VBScript to Map a Drive letter to a network file share (non-persistent).
This script is designed for reliability, and is aimed at large domains supporting many users.
It accounts for 'remembered' connections including those to a file share that no longer exists or which is off-line.
This is a good approach for machines that are not always connected to the domain e.g. Laptops.
For each drive letter there are several possible states, that may have to be dealt with by the script:
- Remembered (persistent connection) / Not Remembered
- Already Connected / Connected to the wrong network share / Not Connected.
Windows will not map a 'remembered' connection to a different server unless you first unmap & unremember the existing connection, this applies even if the old connection path is currently disconnected.
This script will remove any existing Drive Map before connecting to the correct file share.
' Map a network drive
' Usage
' cscript MapDrive.vbs drive fileshare //NoLogo
' cscript MapDrive.vbs H: \\MyServer\MyShare //NoLogo
'
' This script will remove any existing drive map to the same drive letter
' including persistent or remembered connections (Q303209)
Option Explicit
Dim objNetwork, objDrives, objReg, i
Dim strLocalDrive, strRemoteShare, strShareConnected, strMessage
Dim bolFoundExisting, bolFoundRemembered
Const HKCU = &H80000001
' Check both parameters have been passed
If WScript.Arguments.Count < 2 Then
wscript.echo "Usage: cscript MapDrive.vbs drive fileshare //NoLogo"
WScript.Quit(1)
End If
strLocalDrive = UCase(Left(WScript.Arguments.Item(0), 2))
strRemoteShare = WScript.Arguments.Item(1)
bolFoundExisting = False
' Check parameters passed make sense
If Right(strLocalDrive, 1) <> ":" OR Left(strRemoteShare, 2) <> "\\" Then
wscript.echo "Usage: cscript MapDrive.vbs drive fileshare //NoLogo"
WScript.Quit(1)
End If
wscript.echo " - Mapping: " + strLocalDrive + " to " + strRemoteShare
Set objNetwork = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Network")
' Loop through the network drive connections and disconnect any that match strLocalDrive
Set objDrives = objNetwork.EnumNetworkDrives
If objDrives.Count > 0 Then
For i = 0 To objDrives.Count-1 Step 2
If objDrives.Item(i) = strLocalDrive Then
strShareConnected = objDrives.Item(i+1)
objNetwork.RemoveNetworkDrive strLocalDrive, True, True
i=objDrives.Count-1
bolFoundExisting = True
End If
Next
End If
' If there's a remembered location (persistent mapping) delete the associated HKCU registry key
If bolFoundExisting <> True Then
Set objReg = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\.\root\default:StdRegProv")
objReg.GetStringValue HKCU, "Network\" & Left(strLocalDrive, 1), "RemotePath", strShareConnected
If strShareConnected <> "" Then
objReg.DeleteKey HKCU, "Network\" & Left(strLocalDrive, 1)
bolFoundRemembered = True
End If
End If
'Now actually do the drive map (not persistent)
Err.Clear
On Error Resume Next
objNetwork.MapNetworkDrive strLocalDrive, strRemoteShare, False
'Error traps
If Err <> 0 Then
Select Case Err.Number
Case -2147023694
'Persistent connection so try a second time
On Error Goto 0
objNetwork.RemoveNetworkDrive strLocalDrive, True, True
objNetwork.MapNetworkDrive strLocalDrive, strRemoteShare, False
WScript.Echo "Second attempt to map drive " & strLocalDrive & " to " & strRemoteShare
Case Else
On Error GoTo 0
WScript.Echo " - ERROR: Failed to map drive " & strLocalDrive & " to " & strRemoteShare
End Select
Err.Clear
End If
Simon Sheppard, SS64.com, Feb 2005
Credit (for the difficult parts) to Kenneth MacDonald, Edinburgh University Computing Services.
You are free to use or modify this script: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.
For drive mapping to work, File and Printer sharing must be enabled on the remote (server) computer.
For mapping multiple drives at once, theres an alternative version of this script over in the forum, it avoids having to load CSCRIPT.exe more than once.
“Success is falling nine times and getting up ten” ~ Jon Bon Jovi
Related:
MapDrivePersistent - Map a Drive letter to a network file share (persistent)
.MapNetworkDrive - Drive Map
NoDrives - Hide mapped drives from Windows Explorer
NET - Manage network resources.
WMIC LOGICALDISK - List mapped drives
Equivalent PowerShell command: New-PSDrive - Create a mapped network drive.