The information in this article applies to:
SYMPTOMSWhen you run one of the applications listed above and then start a shared application (such as Microsoft Graph, Microsoft Equation Editor, or Microsoft System Information), you receive an error message similar to the following: When you check your network connections, you find no persistent logical connection to the network drive letter indicated in the error message ("Y" in the above error message). CAUSE
This problem occurs with networks that support the Universal Naming
Convention (UNC) when Setup cannot use the UNC path returned by the Windows
API WNetGetConnection() function.
Q111687 Workstation Setup Installs MSAPPS Files LocallyThere are two known cases where this problem occurs: Banyan Vines NetworkOn a Banyan VINES network, Setup may convert the Network Server field to all uppercase letters. If the true Network Server connection string contains lowercase letters, then the path returned by WNetGetConnection() does not match the upper case path that Setup is using, and Setup maps a a new network connection (ghost drive).A connection string that is not case-correct does not cause the call to WNetGetConnection to fail; however, it causes Setup to be unable to recognize a current connection to the Network Server. Thus while it sees a valid path to use MSAPPS on the server, the proposed connection doesn't EXACTLY match the current connection so a new "Ghost" connection is generated (possibly using the Volume Drive setting for the File Service as defined in the Banyan configuration). This problem is corrected in version 1.1 of the Setup program. The "C" releases of the Microsoft Office programs (Microsoft Excel 5.0c, Microsoft Word 6.0c, Microsoft Access 2.0c, etc.) do not exhibit this behavior. Server and Volume Names Greater Than 39 CharactersOn a Novell network, if the network server and volume names are longer than 39 characters, you can't use the NetBIOS UNC name in the registry (REG.DAT file) because it exceeds the 64 - character limit for the path. Because of this limitation, Setup maps a separate logical (ghost) connection to use. If Setup cannot use the UNC path as in the above cases, Setup uses a drive letter (such as K) in place of the "\\<server_name>\<share_name> syntax. As a result, when you perform a Workstation installation of one of the applications listed above, Setup creates a new temporary logical connection (such as Y) to the server location of your shared components. Setup uses this temporary drive letter to update your system files with the server locations of shared applications, such as Microsoft Equation Editor and Microsoft Graph (MSAPPS), and other shared components, such as the spelling checker and Thesaurus. This behavior occurs even if you are already connected to the network server using a persistent drive letter; Setup does not check for an existing connection before it establishes the temporary connection.Because the connection is temporary, it no longer exists the next time you log on to your network; therefore, none of your Office applications can find the shared applications using the locations listed in your WIN.INI and other settings files (such as WINWORD6.INI, EXCEL5.INI, POWERPNT.INI, and WINHELP.INI, located in your user directory). Setup does not notify you that it has established a new logical connection, so you are unaware that a necessary persistent logical connection is missing. For example, if Setup cannot use the UNC connection returned during a Workstation Installation, it creates a temporary network connection and creates WIN.INI entries similar to those in the following sample:
NOTE: Office applications do not use the [MSAPPS] section of your WIN.INI file, so settings in that section do not affect this behavior.IMPORTANT: This behavior does not occur if you install the MSAPPS files on the local hard disk drive of the workstation. This problem occurs ONLY when the Workstation Setup configures your system to share the MSAPPS files on a network file server, or a shared directory, and Setup cannot use the UNC connection returned during installation. WORKAROUNDSThis section contains four workarounds. Use method 3 if you have not yet performed the Workstation Installation of your Office applications. Use method 4 to correct the temporary, incorrect drive letter if you have already run the Workstation Installation.Method 1: Banyan Vines NetworkTo correct this problem, edit your SETUP.STF file to reflect the correct case-sensitive server location in the MSAPPS Network Server field. To do this, use the following steps:
Method 2: Server and Volume Names Greater Than 39 CharactersTo correct this problem, shorten the server and volume names or correct the entries in the REG.DAT file.Method 3: Local Installation of MSAPPSWhen you perform the administrative installation of an application on the network file server, select Local instead of Server or User's Choice when Setup prompts you for the location of the MSAPPS applications. The advantage of this method is that the MSAPPS applications usually run more quickly from a local hard disk. The disadvantage of this method is that it consumes local hard disk space.If you have already performed an administrative installation and chosen Server or User's Choice, you can avoid rerunning the administrative installation by modifying your SETUP.STF file. Instead of running Setup again, use the following procedure to modify your SETUP.STF file:
Method 4: Modify .INI and REG.DAT FilesChange the path in all of the affected configuration files to reflect the correct drive letter of your MSAPPS server.If you use this workaround, you must modify settings in your WIN.INI file and application-specific .INI files (such as WINWORD6.INI for Word for Windows, EXCEL5.INI for Microsoft Excel, and POWERPNT.INI for PowerPoint). For example, to correct the [Embedding] section in your WIN.INI file if your MSAPPS server is mapped to the K drive, change Y: to K: in each path setting. NOTE: To make these changes, you can open your WIN.INI file in Word for Windows and use the Replace command on the Edit menu. In addition, you must update the .REG files on the server for each shared application, then use the updated .REG files to update the Windows REG.DAT file for each workstation. The procedure for updating REG.DAT varies depending on which Office applications you have installed. Use the instructions below that apply to your Office installation. Word 6.0 or 6.0a for Windows, Installed as a Separate Application:
NOTE: Each Office application uses some combination of the .REG files mentioned above. If necessary, copy the appropriate file(s) from the application disks to the server directory, as noted above for the complete Office installation.
STATUSMicrosoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Setup version 1.0 that ships with the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. The Banyan Vines/casing issue was corrected in Microsoft Setup version 1.1, which ships with Microsoft Office for Windows, versions 4.2c and 4.3c, Microsoft PowerPoint for Windows, version 4.0c, Microsoft Word for Windows, version 6.0c, and Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 5.0c. REFERENCESMicrosoft Word "User's Guide," version 6.0, pages 767-775 Additional query words: acme applets officeinterop 6.00a kbsetup w4wnetwork phantom ghost nonpersistent missing connected disconnects disconnected server client XL5 power point ghost.doc "cannot start the converter" netware
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