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Programs cant access mapped drive until its manually opened?

D

Dew itt right

2[H]4U
Joined
Oct 28, 2005
Messages
3,314
I'm helping out a friend who owns a tanning salon. They use Helios 11 to control their beds. They just installed a second computer to sign in customers and installed Helios on it as well. Both PC's are connected to a wired router.

There's a database file on the original PC that must be accessed to run the new PC so the original PC is always powered on first and allowed to run for a few minutes before the second PC fires up. The folder housing the database file is shared and mapped on the new PC. The problem is that when the second PC starts up, you get a pop-up says it failed to connect to a network drive or something to that effect. If you go into My Computer, it's there though. Then if you start up Helios, it instantly tell's you the database file cant be found.

All you have to do is go into My Computer and manuall open the mapped drive. It takes maybe 20-30 seconds to open it up but after that, Helios runs just fine and any time after that it can open that mapped drive instantly from My Computer.

Any way around this? I've tried Googling but I'm not coming up with anything...
 
What OS on each?
Simple file sharing, or the old school file sharing setup? (matching local user accounts)
Manually enable "netbios over tcp/ip" in the advanced TCP settings. I haven't worked with Helios...but have with other salon software, they're usually driven by Access and thus a bit picky on name resolution.
How was the drive mapped? Little script in the startup folder, or just done manually via the right click GUI method? Maybe set a net use command with "persistent:yes" argument.
 
What OS are these computers running?

Edit: dang, 2 seconds to late lol
 
XP on both, simple file sharing (I assume?), mapped via GUI method.

I'll check the netbios over TCP/IP setting...

No clue about how to create a script. I'll have to look that up...
 
Okay, both machines have the same OS (XP Pro), same username, and no password. Could having the same username cause an issue?
 
Yes, WORKGROUP...

If I tried a batch file, is this all I would need to have in a .BAT file placed in the Startup folder?

@echo off
net use H: \\PC-Master\Helios11 /PERSISTENT:YES
 
yup.

Workgroup actually is a "myth"...it has nothing at all to do with access, permissions, etc. It's just a visual way of how you are able to browse the network and see computers near you.

You can access a computer by going start==>run ==> \\computername and it will come up
If that other computer is in a different workgroup..you can still just as easily get to it by going start==>run==> \\computername and it will still come up. Or...you could drill up one layer in network places...see the other workgroup name...drill down into that workgroup..and drill into the computer you want. It's just a visual layer in network places.

same workgroup or different workgroup...nothing to do with permissions or access. Peer to peer networks...or..."workgroups"...permissions with shares are all about ."none at all"...or "local users"...period.
 
Still no luck. I've tried everything here and it's not working. The BAT file isn't doing anything when I put it in the startup folder because it runs before the other PC on the network is even recognized. So it's trying to map a networked folder that it can't see yet. All I can do is startup, wait, manually run BAT, then run Helios. But having to manually run the BAT is the same first step we're trying to cut out in the first place. Any other ideas? I also tried mapping the network drive via the IP address to see if it would make a difference and no dice...
 
sounds like maybe the network isn't fully initialized when the user gets logged in.

try this:
Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc

Computer Config -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Logon -> "Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon" set to Enabled.

Although I'm not sure if this will have any effect if it automatically logs in to the desktop.

alternatively, manually configure IP settings on both computers and see if that helps.
 
Any other protocols installed?
Is netbios over IP enabled on the HOST/Server computer also? (if you do one..you should do the other ;) )
Some squirrely 3rd party bloated software firewall involved?
 
Thanks j-sta, I'll try those when I stop by on my way home from work tonight. Any clarification on "manually configure IP settings"?

Yeah, netbios over IP was enabled on both PCs. No other specials apps or anything installed on either. Their Windows firewall are both disabled (not connected to internet). One PC has AVG installed but that's about it...
 
Dew itt right said:
Thanks j-sta, I'll try those when I stop by on my way home from work tonight. Any clarification on "manually configure IP settings"?
Click to expand...

statically assign the IP addresses to the computers.

Start -> Settings -> Network Connections -> right-click on the Local Area Connection -> Properties -> highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) -> click Properties -> set "Use the following IP address"

I guess I could ask before going that route; do these computers come up to a logon screen, or does it automatically log in and go straight to the desktop?
 
IP addresses are static and are set by the router. I assume this serves the same purpose?

Both PC's automatically logon at startup...
 
Dew itt right said:
IP addresses are static and are set by the router. I assume this serves the same purpose?

Both PC's automatically logon at startup...
Click to expand...

ehhh... maybe yes, maybe no.

Even if they have DHCP Reservations setup in the router, they are still having to send a DHCP request out and wait for the response. So there will still be a time they are getting their IP info from the DHCP server.

By manually configuring the IP address on the computer, through the TCP/IP properties, it will alleviate this time where they are "establishing a network connection" since they will not need to attempt to communicate with the DHCP server (router in your case).
 
Why not change the shortcut for helios to map the drive first if it's not mapped and/or connected, then launch helios after it passes that check?
 
da sponge said:
Why not change the shortcut for helios to map the drive first if it's not mapped and/or connected, then launch helios after it passes that check?
Click to expand...

you could try that too, but you can make use a simple bat file.

Code: 
net use R: \\path
start "C:\Program Files\Helios\Helios.exe"

"start" in front of the exe path so that the DOS box will close after the app starts
 
I understand your BAT file but even the simple "net use H: \\192.168.0.199\Helios11" BAT file when placed in the startup folder will not successfully map the drive. However, if I wait like 20 seconds after the desktop appears then manually run the same BAT file, it'll work like a charm. It's almost like it's running so quickly in the startup lineup that it doesn't even find 192.168.0.199 and just quits. Even after telling it to "Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon"...
 
Dew itt right said:
I understand your BAT file but even the simple "net use H: \\192.168.0.199\Helios11" BAT file when placed in the startup folder will not successfully map the drive. However, if I wait like 20 seconds after the desktop appears then manually run the same BAT file, it'll work like a charm. It's almost like it's running so quickly in the startup lineup that it doesn't even find 192.168.0.199 and just quits. Even after telling it to "Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon"...
Click to expand...

put a pause statement at the end, see what error net use is throwing. you can then just sleep it a while if you determine that it really just needs x more seconds. The whole thing is odd though, I've mapped drives (on a domain) via log in scripts, set them persistent and have no problems with connectivity *shrug*
 
Edit:

Haha, saw you already tried the "Always wait for network at computer startup and logon" setting. Nevermind me.
 
Dew itt right said:
I understand your BAT file but even the simple "net use H: \\192.168.0.199\Helios11" BAT file when placed in the startup folder will not successfully map the drive. However, if I wait like 20 seconds after the desktop appears then manually run the same BAT file, it'll work like a charm. It's almost like it's running so quickly in the startup lineup that it doesn't even find 192.168.0.199 and just quits. Even after telling it to "Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon"...
Click to expand...

no no no, don't put the bat file in the startup menu.

use that bat file to start the application. It will first reconnect to the network drive, then start the application, all with a single double-click.

granted, they will still need to wait the 20 seconds or whatever after the desktop loads up, but it removes an additional step since the batch file will both reconnect to the network drive AND launch the application
 
j-sta said:
no no no, don't put the bat file in the startup menu.

use that bat file to start the application. It will first reconnect to the network drive, then start the application, all with a single double-click.

granted, they will still need to wait the 20 seconds or whatever after the desktop loads up, but it removes an additional step since the batch file will both reconnect to the network drive AND launch the application
Click to expand...

Okay, I'm with you now. To avoid the Network Drives Not Accessible balloon popup, I need the "persistent:no" to get rid of the mapped drive when it shuts down. It wasn't working in the past so please double-check this BAT file and if it's correct I'll try running it manually at startup...

@echo off
net use H: \\192.168.0.199\Helios11 /persistent:no
start "C:\Program Files\Helios\Helios.exe"
 
Dew itt right said:
@echo off
net use H: \\192.168.0.199\Helios11 /persistent:no
start "C:\Program Files\Helios\Helios.exe"
Click to expand...
You don't need a persistent variable if the answer is no. So...

@ECHO OFF
IF EXIST H: ECHO Removing old mapping...
IF EXIST H: net use H: /delete
IF NOT EXIST H: ECHO Creating new mapped drive...
IF NOT EXIST H: net use H: \\192.168.0.199\Helios11
IF NOT EXIST H: pause
h:
dir
start "C:\Program Files\Helios\Helios.exe"
Click to expand...

This way it has some error checking, deletes the drive IF it is still hanging around for some reason, ensures the drive is mapped AND has been accessed before starting the application.
 
Thanks. I tried that batch file but when I ran it instead of starting the program it simply opened up a second cmd window titled C:\Program Files\Helios11\Helios11.exe (this is the corrected file path as shown in my batch file). Any thoughts?
 
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