When certain programs will not show a mapped drive in the open and save windows of various programs it may be an indication that Windows is stopping the communication between that program and the network. By turning off the UAC (User Account Control) you can eliminate any device between your program and mapped network drives. However, while reducing the UAC enforcement may look like an easy solution it is something you should only use as a last resort. The UAC does a number of other functions that help reduce malware and other nefarious programs from ruining your system so it is usually something you want to keep in place.
Under normal conditions Windows should have already implemented this solution, however, depending on installation and other factors Windows sometime misses this valuable registry entry and you need to put it in yourself. The value is “EnableLinkedConnections” and is found in the Registry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System. If Windows missed this then the key is usually missing but it could be shut off as well. The value you want to put there is 1 to turn this on.
Directly from Microsoft:
Caution: Incorrect use of the Windows registry editor may prevent the operating system from functioning properly. Great care should be taken when making changes to a Windows registry. Registry modifications should only be carried-out by persons experienced in the use of the registry editor application. It is recommended that a complete backup of the registry and workstation be made prior to making any registry changes.
To configure the EnableLinkedConnections registry value, follow these steps:
- Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
- Locate and then right-click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
- Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
- Type EnableLinkedConnections, and then press ENTER.
- Right-click EnableLinkedConnections, and then click Modify.
- In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
- Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.
I have included a file that you can just run which will insert this value in the registry for you.
It will give a warning about modifying the registry fist but it will just write over the value if it is already there and create it if it isn’t so either way it will work.
