Symptoms
When you try to access a network drive on a Microsoft Windows XP-based client that is mapped to a shared network folder of a file server in a domain, you may receive the following error message:
The local device name is already in use
Note This issue may also occur on Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based clients.
Cause
This issue may occur if you log on to the Windows XP-based client by using a different connection type than you use to connect to the file server. If you created the network drive through a local area network (LAN) with your current user credentials, the mapping information does not contain any user information. When you log on to the computer, the operating system establishes only a partial connection to the share, and the network drive is considered used. Later, when you access the network drive, the connection is fully restored.
If you use another connection type such as Remote Access Service (RAS) to connect to the file server, the logon credentials used are different from the credentials that you used to create the network mapping. When you try to access the network drive to restore the connection, the operating system tries to use the logon credentials of the RAS connection. If the file share server does not accept the logon credentials of the RAS connection, the operating system cannot access the share. Then, the operation system tries to re-create the mapping to the already-used network drive, and the error occurs.
Resolution
To resolve this issue, remove the existing network mapping. Then create a new network mapping for the share.
