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Sorry if this sounds familiar, but I have tried other solutions.

I have a new Win10 machine that loses access to AD network shares. While I can access them by IP, when I access by server name I get the message: "The specified network name is no longer available" (that's NOT "The network path was not found").

If I restart the Remote Desktop Configuration, Computer Browser, and Server services, there is no change. But if I restart the Workstation service (which restarts the other services), then the server name works again. But then when I reboot, it's gone again. I tried putting Workstation to delayed start, but the Service control panel wouldn't allow me.

I have enabled all 3 options under the "SMB 1.0/CIFS File Sharing Support" feature and disabled antivirus software. I am on a domain, and have the DNS pointing to my DC with it's DNS services. The servername resolves with no problems to it's IP. I have also made sure to disable SMBv2 on the workstation (the servers doesn't support it). The server is a Windows 2012 server with DC, DNS, and DHCP service.

Please note: I am on a Windows Domain, and the users 'Documents' directory is redirected to a network share. I can't just map the share using the IP address. I don't have this problem on a dozen other, older Win10 computers, just this new Win10 computer I am setting up. I've spent 8 hours on this.

So, please: How can I get my network shares by servername to work reliably on a new PC?

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    Do you have network credentials stored that are incorrect?
    – LPChip
    Mar 12, 2021 at 14:02
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    Also make sure both Network Discovery and File/Print sharing settings have been set to ON. Make sure Password protected sharing is ON. Then run TCP/IP Reset: Open cmd.exe with Run as Administrator (1) netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt (2) ipconfig /flushdns (3) restart the computer
    – John
    Mar 12, 2021 at 14:02
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    Are you aware that SMBv1 is extremely vulnerable and shouldn’t ever be used? Additionally, are you an Administrator on the domain, if not have you asked the Administrator to diagnose this problem?
    – Ramhound
    Mar 12, 2021 at 14:12
  • I removed the computer from the domain and re-added it, and removed the users profile from the PC, and that worked through several reboots, but the problem is back this morning.
    – wgadmin
    Mar 15, 2021 at 20:07
  • I do not believe I have any bad credentials. I am logged in, and I can access the share after manually restarting the Workstation service. Network Discovery and File/Print sharing settings have been set to ON. Password protected sharing is ON. I ran the netsh and ipconfig commands as well (DNS seems ok, I can ping the server name, I just can't access the share by server name). After all this, and rebooting, the share is inaccessible again (until I restart the Workstation service).
    – wgadmin
    Mar 15, 2021 at 20:07

1 Answer 1

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Another computer with recent updates started to experience the same disconnection. Normally, I review and roll out updates to all workstations, but these 2 were exceptions to that rule.

The problem appears to be caused by 2 specific items:

  1. SMBv1 Sharing not working after Windows update

  2. My file server had disabled SMBv2.

SMBv2 must have been disabled years ago, though I'm not sure why. I checked if the SMBv2 protocol was enabled with this in powershell:

Get-SmbServerConfiguration | Select EnableSMB2Protocol

It was disabled. So with the server disabling SMBv2 and the updated client disabling SMBv1, it's obvious why the share didn't work. I enabled SMBv2 on the server with this in Powershell:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EnableSMB2Protocol $true

The network shares on the 2 new computers are now working again.

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