Cannot access network shares directly but can access them via shortcut

Question

I have a domain network with Windows Server devices and Windows 10 workstations in it. I have many different shares on multiple servers and the clients work with these shares according to their user rights. My problem is the following:

1. Any network share can be access from any workstation with the necessary user rights (this is okay)
2. No network shares can be access directly (for example copying it to the URL field of file browser) from my RDS server by any user, not even with the apropriate user rights
3. On my RDS if I'm logged in with any user and instead of trying to access a network share directly, I create a shortcut on the desktop that points to the shared path, the user is able to open it

So here's the question: Why can't I open the shares directly but can open them via shortcut?

Yes, I have checked the user rights on every share and each user has their necessary rights to the shares they need (also I've tried adding read/write rights for everyone just to make sure it's not a user rights problem). I've checked the user rights directly on the shared folders and also on the shares that point to the folders.

The shortcut thing has nothing to do with user credentials, I'm creating the shortcut with the exact same user in the exacty same workload that couldn't access the share directly.

What could this be? I've never heard of such a problem and cannot find anything like this in forums.

Answer 1

Hello

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

Here are a few potential reasons and solutions for you:

1. Ensure that network discovery and file sharing are enabled on your RDS server. Go to Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Advanced sharing settings and make sure these options are turned on.
2. There might be a Group Policy setting that is affecting direct access to network shares. Check the Group Policy settings on your RDS server:

• Open the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).

• Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > Lanman Workstation.

• Ensure that the policy "Enable insecure guest logons" is set to Enabled.

3. Stored credentials can cause issues. Open Credential Manager and remove any stored credentials for the network shares. Then, try accessing the shares again and re-enter the credentials.
4. Verify that the DNS settings are correctly configured on your RDS server. Sometimes, DNS resolution issues can prevent direct access to network shares.Try accessing the network share using the IP address instead of the hostname (e.g., \192.168.1.10\sharename).
5. Check the firewall settings on your RDS server to ensure that they are not blocking access to network shares. You might need to create exceptions for file and printer sharing.
6. Shortcuts might bypass certain security checks or use cached credentials, which could explain why they work while direct access does not. This could be related to how Windows handles network paths and permissions.

Reference

Ref：FIX: Windows 11 24H2 Cannot Access Network Shares (0x80070035).

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Daisy Zhou

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