I am experiencing a problem in Windows Vista when adding a DFS link as a network location. Here is an example scenario:DFS root is: \\server\dfsrootA DFS link is: \\server\dfsroot\share1If I add a Network Location pointing to \\server\dfsroot\share1 and attempt to expand that in Computer, it does not correctly expand the share. Instead, I see a shortcut called "target" and the icon for the network location is a blank paper instead of a folder icon. Only after I double click on the shortcut called "target" does it take me to the share. I did not experience this problem in XP nor 2K. I also do not experience this problem if I add a network location to the file server directly (without using DFS). So, let's say that a DFS link "\\server\dfsroot\share1" referrs to "\\filserver1\share". I can successfully add a network location to "\\filserver1\share". So, this problem only exhibits itself when using DFS in Vista.Alternatively, if I add a mapped drive to the DFS link, this problem does not occur. In addition, if I add a network location to a subfolder of the DFS link such as \\server\dfsroot\share1\folder1, the location opens correctly without the "target" shortcut problem.Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, how did you get around this issue?Thanks.

Hi Aakash Shah, I am not quite understand the meaning of Network Location. Could you please capture a screenshot and provide me with the detailed steps for reproducing the issue? Thanks. I look forward to your reply.

Hi Aakash Shah, As this thread has been quiet for a while we will be changing the issue type to Comment. If you wish to return to this question you can go ahead and change the type back to Question. Then you can edit your initial post and change the radio button at the top of the post editor window. If the issue has been resolved, wed love to hear your solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems. Thanks.

Hello Joson! Sorry for not getting back to you sooner - for some reason, I didn't receive an email when you posted your response and hence the delay. When in the "Computer" area (the old "My Computer"), when you right click in an empty area of the window, the context menu includes an option "Add a Network Location". This is feature I referred to in my original post.I have uploaded 2 screen shots at the web site below: http://www.dashahz.com/VistaNetworkLocationProblemWithDFSRoots.htmIn my example, Programs (fileserver1-programs) refers to \\fileserver1\programs. Programs (domain-dfsroot-programs) refers to \\domain\dfsroot\programs. Note that this DFS link points to \\fileserver1\programs.The first screen shot shows how the the difference in icons (a blank paper is shown for network location with a DFS path).The second screen shot shows what happens when you double click on this blank paper icon.Please let me know if you need any other information. Thanks.

Joson: Hello! I wanted to follow up to see if you were able to read my previous post. I've included more details of the problem. Thanks.

Hi Aakash Shah, Sorry for the late response. I was analyzing the issue in my local test environment. Currently, I have reported this behavior to the related team. Based on my test, we can still properly access the DFS Link although there is something wrong with the shortcut. As it may be time consuming to analyze this behavior, is it possible to map a network drive to the DFS link for a workaround?

Hi Joson! Thanks for getting back to me. I've currently set up the Vista users with access to the server without using DFS (using the file server name directly). So, this should work for us for now. Will you be able to post a response when you hear back from the developers on an approximate date this will be fixed? Thanks.

Sure, I will update you here. Have a nice day.

I just wanted to weigh in and report that I am having this problem as well. Operating system: Windows Vista Ultimate (64 bit) Service Pack 1 When adding a new "Network Location" to the "Computer" window (which used to be called "My Computer"), it is similar to how in XP you would do "Add a network place" to "My Network Places." When adding: \\MYDOMAIN\DFSROOT\Share as a Network Location in "Computer" we get a generic icon which, when double clicked on,contains a single shortcut labeled "Target" which, when double clicking, takes us to the share. When adding \\SERVERNAME\Share as a Network Location in "Computer" (which is where the above DFS UNC is targeted to), the problem does not occur, we receive a correct icon in "Computer" and double clicking on it takes us directly to the share. This is the behavior that is expected when using the DFS UNC above. There is apparently something wrong with adding the roots of DFS targets as Network Locations in the "Computer" folder. * Note: This appears to be a regression, as adding DFS target roots to "My Network Places" in XP does not exhibit this problem.

Have the same problem when the links are manually created as describe. I also have some links to DFS shares that work properly but I don't know how they got created. They are ones I use a lot and they seem to be automatically created somehow. Just one of the many dissapointments not fixed in SP1. Mark.

Mark: I haven't had this problem with Vista yet, but I did have this problem in XP where network locations where automatically added to my Network Places. On XP, here is the registry entry to fix this: To to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer and create a new DWORD value and set it to 1. Please note that I haven't had to do this yet on my Vista computer, so this may not apply to you - this is the fix I used for XP.

Joson: Hi! I wanted to follow up to see if you have an approximate time frame as to when this problem will be resolved. We are considering moving some users in our organization to Vista, beyond our initial test group, and this problem is posing to be a real challenge since we would like to continue to use DFS names instead of the actual file server name as we did in XP. We don't use mapped drives for our regular users and so this wouldn't work either. Thanks.

Same problem here. Mapped drives work fine but are ancient! We need to have a network location to the \\domainname.net\shared DFS pathon all VistaSP1 clients because not all applications allow typing in UNC paths, instead, they force you to browse to the folder you want. Has anyone opened a support case with MS for this bug?

Joson: Have you heard from the MS Development team regarding a fix for this problem and approximately when we will be seeing a patch to resolve this issue? We would appreciate an update. Thanks.

Is it a working AND supported workaround to add a DNS CNAME alias with theNETBIOS name of the domain and set the DNS domain name as the FQDN target? If you have a DNS domain "company.local." add a CNAME "company" with target "company.local." to the DNS forward lookup zone "company.local.".

We have this problem too. Any word on a fix?

Try to install KB950876 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950876 / http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=950876). It works for us. You then don't need the FQDN workaround I've mentioned before any more."Group Policy settings are not applied on member computers that are running Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista SP1 when certain SMB signing policies are enabled"Best Regards to my colleague who found this.

I tested this out and it did not fix the DFS network location problem - I am still experiencing the same problem where network locations to DFS links such as \\server\dfsroot\share1 show the blank paper icon and do not correctly expand in Explorer. From reading the information on the webpage above, the hotfix you linked to addresses another problem in Vista.Can you confirm whether the hotfix you linked to fixed the network location problemI outlined in my the first post on your computer?Thanks.

Joson: Will this problem be addressed in Vista SP2 and Windows 7? We would appreciate an update about this.Thanks.

MicrosoftThis is a serious problem - Please address it as such. Please do not tell us about how hard it is to recreate.We have hundreds of PCs we manage across dozens of clients. Every Vista user has problems with DFS shortcuts. This is across multiple domains all configured in a myriad of ways.We use DFS shortcuts extensively and this is killing our clients. Microsoft seems to still be in it's ivory tower about Vista problems. Server 2008 is no better. It's very hard to reccomend upgrading any Microsoft software these days.FIX THIS BUG!

This problemis described inKB953537. There is a hotfix available for both 32 and 64 bit. According to the file time stamp, it seems to have been available since Juli 2008. The KB is difficult to find because it does not mention the problem is seen when using "Add a Network Location" in Windows Explorer.I have tested the hotfix, and it solves most of the problem: The content of the folder when clicking the Network Location icon is now ok, and the icon looks as it should.However, when clicking the path at the top of Windows Explorer it still shows a wrong path: instead of showing the DFS path (e.g. \\server\DFSroot\share), it shows the path to the localNetwork Shortcut folder (e.g. C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts\SHORTCUT_NAME).Peter :-)www.skov.com

Thank you very much Peter! I installed this and confirmed that this hotfix resolved my problem. Thanks again!

Good it worked for you too! It stopped ourmigration from XPto Vista, now it seems we are able to continue.By the way - ifsomeone needs a script to add Network Locations, I have made one and it works on both XP and Vista. I can post it if wanted.Peter :-)

This bug was also a major show stopper in our migration process.Yes, please post the script to add network locations. I was planning on using Group Policy Preferences to deploy the network locations as indicated below:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/452028b2-d22a-42c1-9a1b-04b8e1f75281Unfortunately, there is a bug with this method because it doesn't correctly create the Network Location so that the locations are expandable in the folder tree. I started a thread about this at:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverGP/thread/00c403ba-552f-426a-9b04-9a3bb007cef6Thanks.

I just wanted to let everyone know that Vista SP2 addresses the DFS Link Network Location problem. So, you no longer need the hotfix.However, it still shows the "C:\Users\USER_NAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Network Shortcuts\SHORTCUT_NAME" in the address bar when you go into one of the network locations.