Question

I have a C# application which loads at startup, and logs data to a network drive, which is mounted as X:

When the machine first boots, the application throws an error that X:\ is not available. If I restart the app, same error.

However, if I open Windows Explorer and double click to browse the drive, I can then run the application and it will connect to X: just fine.

Do network drives not automatically initialise on startup, despite being mapped? Is there a way to set them to initialise automatically?

Answer 1

Ive had the exact same issue. I don’t know if there are better methods out there, but I added this to my code before accessing the mapped drive.

Process mapDrive = new Process();
mapDrive.StartInfo.FileName = "net.exe";
mapDrive.StartInfo.Arguments = @"use c: \\server\share";
mapDrive.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
mapDrive.Start();

That way whether the drive is available at start up or not it will always be available.