KB IssueWindows 7 loses connection to mapped drives after a certain period of time has elapsed. This can be very frustrating for users, especially when they have programs that depend on the information in these locations.
Issue DetailsWhen you create a mapped drive in Windows 7, you may notice that it loses connection after a certain period of time. The time is nearly the same across all machines, and this is either by default or a bug that Microsoft has never corrected.
Recreate IssueIn Windows 7, create a mapped network drive.
Windows will place the mapped drive in [My Computer] with the rest of your drives.
You can access this drive for up to 12 hours before it loses network connectivity to the mapped drive. You will, however, still be able to access the drive through your [My Network] using its original drive letter. Sometimes, you will not be able to access the drive, but will still be able to access other drives on the networking computer.
Resolve IssueIn Windows 7, perform the following task.
- Click on [Start]
- Choose [Control Panel]
- Then choose [Credential Manager]
Or, you can access it this way.
Open [My Computer]
Click on [Control Panel]
Then choose [Credential Manager]
Click on the [Add a Windows credential]
[Internet or network address]: (Type in the name of the machine to connect to, e.g., [My-Server])
[User name]: (If domain, then type as: Domain-Name\myusername)
[Password]: (Type in your Password)
The only issue with this is that Windows tends to delete the credentials, so they have to be added each time it reboots.