Home folder mappings to down-level servers may not work during logon

On a computer that is running either Microsoft Windows 2000 or Microsoft Windows XP, if you have a home folder that is mapped to a network drive on a down-level Server Message Block (SMB) server, the drive may not connect when you log on to the server. For example, if you mapped drive X to a share that is located on a Samba 2.0.7 server, the drive does not connect when you log on to the server.

This behavior may occur if one of the following conditions is true:

• You install Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later on your Windows 2000-based computer.
• You install the hotfix that is documented in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base on your Windows 2000-based computer:
  262890  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262890/ ) Unable to obtain home directory drive connection in a mixed environment
• You are running Windows XP.

This behavior is by design.

After you install Windows 2000 SP2, WinLogon does not send your user name and password in clear text to connect your home drive. This change is by design and is intended to avoid the transmission of your user name and password in clear text over the network.

Because of this behavior, Windows 2000 SP2 does not support the mapping of a home folder to a Samba 2.0.7 Server because Samba 2.0.7 accepts user names and passwords only in clear text.

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.