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Folder redirection in Windows 7+

I have ONE office that has a curse, and it affects users in that office even if they come to my office, or move to another office.. it's like a bad rash that won't go away and I suspect it has to do with Folder Redirection :)

In this particularly cursed office, I recently replaced their file server, and it has a new hostname. In AD, their Home Folder is set to \\newserver\staff\%username% and I have a folder redirection element in a DA profile redirecting each of Favorites and Documents to $homePath\Favorites and $homepath\Documents respectively.

These clients are all on Windows 7 Professional, and I'm running DA 10.0.0.448. I also reviewed  's whitepaper he sent me a few years back about the differences between XP and vista/7/8/10's folder redirection.

This morning, no one had their favorites connected to \\newserver\staff\%username%\favorites When I remoted in and looked at one person's, the first thing I did was check their sltrace.htm and then from there over to the registry to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell folders and \user shell folders.

On affected machines, the shell folders and user shell folders for Favorites was still set to \\oldserver\staff\Username\Favorites.

In SLTraceLogonCC the log showed:
4/12/2017 9:19:12 AM INFO FR: ---[ Redirect 'Favorites' to '\\NewServer\Staff\thisUser\Favorites' with copy ]-----------------------
4/12/2017 9:19:12 AM INFO FR: 'Favorites' is currently set to '\'
4/12/2017 9:19:12 AM INFO FR: Folder will not be redirected because current path cannot be found...

In DA, I created a new element for favorites that reset to default which runs before the redirect to network, and I un-checked "copy" from the existing element and had the user log out and back in.

4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: ---[ Redirect 'Favorites' to '*Default' ]-----------------------
4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: 'Favorites' is currently set to '\'
4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: Creating Path: C:\Users\thisUser\Favorites
4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: Changing [Favorites] path to: C:\Users\thisUser\Favorites
4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: Error with PathUnMakeSystemFolder(\)

4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: ---[ Redirect 'Favorites' to '\\NewServer\Staff\thisUser\Favorites' ]-----------------------
4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: 'Favorites' is currently set to 'C:\Users\thisUser\Favorites\'
4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: Changing [Favorites] path to: \\NewServer\Staff\thisUser\Favorites
4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: Creating backup files in: C:\Users\thisUser\OldFiles\Favorites_2017412
4/12/2017 10:00:13 AM INFO FR: Removing old folder...

after login, favorites are accessible in IE and double-checking the reg keys shows that shell folders and user shell folders are set to \\newserver\staff\username\favorites.

My questions are:

Should DA still be changing the registry keys for shell folders and user shell folders in versions > XP ?

Is the "Folder will not be redirected because current path cannot be found..." error because the "copy" option was checked?

 

Related to the curse: The users in this office, with that \\oldserver\staff\thisUSer\favorites in Shell folders and User Shell Folders all have a problem with AutoCAD's "first run" setup. I blame Autodesk's crappy installers, but any time one of these users gets a new computer, or signs into a new computer (basically when it's a new profile, anywhere else in the company) they get a "Error 1325: <file name> is not a valid short file name." where <filename> is documents the first error and then it pops up again for favorites. The current workaround is to regedit back to defaults, run autocad the first time, then log out and back in to let DA re-connect them to the UNC paths. 

 

 

 

  • Q: Should DA still be changing the registry keys for shell folders and user shell folders in versions > XP ?
    A: In OS versions greater than XP, DA will still change the registry keys under User Shell Folders in additon to changing the Junction Points.
        

    Q: Is the "Folder will not be redirected because current path cannot be found..." error because the "copy" option was checked?
    A: “Copy” can definitely be an issue if there was a problem finding the original folder. If the files in the original folder do not need to be copied then its best to have that option unchecked.

    On your issue with AutoCAD it may be best to open a support ticket so we can run some tests and see if we can’t come up with a better solution.
    Contact Technical Support

     

    KBs related to this discussion:
    How to troubleshoot Folder Redirection (202536)