DFS and Windows 7 x64 strange behavior when trying to access a DFS link through mapped drive
I've manually mapped a network drive (Q Drive) to a DFS location. Whenever I go into "My Computer" and open the Q Drive it shows the DFS links but when I double click one of the links it randomly takes me back to the "My Computer" starting point showing my standard drive letters. If I click through the Q drive and the DFS several time it all of the sudden works. Sometimes this circle of clicking can go on for 5-10 times before it works properly. I'm running the x64 edition of Windows 7. Any suggestions on how to make this work properly? Its very annoying.
January 13th, 2010 8:31pm

I'm having the same problem (same OS). I'm connecting to DFS via the UNC, not a mapped drive. Not only does explorer go "back", it also resets which DFS target I'm connected to (to a sub-optimal out of site server). I've tried disabling IPv6 (as per here: http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2009/10/28/dfs-referrals-and-ipv6-outta-site.aspx ) but it hasn't had any effect.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 15th, 2010 1:44am

What is the system of the server? Are the computers in domain or workgroup? Please change NTLM authentication level to “Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated”. 1. Launch regedit from Start Search box.2. Find the following branch. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa 3. Create a DWORD key under Lsa and set: Name: LmCompatibilityLevel Value: 1 4. Restart.Arthur Xie - MSFT
January 18th, 2010 12:29pm

My DFS shares are hosted on Win2k3 R2 (some of the folder targets are x64)Group policy sets our LmCompatibilityLevel to 2 across all clients and servers.Is there any need to enable LM, or did you just want Win7 to match what XP/2k3 was using?
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 22nd, 2010 1:32pm

The default authentication levels in Windows 7 and Windows XP/Server 2003 are different. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 the level is version 2, which is not involved in Windows XP/Server 2003. Therefore please change the level in Windows 7 computers. Network security: LAN Manager authentication level The value 1 is “Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated”Arthur Xie - MSFT
January 25th, 2010 10:26am

As I said, we're not using default levels. Group policy is forcing everything to LmCompatibilityLevel 2 (including XP/2003) Our corporate security policy will not allow us to to lower this security setting further.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
February 5th, 2010 3:07pm

I am having the same issue as well. I have a DFS root mapped to a drive, I open the drive and then double-click on any of the folders, the folder opens and then quickly reverts back to the directory listing before I double-clicked or goes all the way back the drive view. Now, if I open the same UNC path that the drive is mapped to instead, everything works as expected. I find it hard to believe this issue has anything to do with NTLM authentication levels...
April 2nd, 2010 9:43pm

I have this same issue with the Win 7 x86 and x64 Machines on my Network, Win XP etc.. are all fine. We have an mapped drive that is dfs and the computers get kicked back to my computer or the drive disappears briefly then reappears. This has been reduced by changing the Lan Manager Authentication level to 1 but it still occurs, I have tried different levels and it either gets worse or stays the same. There is something else I am missing that is also causing this issue but I am having issues tracking it down. The DFS is in win 2k mode and this I cannot change. Event Logs on the Machines do not have any errors or warnings at the time the issue appears. I have also turned off IPV6 on some machines as suggested somewhere else but issue remains.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 3rd, 2010 7:32pm

Hi Arthur, I tried your suggestions and it did work for one day. After a day, it started all over again. Whenever a user click on network drive (DFS) it goes back to computer screen disaplaying all the drives. Is there a permanent fix for that? Cheers !
May 11th, 2010 8:03am

Rutledge IT We had the same problem with the DFS root. We discovered that the Windows 7 feature, Offline Files (enable by default) was causing our problem. I think is has something to do with the Share permissions on the DFS root. Look in Accessories -> Sync Center, Manage Offline Files to disable this feature. Of course this can also be done via GPO.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 5th, 2010 4:46pm

Rutledge IT We had the same problem with the DFS root. We discovered that the Windows 7 feature, Offline Files (enable by default) was causing our problem. I think is has something to do with the Share permissions on the DFS root. Look in Accessories -> Sync Center, Manage Offline Files to disable this feature. Of course this can also be done via GPO. Has anyone else confirmed this has resolved the issue?
August 25th, 2010 4:14am

I have this same issue with the Win 7 x86 and x64 Machines on my Network, Win XP etc.. are all fine. We have an mapped drive that is dfs and the computers get kicked back to my computer or the drive disappears briefly then reappears. This has been reduced by changing the Lan Manager Authentication level to 1 but it still occurs, I have tried different levels and it either gets worse or stays the same. There is something else I am missing that is also causing this issue but I am having issues tracking it down. The DFS is in win 2k mode and this I cannot change. Event Logs on the Machines do not have any errors or warnings at the time the issue appears. I have also turned off IPV6 on some machines as suggested somewhere else but issue remains. I tracked our problem down to our antivirus (TrendMicro) program on the DC that the DFS was on. After disabling it on the server, the problem went away. We have not had this issue for a few months now that I turned off the Antivirus.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
August 26th, 2010 1:59am

I was experiencing this same issue with the following clients: Windows 7 Ent x64 Windows 7 Ent x86 with the following servers: DFS Namespace server - Fully Patched Windows Server 2008 R2 DFS Target (file server) - Fully Patched Windows Server 2008 R2 Arthur's answer, which he marked as being the solution, didn't sit right with me, considering 2008R2 and Win7 are both Windows 6.1 Build 7600, so the idea that there was an authentication mismatch just seemed out in left field a bit. I carried on in my Google search to page 2, yes, page 2 of my results and discovered that a hotfix for the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 DFS Clients was made available in July 2010. Here is the KB http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983620 hope this helps anyone also fighting this.
November 3rd, 2010 1:28pm

We have the issue on my workstation Windows 7 SP1 64bit (the hotfix doesn't apply as it is included in SP1) and our server is Windows 2003 (so again hotfix doesn't apply as 2008 and 7 only). While I don't have a permenant fix the following appears to resolve it on the workstation and I run it when I login. dfsutil.exe /pktflush
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 12th, 2011 11:28pm

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics