Cannot disconnect mapped drive

that's right, it is actually settable in the registry so it must be possible to do it via gpo as well.

but it is stored in a different place to the mapping stuff and I don't think the two are really related in this case of drive mapping madness...

This is probably not the answer, but there is some similarity to what happens with System File Protection. I can't see how mapped drives reappearing after you delete them would be based of SFP, but it's odd how similar it is. You know, like if you delete a protected system file it just comes back a few seconds later. I suppose since this is a test computer, if you can't get anything else to work you could try disabling System File Protection. I remember doing this hack in a classroom environment and it does work for system files. Definitely not something I'd want to challenge on a production machine, but it is an interesting exercise even if it doesn't fix the problem. (You'll need a hex editor to work the hack)

http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0 ... asp?ID=290

hacking with the hex, not something I've done before, I guess I don't want the computer to hex me back...

how about just rebooting into safe mode? doesn't that disable it as well? Then I can just edit the registry... I'll give that a shot first since it's easier...

I had an XP Pro workstation that was doing the same thing. It mapped almost every alphabet letter to one shared folder and displayed it as "Disconnected Drive." I couldn't disconnect it because it already was "disconnected."

In this case the problem was a corrupted user profile. The weird thing is that, once the corrupted profile loaded those "disconnected" mappings, they appeared for every other user that used the machine.

To fix it, here's what I had to do:

1. Log in as administrator. Back up local user account profiles to a folder then delete them in System Properties>User Profiles.
2. Remove the machine from the domain and put it in a workgroup.
3. Delete the machine account out of Active Directory.
4. Rejoin the domain and log in as domain admin.
5. Run gpupdate /force.
6. Log out as administrator and log in as the users. Copy their backed-up favorites, desktop, Outlook settings, etc. in to their new profiles.

Once you get rid of the corrupted profile(s), it should work great.

thanks for that, It's been a while, can't remember if I actually resolved this one, I think I just ignored it cos it was a test system.

I'll keep this corrupted profile business in mind if it's the case. It is a bit of a show stopper when it gets wedged like this.

The description indicates they are Machine Mapped Drives. These cannot be contolled by the user, which is why they are "not found" when a user (including an admin) trys to disconnect them.

They are mapped by a Local or Domain Group Policy script.

To view the local policy
Run gpedit.msc
Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts > Startup

Find the relevant Domain GP and edit similarly.

They will always appear as "Disconnected Network Drive" even when they are browsed.

They will not accept a name given to them in scripts that are normally used to map and name user level drive mappings. Renaming them from the listing in MyComputer will rename the original drive itself rather than the mapped name.

They also need to be removed from MountPoints2.