Hi,

I have a 2012R2 Domain and I have started to use DFS and Replication a lot now. But I've just found out the past couple of says that my Windows 8.1 clients will not see the DFS shares I have set in my GPO. They ether don't appear of just have a Red X on them. Windows 7 clients work fine. So does Windows 8.1 as long as I share them directly to the server in question. Can anyone shed any light on it please as I'm going to be using Windows 8.1 a lot.Thanks

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

Are you able to ping the server in Windows 8.1 computer? Is the workstation using a static IP? Is the client showing up in DNS? Is the workstation able to access other network resources, such as printers, internet, etc.

If the you can't access the files via that workstation. Then there might be a problem with the network connection or there is a trust relationship issue between that workstation and the domain controller.

Best Regards,

Mary Dong

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

Are you able to ping the server in Windows 8.1 computer? Is the workstation using a static IP? Is the client showing up in DNS? Is the workstation able to access other network resources, such as printers, internet, etc.

If the you can't access the files via that workstation. Then there might be a problem with the network connection or there is a trust relationship issue between that workstation and the domain controller.

Best Regards,

Mary Dong

• Proposed as answer by Mary DongMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator 21 hours 39 minutes ago

Hi,

Thanks for your post.

Are you able to ping the server in Windows 8.1 computer? Is the workstation using a static IP? Is the client showing up in DNS? Is the workstation able to access other network resources, such as printers, internet, etc.

If the you can't access the files via that workstation. Then there might be a problem with the network connection or there is a trust relationship issue between that workstation and the domain controller.

Best Regards,

Mary Dong

• Proposed as answer by Mary DongMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Wednesday, July 08, 2015 9:23 AM

Hi,

Is there any updates for your issue?

Have your solved your problem now?

Look forward to your reply.

Best Regards,

Mary Dong

Hi, sorry for the late reply.

I had a DNS issue which I resolved and I thought that cleared the problem. But it's still happening but only on the Windows 8.1 machines. I have noticed though that the DFS drives appear later on during the day and I have read that by default is uses NetBios and not DNS. I read that to resolve the issue (if it is the problem) to either install WINS or change a registry setting on all the servers to Defulat to always use DNS for DFS resolution. But a lot of uses are saying part of the process is to delete the DFS shares and recreate them once the reg setting has been modified. But others you say make the change and restart the DFS service. Have you heard this also?

Hi,

The registry key DfsDnsConfig controls the DFS root to give the response referral in the form of FQDN. And this won't take any affect on the DFS client's script if the client is configured with a DNS suffix for name resolution of FQDN.

Since the registry key DfsDnsConfig takes effect at the point when the root target is being added to the namespace. This means that, if the DFS namespace has already exists, the DFS root targets need to be removed first, then configure DfsDnsConfig to be enabled, and then re-added to the namespace.

You could also refer to the thread.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/57632738-11fe-4b5e-8e0b-eb2fdbe1c86a/setting-dfs-to-use-dns-instead-of-netbios

Best Regards,

Mary Dong

Hi, I'm currently away with limited access to a computer with the Internet.

Thanks for your advise but I am still wondering whether DNS is the issue or not!? I am a little concerned about having to delete the DFS name space as it would cause a lot of agro, plus why only some Windows 8.1 machines and not Windows 7 where the problem lies? I'm thinking of installing WINS to see if that alleviates the problem without having to start again with the registry change? What would you recommend?

Many thanks

Hi,

In your scenario, since there is no explicit error, we need to do troubleshooting for your issue. By the way, is there any error prompt in event log besides the read X? DNS may lead to the same results. So we could check first. After your testing, you find the problem still exsists even have sloved DNS problem. Then we could try to find from other aspect. Windows 8.1 machines has been upgrade comparing to Windows 7. It may also lead to the problem. As you said, installing WINS or change a registry setting may be the solution. We could test for a try. If you could find more error message, then maybe we could find the key reason for your issue. 

If you have any information related to the issue, please feel free to contact us.

Best Regards,

Mary Dong