WinXP SP1 and SP2 Redirector Issue

Interesting situation today that affected a number of users using Microsoft WindowsXP Home and Professional. They were connecting to shares via NET USE commands in a login script hosted by Windows 2003 SP1 Server.

Suddenly, all users couldn’t see folder or file objects below the root of their shares. Actually, this was sporatic; they could see some folders, and, couldn’t see others. This had nothing to do with share or NTFS security; all of the security settings were consistent in using the same user account to access the same resource using Terminal Server. This was rather extraordinary.

The situation was consistent with the following Q Article:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;896427

I contacted Microsoft and ordered the hotfix; after application, the problems were corrected.

It seems that a recent update from Microsoft due to a security bulletin a-fouls the redirector for network shares. This happened somewhat all at once, probably as the machines began downloading their automatic updates; caught the users by surprise and it took me a good two hours to diagnose and fix the problem – initially thinking it was just a permissions issue, that was fairly lengthy (grin).

In any case, useful to know – especially if you have any WinXP clients still using LANMAN to NET USE any shares.

R
www.micklerandassociates.com