Mapped Drive Connection to Network Share

May Be Lost
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297684

Symptom:

On a computer that runs one of the versions of Windows that is listed at the
beginning of this article, if you map a drive to a network share, the mapped drive
may be disconnected after a regular interval of inactivity, and Windows Explorer
may display a red "X" on the icon of the mapped drive. However, if you try to access
or browse the mapped drive, it reconnects quickly. This behavior occurs if the
network share computer runs Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or
Windows Server 2003.

Cause:

This behavior occurs because Windows NT Server 4.0, Windows 2000 Server, and
Windows Server 2003 can drop idle connections after a specified time-out period
(by default, 15 minutes) to prevent wasting server resources on unused sessions.
The connection can be re-established very quickly, if required.

Resolution:

To resolve this behavior, change the default time-out period on the shared network
computer. To do this, use one of the following methods.

NOTE: You cannot change the default time-out period for Microsoft Windows 95-
based computers and Microsoft Windows 98-based computers that have shared
resources.

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Registry Editor
NOTE: You cannot use this method to turn off the autodisconnect feature of the
Server service. You can only use this method to change the default time-out period
for the autodisconnect feature. WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly,
you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating
system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from
using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
Use Registry Editor to increase the default time-out period. To do this, follow these
steps, and then quit Registry Editor:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit (Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003)
or type regedt32 (Windows NT 4.0), and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmans
erver\parameters

NOTE: The client side session is automatically disconnected when the idling
time lasts more than the duration that is set in KeepConn. For this reason, the
session is disconnected according to the less set duration value between
AutoDisConnect and KeepConn. To modify the timeout duration in the client
side during a UNC connection, specify the arbitrary time in KeepConn from
registry value.
Locate and then click the following key in the registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Service\lanmanwo
rkstation\parameters

Value: KeepConn
Data type : REG_DWORD
Range : 1 to 65535 (sec)
Default value: 600 sec = 10 mins

3. In the right pane, click the autodisconnect value, and then on the Edit
menu, click Modify. If the autodisconnect value does not exist, follow these
steps:

a. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click REG_DWORD.

b. Type autodisconnect, and then press ENTER.
2. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
3. Click Hexadecimal.
4. In the Value data box, type ffffffff, and then click OK.

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Command Line
NOTE: If you use this method, you may turn off the autotuning feature for the
Server service.

To change the default time-out period for the autodisconnect feature of the Server
service, open a command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER
net config server /autodisconnect:number

where number is the number of minutes that you want the server to wait before it
disconnects a mapped network drive. The maximum value for this command is
65,535.

NOTE: If you set the autodisconnect value to 0 (zero), the autodisconnect feature is
not turned off, and the Server service disconnects mapped network drives after only
a few seconds of idle time.

To turn off the autodisconnect feature, open a command prompt, type the following
line, and then press ENTER:

net config server /autodisconnect:-1

More Information:

Some earlier programs may not save files or access data when the drive is
disconnected. However, these programs function normally before the drive is
disconnected.

For additional information about how to increase the default time-out period, click
the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

138365 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/138365/EN-US/ ) How Autodisconnect

Works in Windows NT and Windows 2000

128167 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/128167/EN-US/ ) Server Service

Configuration and Tuning

APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)

• Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition