network name no longer available

I understood the problem the first time. What about the steps I gave for the exact error you quoted again? Did you try all of them? This is an interactive process. I give steps to perform, you do each one and then report back results until something works, so I know what to suggest next. If you need help performing any step, just ask back. But please do not skip any steps. We often find out the skipped step is the fix.

Another thing to try is to see if you can System Restore to a point before the problem began following this guide: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-system-r...

System Restore is your first line of defense and can take you back to a point before a problem began like a time machine. If it doesn't help then you can undo it. Read about it first in the tutorial above and then try restoring to just before this started.

If the problem repeats or System Restore doesn't work then check which Windows Updates were installed at Settings > Update & Security > Windows Updates > Update History, uninstall them there or System Restore again, then immediately check for and block the Updates with the Hide Updates tool explained here which I would install now so it's ready:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8280-hide-s...

Hi Trippap. I'm Greg, 10 years awarded Windows MVP, specializing in Installation, Performance, Troubleshooting and Activation, here to help you.

Try these fixes for specified network name is no longer available in WIndows 11 and 10 (works the same):

https://thegeekpage.com/the-specified-network-n...

https://www.lifewire.com/fix-when-specified-net...

https://www.techinpost.com/the-specified-networ...

https://appuals.com/fix-the-specified-network-n...

(Avoid ad links which intrude into editorial copy, especially avoid Restoro, PC Repair Tool and Reimage ads)

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questi...

Try these fixes for setting up and fixing network drives:

https://windowsreport.com/windows-11-map-networ...

(Avoid ad links which intrude into editorial copy, especially avoid Restoro, PC Repair Tool and Reimage ads)

https://pureinfotech.com/map-network-drive-wind...

https://www.howtogeek.com/755213/how-to-map-a-n...

https://allthings.how/how-to-map-a-network-driv...

https://www.anyrecover.com/hard-drive-recovery-...

https://www.technospot.net/blogs/mapped-network...

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back I may have other suggestions if necessary.

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Greg, thanks for your response. Please understand that my problem is with maps to shares that have worked until something in Windows 11 caused them to stop working. So I've been through all the enabling SMS 1.0 and turning on network sharing and the like. I'm frustrated because yesterday the mapped share worked fine, and today I get the network name no longer available or can't access,... errors. I'd just like to see some consistency in how Windows handles SMB shares. In the most recent case, I attempted to use the Run dialog to access he IP address of the NAS and was informed that the network name was "no longer available" (?? IP pingable IP address not available ??). I restarted the computer and then could access the NAS from the Run dialog using its IP address, and from there I could right-click on the various shares that were defined and map them to drive letters without having to go through the fol-de-rol of network credentials demanded by trying to map a drive from the This PC screen. I don't remember if the restart involved processing a pending upgrade, but I do know that the problem popped up without any upgrade happening. Something in how Windows handles mappings to SMB drives is not well-conceived.