Why can I no longer connect my NAS units via 'Map Network Drive' in File Explorer?

Question

I have 2, 16TB NAS units that I have been using for 4+ years, mapped via File Explorer as Y and Z. These are connected via ethernet in our home based business. Shortly after Christmas 2023, I came into my office and my PC had rebooted overnight, apparently from a Windows Update, despite being set to NOT install updates automatically. Once I logged in, both NAS devices were no longer showing up as mapped drives. I tried reconnecting, but only receive errors. I have been attempting to utilize the resources available all over Microsoft, but nothing works. I can see the units in File Explorer and one device I can even see the shares (see FileExplorer.jpg). However, I cannot map to either device, neither by using the device name(\WDMYCLOUDEX1400\bmmg) nor the IP address (192.168.0.xxx\bmmg). I have spent several hours with tech support from both Synology and WD, testing and ensuring they are set up correctly. Both sources say it is a Windows 10 issue. I have attempted to get help from various Microsoft sites I have been directed to, but have been unable to get help. The 'learn.microsoft.com site has allowed me to post questions and I have received a reply, but when I attempt to respond to them, my responses are blocked due to a 'code of conduct violation'. Nothing I have attempted to post has been harsh, or any type of offensive response, only attempting to supply further information or answer questions. can't even post "Thank you". FileExplorer.JPGI

Answer 1

Not an expert here but 1 big change I'm aware of that broke older NAS drives was disabling SMBv1. This protocol is insecure and disabled by default in Win11 and backported to Win10. If your NAS only supports SMBv1 then it will no longer work.

To work around that ideally check if your NAS supports SMBv2 and upgrade. If that isn't an option then you can turn SMBv1 back on (at least in Win10). Here's the MS article about it.

Answer 2

Hello, Thank you for posting in Q&A forum. According to your description, you are experiencing a SMB connection issue. Please kindly follow below steps to troubleshoot the issue: 1.Please provide the error message when you connecting to the file share. 2.Run get-smbclintconfiguration in PowerShell window on your windows client and get the output. 3.Run ping NAS IP and telnet NAS IP 445 in CMD window and check if can connect to NAS successfully. 4.Run network monitor or wireshark on windows client and capture the network traffic of step 3, then you can filter "TCP.PORT==445 and IPV4.ADDRESS==NAS IP" and check the network trace. Hope this answer can help you well. Best Regards, Hania Lian