Cannot Connect to Server with 15 Characters and Period in Name

ID: Q172594


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release version 2
  • Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release version 2.1


SYMPTOMS

When you are using Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 or 2.1 (OSR2) and you attempt to connect to an SMB server with a 15-character name that contains a period as one of the characters, you may receive the following error message:

The network name cannot be found.
If the server name contains only 14 characters with a period, or 15 characters with no period, the operation proceeds normally.


CAUSE

There is a problem with the Microsoft Client for Microsoft Networks (VRedir) that is included with OSR2. The problem occurs when the client parses server names that contain a period; server names that contain a period are treated as too long if they exceed 14 characters in length.


RESOLUTION

This issue is resolved by the following updated file for Windows 95 and OSR2, and later versions of this file:


   VREDIR.VXD  version 4.00.1115  dated 7/28/97  156,773 bytes 



To work around this problem, rename the server so that the name does not contain a period, or is shorter than 15 characters.


STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows 95 and OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2). An update to address this problem is now available, but is not fully regression tested and should be applied only to computers experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft does not recommend implementing this update at this time. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for additional information about the availability of this update.

This issue is resolved in Microsoft Windows 98.


MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about issues resolved by updates to this component, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q183493 Batch File Calling CD Command May Not Run on HPFS

Q174371 Possible Database File Damage When Data Is Appended

Q167712 Fatal Exception Error in VREDIR with DCOM Program

Q165403 Windows 95 Update Prevents Sending Clear-Text Password Over Net

Q165402 Windows 95 Update to Encrypt Passwords in Memory

Q161100 File May Be Truncated When Copied to a Full Network Drive

Q160807 Cannot Connect to Windows NT Server with Many Shares

Q157114 "Access Denied" Attempting to Run File on LM/X Server

Q156497 Duplicate Print Output on PC-LAN Server from Windows 95 Client

Q152186 Possible Network Data Corruption If Locking Not Used

Q150215 Disabling Automatic Network Shortcut Resolution

Q148367 Possible Network File Damage with Redirector Caching

Q142803 Locking Error or Computer Hangs Accessing Network Database Files

Q140558 Deleting Files on Samba Servers May Delete Local Files Instead

Q138249 Updated Vredir.vxd Corrects Errors Running Files on LMX

Q138014 File May Be Truncated to Zero Bytes When Copied Onto Itself

Q136834 Error Copying Read-Only Files to Core SMB Server

For additional information about Windows 95 updates, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q161020 Implementing Windows 95 Updates

Additional query words: 95

Keywords : kberrmsg kbnetwork osr2 win95
Version : WINDOWS:95
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :


Last Reviewed: June 30, 1999
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