Have you ever mapped a drive and chose to have it Reconnect at logon but it did not save the credentials? This has happened to me. The end user has to call you again and again to re-enter the credentials in for them. There are two ways to fix this.
You can use “savecred“. Savecred will save the credentials permanently. The other option is to use “manage passwords” that come with XP in control panel. Manage passwords will only save the password for the current session once the user has typed the password in after being prompted for it. Here are the work arounds:
OPTION 1: “Manage Passwords”
Map your drive:
- Go to My computer/Computer
Click on tools then select map drive - Type in the UNC (\\server\share) that you want to map
- Check the box that says reconnect at logon
- Then click on the connect using a different user name
- It will prompt you for the credentials. Type these in and click ok
- Now click finish and the drive will be mapped using a set of different credentials then the user you are logged in with
Manage my network passwords:
- Click on start
- Click on control panel
- Click on User accounts
- Ont he left hand side of this screen click Manage your network passwords
- If the network credentials are not listed in here that you used when mapping your drive from the above steps go ahead and add them in along with the network share
The above should store the credentials so the user wont be prompted when connecting to the mapped drive.
NOTE: You can also type Control Userpasswords2 to bring up the manage passwords window.
For more info on stored user names and passwords in Windows visit:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q281660/
OPTION 2: “Savecred”
If you have a drive mapped already disconnect it. Open a command prompt. Type in the following syntax: “net use P: \\IP-OR=SERVERNAME\SHARENAME /persistent:yes /savecred”
You will then be prompted to type in the username. Type this in and hit enter. Then you will be prompted for the password. Type this in and your drive will be mapped. Here is a breakdown of the above syntax:
- Net use (This command maps the drive)
- /persistent:yes (This makes the drive map permanent)
- /savecred (This prompts for credentials and saves them)
After running the above syntax your drive will be maped and the credentials saved. It will store the credentials beyond the current session. When you reboot the credentials should still be saved and your user will not be prompted to enter a password whent they access the maped drive.
