Hey folks, I'm reaching out to you experienced SysAdmins for some advice. We've got 10 Windows XP machines in a separate domain with no internet access. They run a testing program based on National Instruments software. About 18 months ago, we were having no problems connecting to our file server (OLDFILESERVER) running Windows 2008, but then things took a turn. Suddenly, the XP machines couldn't access the necessary files, and even rebooting the file server only temporarily resolved the issue. We replaced it with a new server (NEWFILESERVER) running Windows 2022 with SMB1 enabled, which worked for a bit, but last week, the XP machines ground to a halt again. It seems to perform better if not all 10 are running simultaneously. We use Group Policy to map the required drives.
What's puzzling is that when we disconnect the mapped X drive from the NEWFILESERVER and reboot, it inexplicably maps back to the OLDFILESERVER, despite no policies pointing to that anymore. We've checked the registry and startup scripts for anything unusual, but nothing seems to be causing this. I'm looking for any insights into why this old mapping is happening again, and I'd appreciate any tips on investigating the server performance issues too. Thanks a ton!
5 Answers
Also, make sure to inspect the hosts file on your XP clients—you might find some old entries that could be causing confusion. Additionally, check if any batch files are running at startup that might be mapping the drive for all users, not just the current one.
Just throwing this out there, but have you checked for any name resolution issues? If you’re still using WINS or NetBIOS, there might be conflicts with master browser elections. This could explain the intermittent connectivity you’re seeing.
If things get tough, consider setting up a Linux server with Samba and SMB1 enabled. This way, you can bypass the Microsoft issues caused by patches that have broken SMB1 support. Plus, Linux Samba shares are generally easier to manage for this kind of setup.
First off, try opening a command prompt as an administrator and run `net use x: /delete`, then reboot the XP machine. If it reconnects automatically, there's likely a startup script that's remapping the drive. Check your Active Directory settings for that user to see if anything is set up there. Also, keep in mind that if your file server is running Windows 2022 with the latest updates, it might break SMB1 connections, which could cause issues. For legacy systems, consider migrating to SFTP or SSH for better security even in isolated environments.
Quick question—are your systems virtual machines? I've had experiences where physical to virtual conversions introduced similar quirks. Hardware issues prior to conversion can cause strange behavior.
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