
When you have to connect to a drive that’s on a different computer or on external storage, that’s where the mapped network drives come in. Mapped network drives make accessing files a lot easier. However, there are times when it won’t work for some reason.
Windows will notify you about the unavailability of mapped network drives in several ways. For one, Windows might display a red X on the network drives or it could be that its status will be unavailable when you try to use it from the Command Prompt or via a notification.
It is recommended that you run a few scripts when you log in to your PC as it may so happen that the network drive takes more than usual to connect. Before you start troubleshooting the problem using the given options below, keep in mind that some workouts might only work under certain scenarios. You might need some network access at logon or you might need access to the Group Policy settings. So you need to choose what you prefer more.
You can try the given workarounds below if the mapped network drives are not showing or connecting or working on your Windows 10 computer. These workarounds use scripts to make sure that you are connected to them as soon as you start to use your PC.
As mentioned, before you can troubleshoot, you need to create scripts first. There are two scripts here namely MapDrives.ps1 which is executed by the second script named MapDrives.cmd and is done at a regular and non-elevated Command Prompt. Follow the steps below to get started.
PowerShell -Command "Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser Unrestricted" >> "%TEMP%StartupLog.txt" 2>&1
PowerShell -File "%SystemDrive%ScriptsMapDrives.ps1" >> "%TEMP%StartupLog.txt" 2>&1
$i=3
while($True){
$error.clear()
$MappedDrives = Get-SmbMapping |where -property Status -Value Unavailable -EQ | select LocalPath,RemotePath
foreach( $MappedDrive in $MappedDrives)
{
try {
New-SmbMapping -LocalPath $MappedDrive.LocalPath -RemotePath $MappedDrive.RemotePath -Persistent $True
} catch {
Write-Host "There was an error mapping $MappedDrive.RemotePath to $MappedDrive.LocalPath"
}
}
$i = $i - 1
if($error.Count -eq 0 -Or $i -eq 0) {break}
Start-Sleep -Seconds 30
}
Note: Now that you’ve created the script files, it’s time for you to proceed to the options given below.
Note that this option only works on devices that have network access at login. So if it’s not there, the script will fail to reconnect the network drivers automatically. To create a startup item, here’s what you have to do:
Note: After you complete the steps above, a log file named “StartupLog.txt” will be created in the %TEMP% folder. Now all that’s left for you to do is to log out of your computer and then log back in. This will ensure that the mapped drives are open.
It is possible to create a scheduled task that runs as soon as you log in to your computer. To create a scheduled task, follow the steps below.
-windowsstyle hidden -command .MapDrives.ps1 >> %TEMP%StartupLog.txt 2>&1
You need this option if the mapped network drives are defined via Group Policy settings. You have to update the action of the drive maps to Replace. As a result, it will delete the existing mapped drive and create the mapping on each logon again. However, any settings on the mapped drive that are changed from the Group Policy settings will be gone on each logon. So if the changes don’t work, you need to run the gpupdate command together with the /force parameter in order to refresh the Group Policy setting quickly.
“Error code: 0x80070035. The network path was not found.”One of the common causes of this error is the antivirus program or the Firewall installed on your computer. It could also be that the drive is not shared in the first place or there are some issues with your network drivers. Whichever the case is, here are some potential fixes you need to check out to fix the Error code: 0x80070035.