Error Message "Directory Is Not a Subdirectory of the Root Directory" When You Connect to a Share on Windows NT 4.0 NTFS Partition

ID: Q167871

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Project for Windows 95, version 4.1
Microsoft Office for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a, 7.0b
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.51, 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

SYMPTOMS

When you try to connect to a share on a computer running Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0 through a UNC name, you may receive one of the following error messages:

The directory is not a subdirectory of the root directory

-or-

Application Execution Error

Access to the specified device, path or file is denied.

This occurs only when you connect to a share on a Windows NT version 4.0 NTFS partition from a Windows NT version 3.51 client, using one of the applications listed at the beginning of this article.

These symptoms may also occur in Systems Management Server with a Windows NT 3.51 Systems Management Server site server and a Windows NT 4.0 logon or distribution server. An Error 144 may be seen in the Maintman.log file when Systems Management Server checks for free disk space on the logon or distribution server.

RESOLUTION

To work around the problem, perform one of the following steps:

Map a network drive to the share.

- or-

Rather than sharing a folder off another subfolder, share the folder that resides directly off the root drive.

- or -

In Program Manager, click File, and then type the UNC path and filename to the document.

- or -

Upgrade the Windows NT version 3.51 clients to Windows NT version 4.0.

- or -

Upgrade the Microsoft Office 95 clients to Microsoft Office 97 because this problem does not occur in Office 97.

For additional information on share name limitations of Windows 95, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q160843
Title : Windows 95/98 Clients Cannot See Long Share Names

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

MORE INFORMATION

The above symptom does not occur in the following scenarios:

Connecting from a Windows NT 4.0 client to a Windows NT 4.0 share.

Connecting from a Windows 95 client to either Windows NT 3.51 or Windows NT 4.0 shares.

Connecting to a share located on a FAT partition.

Additional query words: off7 off95 acc95 xl95 ppt95 word95 access excel powerpoint word sub-directory sms


Keywords          : kbinterop NT4SP4Fix kbbug4.00 NTInterop kbfix4.00.sp4 nt32ap NTSrvWkst 
Version           : WinNT:3.51,4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbbug

Last Reviewed: April 10, 1999