Most of my company is currently working from home and is having to tunnel into our office network through a VPN. As such, all our network drives are, technically, disconnected until we login to the VPN. Once connected, we could simply open a file explorer window and open each network drive to reestablish/refresh the connection in Windows' eyes, but more than 2 or 3 drives is a hassle, and some of our members don't even think to do this every day even for our main project drive (only universal drive letter we use in our office) before opening some of our programs that need a network drive mapped, and thus have the potential to mess up our files or link therein.
Desired Solution:
I'm looking for a batch or cmd file that can run to refresh or reconnect the drives, without explicitly using NET USE if possible (more on why further down) or opening a file explorer by using a batch file to open a shortcut to a network folder. If this just isn't possible, I'll stick with the solution I have that uses NET USE, but would appreciate help smoothing out the issues outlined below.
I have a couple solutions that are more than a little intrusive in that they require some form of interaction to dismiss them once launched, rather than running, reaching eof, then closing using TIMEOUT /T 5. I was hoping there might be something a little more streamlined, or at least less intrusive, that I could use to avoid these unnecessary interactions that I'm currently dealing with:
Shortcut to a folder on each drive to "ping" said drive for refresh, but this opens a file explorer window, potentially interrupting workflow. I would like to suppress this window opening if possible, or at least immediately close it (not exactly how file explorer works, I know).
Batch file that tests all mapped drives for disconnected ones, then attempts to reconnect, sometimes causing a user input in the cmd window to interrupt workflow (We have two security levels each with their own login credentials, and several of us have mapped network drives using each of the two creds, so some disconnected drives will require manual entry of username and password when the /USER:%username% %password% parameters don't work, which I just can't seem to avoid. Neither server nor network location for NET USE are viable tests for which security level, as their labeled after the project itself rather than the security level needed, and so my only remedy here would be to suppress the asking for user input).
Multiple batch files, one for each drive, requiring users to manually copy and alter batch files for their own needs (only one drive is universally used for each project we're on, and even then some people are one different projects), then updating the task scheduler to run each of their created files (not at all desirable, and as far as I'm concerned, unacceptable). If nothing else can be modified or work without interference, I can just using this to run on our company's default project drive letter, and let people worry about reconnecting the others as needed.
I have a task scheduled for any time our VPN client reports a connection, which due to our home networks and/or the connection between us and the VPN servers, could occur multiple times a day (I've had up to 4 or 5 "connection" events trigger my task after the initial login, though I only have to explicitly login the one time), which can cause further interruptions in workflow beyond just the initial VPN login run. I'm willing to accept any solution that uses NET USE as long as I can suppress the request for user input if the Windows login password doesn't work, or a shortcut if I can prevent the opening of a file explorer window. Alternative solutions are preferred, but I understand that may not be possible.
I have tested using DIR //server/foo, but it timed out for the same reasons that file explorer doesn't display the network drive as "connected" after VPN login is successful.
I've also had mixed results with setting the task scheduler to run my program off of a network connection as opposed to the "connect" event from our VPN client, mostly in that it didn't run reliably, if at all, as I needed to wait until I was connected through the VPN, not just standard internet connection through an ethernet cable. For this, I tried using both methods here, but none of the networks that are available after VPN login seemed to trigger the task properly, even though manually triggering the even through Task Scheduler showed the action would run fine. As such, I'm considering this as a failure, but can revisit if no more streamlined solutions are available or I can get a guarantee this method won't trigger as often (preferably only once per login) as watching the VPN client for its connection event.
At this point, I'm stuck with two solutions that have a high potential to interrupt workflow and annoy the user too greatly for me to want to send out as a final solution (a for loop on NET USE where drive is disconnected and a batch file to open a shortcut that opens a window front and center), and another solution that I consider to limited in scope and as a last resort. I'll make due if there's not a better way to handle either of the first two, but in the mean time, I would greatly appreciate any help/advice!
Edit:
On a side note, I do expect to have the cmd window pop-up briefly, then close automatically once the operations are done (like it would with the shortcut solution), so some amount of workflow interruption will likely be unavoidable. What I'm considering unacceptable is that I can't minimize it and prevent the user form having to interact with it directly or indirectly to get the cmd or resulting window to close after it takes the active window status from whatever program user was previously in.
Edit 2:
I've posted this query elsewhere with this additional recap to help narrow my request:
As a recap, I'm looking for a solution for refreshing network drive connections that do no rely on Credential Manager, will not require user input if network drive credentials differ from windows login credentials, and will not pop-up a window that requires user to close manually. Brief workflow interruptions resulting from cmd or child-process windows popping up before closing automatically are acceptable, with a preference towards one of the two solution avenues I already have running. Thanks again for any input you may have!
I had the same problem. I have 4 mapped drives to reconnect to when I open the VPN and it was a real pain. I have looked for batch file solutions in vain.
My solution is to use a free program called FBackup. I use it anyway for the intended purpose of backing things up, but I noticed that when it opens, it reconnects all of my drives (including the mapped drives using the VPN to the office)
So after I connect, I open FBACKUP. It makes all of the connections for me, then I just shut it down. Job done.
1 this probably belongs on the site that this site was made to head up against, which I am unsure if I am allowed to reference by name on this site.
That said if it was at this site you probably want topost on Superuser.
That said..
For users with more than one drive mapping you want to store thier credentials used in windows credential manager so that the drives can automatically be mapped without specifying a username and password each time.
That will allow your batch script to run in the background and re-map the drives
In lack of a better answer that is viable for our setup (will definitely remember Ben's answer for later, in case I'm able to use it for the lower security profiles), I've decided to go with a more limited scope for my batch file, since I have yet to find any info that will allow me to suppress a file explorer window or request for user input from the cmd window (for password) when attempting to refresh connection to all saved network drives.
Since the one drive that absolutely must be reconnected is, by our guidelines, universally assigned to the same letter (mapping changes depending on the primary project we're on), I've opted for just refreshing this drive as the credentials for this drive will always match the Windows login credentials, and thus won't request user for input if a password is wrong.
I will keep tabs on this question, so that if someone else comes along and has a better solution, I will definitely swap the selected answer to them.
I have developed a wpf app and want it to run whenever the computer starts up.However I have been unable to do so......I have tried editing registry like this answer...
Launch Window on Windows startup
Interesting thing is the app does autostart when there is internet connection.It doesn't when there is no internet. I do need internet connection at some point of time to sync the data to internet application. However this should not have affected the startup of the application.
Any ideas???
I guess you can set up a timer, and after several minutes, check out your internet, if the internet is ok, then run your application continuely. If not, reset the timer, and check again.
Go to the run line (Windows + R). Type "shell:common startup" press "enter". Place a shortcut in that folder and restart your machine (depending on what the *.exe is doing you may need to set its properties to run as administrator).
I have a windows 2016 server running RDS. It is configured to run a single application when a user accesses it from a .rdp shortcut. The user just sees the application as though it is running on their local machine, not a whole remote desktop.
If from a client PC, if I launch the application and log in then I can see a new connection in the RD Gateway manager.
However if I launch the application from the same client PC multiple times I am only asked to login the first time, and whilst I see many instances of the application I only see one connection in the RD gateway manager.
I would like a new connection each time I launch the application, so that I can simulate multiple users running the app concurrently in their own sessions.
I have tried adding "prompt for credentials on client:i:1" to the .rdp shortcut and this has no effect.
Thanks you your help.
I don't think it's possible. Let me try to explain:
Whenever you launch the RDP file, you connect to a session on the RDSH. Now, if you want separate connections, that means that there should be multiple sessions (probably for the same user since the credentials don't change) which is not allowed by the RDSH by default.
Assuming you get passed multiple sessions for same user, MSTSC actually recognizes that for the given RDP file, there is already an open connection, so it will try to reuse that.
Last but not least, there is the problem of licensing - you are "working around" the system: both per-device and per-user licensing would report 1, therefore it would probably be a violation of ToS.
It would be much more useful if you could tell us what you are trying to achieve and then maybe we can help you more.
P.S.: This question has nothing to do with programming, so it probably belongs to https://superuser.com
Hi I figured out a solution to this, so I will share in case it is useful for anyone else.
Modify the hosts file to include different names for the target machine ip address:
eg:
51.xxx.159.233 test1.xxx.uk-user1
51.xxx.159.233 test1.xxx.uk-user2
51.xxx.159.233 test1.xxx.uk-user3
51.xxx.159.233 test1.xxx.uk-user4
Then in each rdp launch shortcut, reference a different alias.
eg:
Shortcut1:
full address:s:test1.xxx.uk-user4
Shortcut2:
full address:s:test1.xxx.uk-user3
Then when the RDP is launched it will ask you to log in even if you already have an active connection and server will have a new user logged into it.
Hope this helps somone in the future.
I am helping a friend out with his new startup and he is looking into the possiblity of buying a server. A big part of the business involves running scripts to test various programs. The scripts automate mouse movement and clicks and keyboard inputs, basically mimicing a human user and logging how to program responds.
I understand that using virtualization, he could have one server running multiple instances of the operating system simulatnously. Unfortunately I don't have any experience with this.
What we would need to do is as follows:
Open an instance of remote desktop instance on the server through a laptop.
Run one of the automation scripts and watch the mouse move around the screen doing its work
Close the remote desktop on my laptop but leave the script running with the mouse moving around the virtual screen doing its work
Open 10 more instances of remote desktop to do the same thing
Login to each remote desktop a week later and check the progress
Basically if I close an instance of remote desktop, is there a way to keep the automated mouse movement script running?
Is there a limit to the number of instances that can be run at once?
I'd be greatful if someone could point me to some instructions on how this would work? As you could probably guess neither of us are IT experts! Thank you
A WinForms program I have developed prints fine and as expected when run as an interactive user. Using the same account but as a scheduled task, the process will run correctly however it prints part of the output in the incorrect font.
The program is a label printer that prints updated pricing labels. It has an option (-s) that the Task Scheduler calls which does not present the GUI but does an update and prints. Executing this as an interactive user through run works correctly (i.e. the correct font is used).
Any clues as to what's happening here? The font that isn't printing correctly is a non-standard system font.
This runs on a server and I thought it might be due to printer redirection but I did a console logon and it worked fine as an interactive process on the console just as it does as interactive through remote desktop.
Interesting problem. Presumably, Windows doesn't load fonts into the non-interactive logon sessions in order to conserve resources.
See this answer for one approach, using the ps tool to create an interactive session when running the task.
I had a very similar issue to yours (running an application through a scheduled task would use the default font but when running locally it would find the custom font I installed) and I found a solution; On Server 2008, there is an issue where custom fonts are not registered immediately after installing for non-interactive users, whereas regular users (i.e. when running on a user actually logged in to the machine) do have the font registered immediately.
The solution that worked for me was to simply restart the machine the font was installed on and the font started working under the non-interactive accounts, as when the computer is turned on it registers correctly. It appears the font installation has a bug where it doesn't register the font correctly for non-interactive users until a reboot.