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Q160807: Cannot Connect to Windows NT Server with Many Shares

Article: Q160807
Product(s): Windows for Workgroups and Windows NT Networking Issues
Version(s): 2,2.1,3.1,3.5,3.51,4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kberrmsg kbnetwork osr2kbfixlist
Last Modified: 06-AUG-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows 95 
- Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release, versions 2, 2.1 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

You may experience problems connecting to a share on a Windows NT server from a
Windows 95 workstation if the Windows NT server has a large number of shares.

Specific symptoms may include:

- When you attempt to make a UNC (Universal Naming Convention) connection to
  the share, you may receive the following error message:

  The folder "\\<server>\<share>" does not exist.

- When you attempt to connect to the share in Windows NT Explorer, you may
  receive the following error message:

  Access Denied

- In Microsoft Word version 7.0 for Windows 95, when you change the default
  document location to a folder on the server, the File Open operation does not
  work. The current folder reverts to the desktop or the root folder of drive
  C. This may occur whether the share on the server is accessed using a mapped
  drive letter or a UNC connection.

- While using shortcuts you cannot get to lower level directories on the
  Windows NT server. If you double click the shortcut - it connects to the
  servers share and displays folders, but when you double click the lower level
  folder all it does is refresh the upper level share points directories thus
  creating a shortcut loop.


CAUSE
=====

In some scenarios, Windows 95 determines whether a share exists on an SMB server
by getting the list of shares from the server, then searching for the specified
share name in the data returned. The SMB protocol used to get the list of shares
is limited to a total data size of 64K. If the list of shares is too large, not
all names fit within the 64K data block. If the specified share is not included
in the partial list returned, the operation does not work.


RESOLUTION
==========

To work around this issue, use one or more of the following methods:

- Reduce the number of shares on the Windows NT server.

- Reduce the length of the share names on the server.

- Reduce the length of the comments on the shares.

This issue is resolved by the following updated file for Windows 95 (retail and
OSR1), and later versions of this file:

  SHELL32.DLL  version 4.00.955  dated 9/30/96  817,664 bytes

This issue is resolved by the following updated file for Windows 95 OEM Service
Release 2 (OSR2), 2.1 and 2.5, and later versions of this file:

  SHELL32.DLL  version 4.00.1112  dated 9/25/97  819,200 bytes



STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Windows 95 and OEM
Service Release 2 (OSR2). An update to address this problem is now available,
but is not fully regression tested and should be applied only to computers
experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this
specific problem, Microsoft does not recommend implementing this update at this
time. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for additional information about the
availability of this update.

This issue is resolved in Microsoft Windows 98.

MORE INFORMATION
================

This symptom is typically encountered if the number of shares on the Windows NT
server exceeds 1,000 shares, or if the shares generally have long comment
strings.

For additional information about related issues, please see the following
articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q160808 Profiles and Briefcase May Not Work with Windows NT Server

  Q188206 Access Denied Connecting to Windows NT Server with Many Shares


For additional information about issues resolved by updates to this component,
please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q161100 File May Be Truncated When Copied to a Full Network Drive

  Q150215 Disabling Automatic Network Shortcut Resolution

  Q138014 File May Be Truncated to Zero Bytes When Copied Onto Itself

  Q136834 Error Copying Read-Only Files to Core SMB Server


For additional information about Windows 95 updates, please see the following
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q161020 Implementing Windows 95 Updates


Additional query words: winnt refresh 1000 shares network path not found error 53

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Keywords          : kberrmsg kbnetwork osr2 kbfixlist
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNT351search kbWinNT350search kbWinNT400search kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbWinNTS351 kbWinNTS350 kbWinNTS310 kbWinNTS351search kbWinNTS350search kbWinNTS310search kbWin95search kbWinNT310Search kbOPKSearch kbZNotKeyword3 kbWin95OPKOSR2 kbWin95OPKOSR210
Version           : :2,2.1,3.1,3.5,3.51,4.0
Issue type        : kbprb

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