Networking

Windows 7 mapped drive disconnected with red X

Last Updated on Thursday, 24 January 2013 12:35 Published on Wednesday, 14 April 2010 11:27

I had issues with mapped drives on Windows 2003 server from Windows 7 workstation.

Drives are still visible in windows explorer, but an icon has red X over it. Once you try to double click the drive, the following error occurs:

"Error occured while connecting to \\server\drive, Microsoft Windows Network: The local device name is already in use."

To restore the connection, I had to reboot the PC. Nothing else worked, like trying do disconnect the drive and map it again, or even a logoff.

To resolve this issue do the following on your Windows 7 machine:

 - Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Local Security Policy ( or hit Win orb and type 'secpol.msc')
 - In the left pane, expand Local Policies | Security Options
 - In the right pane locate and open "Network security: LAN manager authentication level"
 - In the drop-down box select "Send LM & NTLM responses".
 - Click Ok

Problem should be resolved now.