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  • #2209359

    Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

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    by zwa233 ·

    Hello, I’m fairly new to VPN but I am having a lot of difficulty. I am trying to access my university server folder via VPN. I have been giving the information and access and am able to login and connect via the Cisco VPN client and it says Connected to “University”. Then when I go to Map Network Drive and type in \\Server\Folder it gives me the error “Windows cannot access \\Server\Folder Check the spelling of the name. Otherwise, there might be a problem with your network.” and I can click Diagnose, but that never does anything.

    I am on Windows 7 Professional. I have tried turning the Windows Firewall on and off, as well as trying to configure it to allow VPN. I thought maybe the problem was a program called PeerBlock but I’ve since disabled it and nothing has changed.

    I’ve even had an IT guy from the University remotely access my computer use his own login information to try to do this and he could not get it to work either. So it does not seem to be a problem of username access or restriction, but some sort of network problem that I can not figure out.

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    • #2445291

      Clarifications

      by zwa233 ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      Clarifications

    • #2445289

      Couple of things to check

      by scndtnr ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      1. In the transport settings for your VPN connection (right click on the connection entry, select Modify, click on Transport), verify that the Enable Transparent Tunneling box is checked, and IPSec over UDP (NAT/PAT) is selected.
      2. See if your university’s IT staff will give you the IP address of the server, then map your drive as \\xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx\folder.

      The fact that the name of the server is not being recognized points to a DNS problem.

      • #2445285

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Couple of things to check

        1. All good there.
        2. I have the IP that is given as the “host” of the VPN connection, which I assume is the server? I can run cmd and ping that IP and get replies, but if I try mapping the drive such as “\\HOSTIP\Folder” then I get the same error.

    • #2445283

      The host IP is not

      by scndtnr ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      …the IP address of the server; it’s the external IP address of the Cisco device that accepts and defines the VPN connection. You’ll need to get the server’s internal IP address to test the drive mapping when the VPN is established.

      You might be better off getting the university’s 2nd or 3rd level tech support involved; seems to me that the tech that helped you in the first instance did not go far enough with this issue.

      One final thing to check: when the VPN is established, what’s the network type that is displayed in the Network and Sharing Center on your computer? If it’s “Public”, try changing it to “Work”; this may change some network discovery settings and allow you to map a drive using the server name.

      • #2445281

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to The host IP is not

        Ok, I will contact IT again and try to get the server IP.

        I was on the “Home” network type – I switched it to “Work” but nothing changed.

    • #2445260

      Binding order DNS issue

      by mntechguy ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      In the Network and Sharing Center, under Advanced->Advanced Settings, make sure that the Network Adapter corresponding to the Cisco VPN Client is at the top of the list in the Bindings, otherwise it is likely attempting to resolve your server name at your ISP rather than your University. One other gotcha is not appending the domain suffix at the end of the server name \\server.domain.xxx\folder when your computer isn’t actually a member of the domain. You can also troubleshoot name resolution issues quickly by using NSLookup from the command prompt.

      • #2445249

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Binding order DNS issue

        How do you make the network adapter top at the list of the bindings?

        I did the NSLookup and got an IP and server address, but using this IP to map the drive does not work. Pinging this IP also does not work, it says “Server failed” or “non-existent domain”.
        I’m not sure what the domain is to map with like you said in \\server.domain.xxx

    • #2445252

      agree with ll the above

      by markp24 ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      with VPN sometime DNS doesn lot work and you have to map the drive via IP address (ie \\ipaddess\sharename. But thats because DNS is not setup with the vpn network as needed,

    • #2445245

      Simple fix from the old school

      by rechtepublic ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      Edit the HOSTS and LMHOSTS files on the computer to allow local resolution of the remote server names. The key is remembering that you did this years from now when IP addresses and/or computers names change. The files are in Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc. Make sure that these files do NOT have a file extension when you are done. Run “ipconfig /flushdns” and “nbtstat -RR” to clear the old caches and you should be able to ping and map remote servers by name. Good luck!

      • #2445240

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Simple fix from the old school

        Didn’t work, but I’m not entirely sure I did it right either. I still can’t ping by the server IP.

    • #2445243

      Try this:

      by scndtnr ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      Establish the VPN connection
      Open Network and Sharing Center
      Click on Change Adapter Settings
      Right-click on Cisco VPN adapter, select properties
      Click on Internet Protocol Version 4
      Click on Properties
      Click on Advanced
      Click on DNS tab
      Enable the “Append these DNS suffixes (in order):”
      Click on Add
      type in the domain name (like university.edu)
      Click on OK, OK, etc.

      Try to map the drive, or from a command prompt, see if you can ping the server by name.

      • #2445239

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Try this:

        Didn’t work either. I still get the error “can’t find ping: Non-existent domain” when I try to ping either by IP or name.

    • #2445238

      Net Use

      by vgh ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      Just curious what you seen when you run net use from a cmd prompt? I’ve not had this issue in a vpn scenario, but have had weird issues with mapping drives where the pc thought the drive was already mapped but I couldn’t tell until I ran net use. Then deleted it from net use, tried again, and then all was well.

      • #2445234

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Net Use

        Well I’m not sure if this is what you mean, but if I do:
        net use K: \\server\folder I get the error:
        “System Error 53 has occurred.
        The network path was not found.”

    • #2445237

      Did you get any satisfaction

      by scndtnr ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      from “University” tech support? I have to believe that they have dealt with this problem and know how to fix it, else why would they provide VPN access at all. I’d be interested in knowing what their solution is. Maybe us TR folk have missed something…

      • #2445233

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Did you get any satisfaction

        Well when I was originally getting this setup they just sent me a simple step-by-step instruction page saying download/install our VPN client, enter your username/password then enter in the folder specified for mapping the drive and you are done.

        When that wasn’t working and I contacted IT they just assumed I had done something wrong but then after remote accessing my desktop and seeing they could not get it to work either they seemed completely baffled – like they’ve never seen something like this before. I’ve still got a IT request ticket in but have not heard back – I haven’t even been able to get anyone to tell me the IP or domain name of the server, I’ve been having to figure that out myself.

    • #2445228

      Prompted for credentials?

      by barron.williams ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      When you try to connect, are you prompted for network credentials? Could it be that the mapping or connection to the share is using your local computer_name\username and not domain\username? Try the manual mapping and check the box to “Connect using different credentials”.

      • #2445226

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Prompted for credentials?

        It doesn’t prompt for credentials when I try to connect, but I have tried many many times using the “Connect using different credentials” box and it still cannot connect that way either.

    • #2445218

      Might need a better HelpDesk guy

      by mntechguy ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      I’m really suprised that your University’s support staff can’t knock this one out in about 2 minutes. If you’re sure that the server name and IP are correct and know that the server should respond to ping requests but yet it doesn’t reply, traceroute to the IP and see where it hangs up. tracert . Where your last successful reply was is going to be where the issue is route-wise. If the traceroute completes successfully, make sure that the foldername that you are trying to connect to actually exists on the server with the Univ. Good luck. Another call to the Univ Help Desk or a visit to the hall where the computer science guys hang out may not be a bad idea if you want to get it fixed quickly.

      • #2445200

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Might need a better HelpDesk guy

        I think the problem is that I may not actually know the server IP. I know the DNS IP (what I get from NSLookup) – and if I tracert that I get trace complete. I do know the folder I’m trying to map exists because I can access it on campus.

    • #2445213

      Back to basics

      by gumm ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      ipconfig /all – check that your connection is pointing to the correct DNS server IP addresses inside the university.

      Let us know what you find.

      • #2445199

        Reponse To Answer

        by zwa233 ·

        In reply to Back to basics

        Yep it is.

    • #2445203

      Run gpupdate

      by vgh ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      vpn clients often have to “provisioned” so make sure it has the latest group policies by forcing a gpupdate, reboot and try again. You may have to do that from the University’s network while connected via ethernet first.

      By my earlier comment, I just meant enter “net use” only and see what it says. Make sure there isn’t already something mapped. I doubt that is the case though. Just curious…but I would make sure you have the latest group policies and if that still doesn’t work, try reinstalling the Cisco vpn client.

    • #2444173

      Update

      by vgh ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      Did this ever get resolved for you? Can you please give us an update? Thanks.

    • #2887619

      solution

      by alisabin ·

      In reply to Can’t map a drive via VPN on Windows 7, CAN connect to VPN though?

      Long Path Tool helped me in this situation. http://PathTooDeep.com

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