"Cannot Access This Folder. Path Is Too Long" Error with Windows NT Policies

ID: Q168477

The information in this article applies to:

SYMPTOMS

When you try to log on to a computer running Windows NT 4.0, you receive the following error:

Cannot access this folder. Path is too long.


CAUSE

This problem may occur if the system administrator uses System Policy Editor to create a policy that sets the Hide Network Neighborhood Icon option and specifies that Custom Shared Folders or Custom Folders use an UNC connection to connect to a share on a central server. The above error message occurs because the Hide Network Neighborhood Icon option removes the ability to use UNC names for connection.


RESOLUTION

One solution is to map the drive through a login script and change the specification in the Custom Shared Folders, or the Custom Folders location, to reference this drive letter.

For example, D:\CUSTOM\Programs.

To get the mapped drive to work correctly, you might have to check the box for "Run logon scripts synchronously" under "Windows NT System" in the policy. This will allow the logon script to execute before the shell is loaded.

Another solution is to allow users to have the Network Neighborhood Icon on the desktop. Clear the check box to allow the user's policy to not hide the Network Neighborhood icon.

Other causes of this error message include file permissions.

See article Q148437 to set the NTFS permissions for the %SystemRoot% directory back to the system defaults.

Additional query words: Policy login logon log on 


Keywords          : kbnetwork ntdomain 
Version           : WinNT:4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: February 17, 1999