For the users in a network that is controlled by a Server 2000 or Server 2003 you may notice that the mapped drives keep disconnecting.
This will cause a lot of problems as many of the workstations may use the servers as a storage server therefore the mapped drive serve as a storage device.
For example, in dental offices a dental management software like EagleSoft require the workstations to have access to the shared folders on the server as a mapped drive.
To resolve the issue you need to take two steps. First you need to adjust the workstation to keep the connection alive (KeepConn). Next you need to set the server to ignore the autodisconnect option for idle connections.
WorkStation (client) side:
You need to change some settings in your windows registry.
Please STOP! If you are not familiar with these you may cause serious problem and damage your operating system. Please do these at your own risk!
in the command prompt type (regedit) and presse “Enter” to start windows registry. In windows xp you need to click on Run first and then type “Regedit”. In windows Vista and 7 just click on the start button (windows logo generally located on the bottom left of your screen).
In the registry find the following path:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters
Look for KeepConn (It should be in blue color and the type is “REG_DWORD”)
If you don’t have one right click on the right panel and define a new “REG_DWORD” and call that KeepConn
Set the value of KeepConn to (Decimal 86400).
Server Side:
On your windows 2000 or 2003 start your command prompt as administrator and run the following command:
net config server /autodisconnect:-1
If you see access denied that means you have not run the command prompt as administrator. Please visit our posting to know how to do run the command prompt as administrator in windows 2003.
By performing the above steps your problem of disconnecting mapped drives should be resolved and your drives should be always connected.