On login, how do I get Windows to mount/connect a mapped network drive automatically?

Question

How do you automount an SMB share in Windows 7? When I first login, the drive appears but is not "mounted". It is a mapped network drive, but iTunes will not find the music located on the server until I click the drive in Windows Explorer and mount the drive. It says in Windows Explorer that the drive is "disconnected".

Solution 1

You could try adding on logon via the 'net' command

For example,

net use z: \\server\share

You could get this to start at logon a number of ways - put it in a batch file and add to startup items, add it to task scheduler, or add it to the local group policy are three that come to mind (no doubt there are others)

Solution 2

I generally simply use a batch script which does a "dir" command on that share.

Open Notepad, and enter the following:

dir I:

Replace I with the drive letter you have mapped.

You can also do >nul on the end of that command to hide the output in the command prompt window when it runs.

Click File, then Save As.
Change Save as Type to All Files. Save the file in the C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder and call it mapdrive.bat. Replace username with your own username.

Next time you start your computer it will run this script. It will force windows to connect to the mapped drive.

Solution 3

A simple net use command is all that should be needed. If your network share requires a different username/password, those can be specified too.

net use i: \\server1\Directory3 /persistent:yes

Net Use docs:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490717.aspx

I map shares like this all the time without issue. Sometimes it takes a moment or two after logging in for the share to reconnect. It's not always instant.

Solution 4

you can try using a batch file to copy a non-existent file from the mapped drive to the local c:\ drive. This would force the mapped drive to mount and look for the file, return an error, but the drive will be mounted.

A simple batch file in the startup group should do the trick -

copy :\badfile.txt c:\

Save as MOUNTME.BAT then put this in the startup folder.

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Comments

[Alan B]

Is this not more of an iTunes issue than a Windows issue?

[askvictor]

A persistent mapped drive is the built in way to do it, but if there is no network connection at the instant it tries to mount it, it will be left in a disconnected state. This is usually the case with wireless networks, which are usually connected at a later stage of the login process.

[agz]

@askvictor so if i have ethernet, will it automount?

[chuckkahn]

Haha! My startup folder is on the network drive!

[Guian]

No @agz. 5 years later it still doesn't

[Syed Waqas]

The OP has asked for mounting the drive automatically on logon, not by doing it manually as you have mentioned!

[Danny Hong]

Yes, there is a check box "Reconnect at logon", just check on it.