I've seen this before - I've searched and found a couple of
people with the same problem. This looked interesting:
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-2150236.php

 

[Per Hagstrom]

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

In

Are you using a W2k domain? I've seen this before but don't recall the
resolution...

Do you have the same problem if you use something like

net use z: /home ?
and/or
net use z: \\server\home\%username% ?

...presuming you're using a batch file? (I like to append /persistent:no
as well)



That should be fine.

Agreed.

When this error occurs, what path do you see specified in the the
%homeshare% variable (type 'set' in a command prompt)?
How many DCs do you have, and does it make any difference which DC
authenticated them? (you can see this in Set as well).

As mentioned, I've seen this before - I've searched and found a couple of
people with the same problem. This looked interesting:
http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/thread-2150236.php

Hey!

There is a ton of people out there with this very same annoying problem. It
always seem to happen to people after they installed SP2 on Win XP.
I have the very same problem as well.
After reading a bunch of different forums with this problem, I haven't found
one solution to fix this specific problem. Only solutions are workarounds
with VB scripts etc...

So seems like this must be a bug? Could somebody contact Microsoft tech
support and find out why this is happening, and if there is a fix, without a
workaround?

Many thanks in advance!!

/ Per

ps. Somebody suggested to enable this GPO; Computer Config-Administrative
Templates-System-Logon-Always wait for network at computer startup and logon
Haven't had time to check if that is the actual problem? What do you think?

 

[Guest]

My domain is currently in flux. I have a new 2003 DC but have not yet removed
my 2000 DCs. The 2003 server is primary. The problem happened before the 2003
server was installed so that's not the issue.
The 2003 server is the logonserver whether the drive is mapped correctly or
not.
I have not been able to recreate the problem with a reboot. During my
testing today, I can only recreate it after a complete shutdown. If I log off
and log on, it works fine. If I reboot, it works fine. I can't say for sure
that it never happens on a reboot. I can say for sure that log off and log on
always fixes it.
Here's the weird part: When the mapping is incorrect, homeshare is
\\server\share and homepath is username. When the mapping is correct,
homeshare is \\server\share\username and homepath is \.
When the mapping is incorrect, net use z: /home reconnects the same
incorrect path. Net use z: \\server\share\username does work when done
manually after logon but I haven't tried it yet in a logon script.

Since it only happens on a complete shutdown, could it be due to some
default machine policy that only gets overwritten from the domain after the
first log on?

 

[Per Hagstrom]

My domain is currently in flux. I have a new 2003 DC but have not yet
removed
my 2000 DCs. The 2003 server is primary. The problem happened before the
2003
server was installed so that's not the issue.
The 2003 server is the logonserver whether the drive is mapped correctly
or
not.
I have not been able to recreate the problem with a reboot. During my
testing today, I can only recreate it after a complete shutdown. If I log
off
and log on, it works fine. If I reboot, it works fine. I can't say for
sure
that it never happens on a reboot. I can say for sure that log off and log
on
always fixes it.
Here's the weird part: When the mapping is incorrect, homeshare is
\\server\share and homepath is username. When the mapping is correct,
homeshare is \\server\share\username and homepath is \.
When the mapping is incorrect, net use z: /home reconnects the same
incorrect path. Net use z: \\server\share\username does work when done
manually after logon but I haven't tried it yet in a logon script.

Since it only happens on a complete shutdown, could it be due to some
default machine policy that only gets overwritten from the domain after
the
first log on?

Doug,

I had the exact same problem as you are. And I also noticed the same
homeshare/homepath problem.

I have now been testing the GPO change for a while, and so far I haven't had
one single problem since.

This is the GPO you have to enable:

Computer Config-Administrative Templates-System-Logon-Always wait for
network at computer startup and logon

Give that a try and let me know if it fixes it for you too. Doesn't really
make "sense", but if this fixes it, it tells me this is a Microsoft bug or
flaw...
Don't forget to run GPUPDATE on the workstation after you have done the GPO
change.

Thanks!

/ Per

ps. Additionally, Microsoft does have documentation that you have to enable
this GPO to make sure the Group Policy Software Pushouts are going to work
correctly.

 

[Guest]

I just tried out this policy setting and it has worked so far. It "kind of"
makes sense if you read the information about the setting. But it still seems
like a bug.

 

[Per Hagstrom]

Glad to hear that!
Yeah, I hope this fixes it, it sure is like a bug, but at least we probably
know how to get around it now.
But the homeshare should have a big warning in it's description to make sure
to enable this GPO if you want to use it.

I will keep a close eye on this for the next couple of weeks and report back
if it still happens again.

Thanks Doug!

/ Per