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"The network folder specified is currently mapped using a different user name and password", when trying to connect to a drive remotely.

Anonymous
2010-11-08T20:31:13+00:00

Original Title: The network folder specified is currently mapped using a different user name and password.__To connect using a different user name and password, first disconnect any existing mappings to this network share.

I am trying to connect to a drive remotely. I have clicked to map to the drive, entered the name of the drive, entered the login name/password for the computer it resides on and then it give me this error message:The network folder specified is currently mapped using a different user name and password. To connect using a different user name and password, first disconnect any existing mappings to this network share.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Internet and connectivity

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-12-22T17:45:15+00:00

    In Windows 7 Enterprise, I would like to point out that if you map \\server1\share1 as drive letter X using "user1" and "password1", then try to map \\server1\share2 (a different share) as drive letter Y using the same "user1" and "password1", and you click the "connect using different credentials" checkbox in the Map Network Drive dialog box and specify "user1" and "password1", you will get this INCORRECT ERROR MESSAGE that says "The network folder specified is currently mapped using a different user name and password". 

    The message is wrong because:

    1. The network folder specified (share2 in my example) is not mapped at all, and
    2. the server ("server1" in my example) is already mapped (to a different drive letter and different share) using the SAME userid and password. 

    The error message is wrong on two counts!

    This baffled me for a while until I realized that once you have mapped to "server1" using those credentials, you can map to different shares on the same server without re-specifying the credentials.  This is NOT CLEAR from the "Map Network Drives" dialog box, which leads to users (like me, and I'm a programmer by trade) trying to enter the credentials again and getting this incorrect error message.

    David Walker

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-11-17T16:45:02+00:00

    I receive this error message even though Explorer does not show that the server or share is mapped at all.

    If you use "net use" from a cmd prompt, you can see all of the drives that are connected, even the ones that do not show in Windows.  Use "net use /delete \server\share" to remove the connection.

    I found this information at:

    http://travisepperson.blogspot.com/2007/01/windows-network-folder-specified-is.html

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-02-23T10:12:14+00:00

    Thank you DWalker.

    I had the same problem, and your answer solved it.

    That error message makes no sense.

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2011-11-29T13:18:44+00:00

    Thank you for the net user /delete tip!

    The microsoft KB support article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938120 should be amended to include this advice, as it currently says its "by design" which doesn't help anyone. The fact is the error message is misleading and what is actually happening is the OS is still hanging on the the connection (even after you delete the mapped drive)

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-08-20T15:09:55+00:00

    The old school way of dealing with this was to drop to command line and do a net use /delete command. That no longer seems to work since Windows 7. I dont know if it works under Vista or not. As a matter of fact doing a net use for me shows no entreis in the list. Yes I am using an elevated Administrator:cmd command prompt.

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