Can't access common drive

Firstly although an experienced analyst programmer I have no knowledge of networks and I am trying to help out a friend with a problem.
The problem is that the common drive cannot be accessed from the friend's personnal PC in his office and (it seems) this promlem has onlt recently started.
He CAN access the common drive from other PC's in other offices when he logs in (password protected). He CAN access the internet via the network but NOT the common drive (on the server).
What could be causing this problem? I know that common drives need to be 'mapped' before they can be accessed but could he have lost this mapping?
Any suggestions on what I could look for and/or try would be appreciated.
Thanks
John

 

Hi John and welcome.

I know that common drives need to be 'mapped' before they can be accessed
Not really. In fact, a quick test that may give an informative error is to get a run line open then put in the address of the share and OK. Something like
\\servername\sharename
which if things are working, will open that share in a windows explorer session on the PC.

Try that and let us know what your result is. Also, what OS for the server and for the problem workstation and is it a domain or workgroup setup?

 

Can't accesss common drive

Hi Newt,
Thanks for your welcome and prompt reply.
I will not be 'seeing' the problem PC until next Wednesday and so I cannot try what you suggest until then.
In the meantime how do you get a "runline open "?
Also I have had an email from the owner of the PC who states that if he attempts to access the common drive by 'opening' it (double click on the common drive in Windows Explorer) he gets the following displayed
"An error occured while reconnecting S:to\\scps1\shared
Microsoft Windows Network: The local device name is already in use
This connection has not been restored "
Does this mean anything or is this what would be expected by attempting to open the drive remotely?
I am reasonably sure that Windows XP is being used as the OS but am not sure but will find out early next week.

 

Click on the Start button then on Run.

As to the error - strange but possible. When you do get access to the PC, try the following:

Start->run, key in cmd and OK to open a cmd window. (if the OS is 9x/ME, use command). Once the window is open, key in the following two lines and press ENTER after each line.

net use * /DELETE (which will remove any existing mappings)
net use s: \\scps1\shared /persistent:yes (creates a mapping to that share using s: as the drive letter and forces it to recreate every time the PC is rebooted)

Note that I would suggest changing the name of the share to something other than shared. It may not matter but there are some 'reserved' terms that the PC hates to have used by us meat people and this could be one of them. OK to keep that name for the folder but I would share it as another name.

 

I have at last been able to access the problem PC at the school.
FIRSTLY I checked what networked drives/folders are accessible from other PCs in the school Admin office one (of 3) of which is -

Staff-data on 'Surveyorsc-p1' (T: ) note there no space between : and ), I had to enter the space as my email software kept replacing it with a smilie icon which I could not work out how to prevent.

The problem PC had two mapped network drives -
pcprograms on 'scps1' (N: )
shared on 'scps1' (S: )

Firstly (using CMD) I removed these using -
net use * /delete
I then attempted to create staff-data....as follows

net use t: \\surveyorsc-p1\shared /persistent:yes
and got the following error -
System error 53
The network path was not found

I then tried doing it via right click My Computer then select MAP NETWORK DRIVE then selected T: as the drive and then selected BROWSE to find an appropriate folder but Surveyorsc-p was displayed not Surveyorsc-p1 (I think, I was in a rush at the time and may have written it down incorrectly) and when I tried to expand that to see any folders NOTHING was displayed.
I then tried entering (as the folder) Surveyorsc-p\share and got the message
the network path \\Surveyorsc-p\share could not be found
I also tried entering and then Surveyorsc-p\staff-data\share with the same error

Sorry as I am totally unfamiliar with networking I was only guessing as to what to enter.

What did I do wrong? Am I on the right trail?

 

I see the word personal in describing his computer.
Is this his home computer or laptop?
Have you confirmed that the workgroup or domain has been changed from the one he uses at home to the one used at work?

 

Can't access the common drive

The PC is a PC located in the person's office. It is never moved. He claims that he once had access to the common drive.
He IS able to access the internet via the network.
ALL other PCs in the building are connected to the network and they all have access to the common drive (the networked drive on all other PCs is -
Staff-data on 'Surveyorsc-p1' (T
Could you please explain what each parameter of Staff-data on 'Surveyorsc-p1' (T is. I assume that Staff-data is the name of the folder (on the common drive) and Surveyorsc-p1 is the name of the drive on the server and that T: is the name you want to call the common drive - is that correct?

 

Forgive me if I didnt re-read the whole post and may have missed something.

It sounds like this is a workgroup and not a domain??

It just hit me like a ton of bricks.

Could you have possibly hit the limit on workgroup simutanious connections to a share?

 

Not quite. Maybe.

Surveyorsc-p1 should be the name of the PC that houses the folder(s).

When you share a folder (so it can be used over the network) the default suggestion is to retain the name of the folder for use as the share name but this is absolutely not required. Network users will connect to the share name regardless of the real folder name. So if you have a folder on Surveyorsc-p1 named duck and share it as fish, the users would connect to
\\Surveyorsc-p1\fish
while a user actually working at Surveyorsc-p1 would open windows explorer and see a folder named duck with a hand symbol showing it had been shared.

From your example, T: is the drive letter the network PC is using to map to that share.

I think Scott may be onto something here. If Surveyorsc-p1 is a workstation (2000 professional, XP home or pro) it will be limited to 10 simultaneous connections and will refuse any more than that. 2000 & 2003 server does not have this limit.

Note that if PC-A has two drives mapped to shares on Surveyorsc-p1 that will count as 2 of the 10 allowable connections. Note also that if PC-A is shut down, there would only then be 8 of the 10 allowable connections in use and another user or two could connect.