Cannot Use Subst.exe with UNC Path

ID: Q218740

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

SYMPTOMS

Subst.exe is used to associate a path with a drive letter.

If you use Subst.exe to connect to a network resource using a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path, the command runs successfully, but when you try to gain access to the new drive letter you receive an error message similar to:

The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

RESOLUTION

To work around this behavior, use the NET USE command to connect to network resources instead of the SUBST command. For example, the command

net use * \\fileserver\share\path1\path2

results in the next available drive letter being mapped to the root of path2.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kberrmsg kbnetwork
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbprb