Network Drive Letter Confusion - Microsoft Access Forum


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Network Drive Letter Confusion

Timothy Bariteau

2 years ago

I need help!

When I originally created my Access database, I saved it to a separate computer on our network here at the ministry where I work. We're a small staff of just four people, including me. We each have a computer, and there's a computer which serves as our network server, called the 'K' drive (because our ministry is named Kingdom Boundaries).

Just like most every other type of file we make here, my Access database was saved to the 'K' drive, so that eventually all four of us would be able to use it. However, when I finally had our new database designed and ready to unveil to the others, I discovered a problem. I had never noticed before, but for some reason on my computer the 'K' drive is misnamed 'Y'. I can still open and edit the same files as everybody else, but for some reason, even though their computers recognize the server as 'K', my computer was calling it 'Y'.

I thought I could simply rename it 'K' and that would be the end of it. Problem solved. But no, not hardly. After I renamed it on my computer, and even though my computer NOW recognizes the server as 'K' and everything else seems to work...Microsoft Access still keeps trying to locate EVERYTHING on a fictional 'Y' drive. Yes, I am still able to open my database and do everything on MY computer with no problems. However, after I split the database and put an .accde file on my coworkers' computers, when they open that file, THEIR computers keep trying to locate the tables in the back-end file on the 'Y' drive!?! So, every time I update their .accde file, I have to relink all of their tables manually in order for it to work.

In addition to this inconvenience, there are constantly little glitches and problems I cannot figure out and I think they are likely due to this 'K'/'Y' drive confusion issue. How do I tell Access on MY computer to STOP looking for, and labeling things as being on the 'Y' drive, when they are NOT?!

It is so frustrating (and embarrassing) every time I try to show my coworkers a new feature I have added to our database...only to discover it doesn't work because of this 'Y' drive issue.

Since I already renamed the server, and my computer now recognizes it as the correct drive letter ('K', instead of 'Y'), and yet the problems with Access remain, I am assuming it is an Access issue, not a computer issue. Am I wrong? What do I do?

Timothy Bariteau OP @Reply

2 years ago

I apologize for the length of my question. I have actually been dealing with this headache for a couple months, and have tried finding the answers or a solution by watching numerous Tech Help videos on the website here, but nothing I found seems to deal with this problem. I was hoping to avoid having to ask for help, in case it was something simple I could discover easily enough. But, no...I'm stumped. I did try using the AI Access Bot, but it only suggested 3 Tech Help videos I had already watched (good videos, but not what I needed):
Relink Tables: 599cd.com/Relink
Refresh v Requery: 599cd.com/RefreshVRequery
Compact & Repair: 599cd.com/Compact

Richard Rost @Reply

2 years ago

You can have problems if you split a database and your drive mappings are off. You might be better off using a UNC name for your server. So, instead of a mapped drive, you'll just refer to it as \\SERVER\DATABASEFOLDER. This gets around the whole drive mappings problem. As long as everyone can see that server by its name, then you won't have any problems.

The other alternative is to reintegrate your database as one file so that all your tables and everything are in one database file. Then, make sure that everybody has the proper drive mappings to your K drive or your Y drive or whatever you want to use. After that, split it again and distribute the proper front ends, but I would go with the UNC name first.

Kevin Yip @Reply

2 years ago

As Richard says, UNC (universal naming convention) is much preferred because it is universal to the whole network, whereas mapped drive letters are NOT universal -- they pertain only to each individual PC that uses them. The mapped drive letter "K" on your PC has *no bearing* on the mapped drive letter "K" on another PC. Each PC assigns letters independently. Therefore, it is a bad idea to expect all your users of your .accde file to use the same drive letter on all their PCs.

On your PC, letter K became letter Y most likely because letter K was no longer available for assignment. Maybe K was used by another media. Next time when K becomes Y, search "this pc" on your taskbar and choose "Map network drive", then open up the list of drive letters to see which letters are assigned to which shares. See picture below.

	Kevin Yip @Reply 2 years ago

Richard Rost @Reply

2 years ago

Yeah, I had a customer once, going back a few years, whose whole network was mapped to drive F because that's just the drive letter that whoever set up their network chose to be their server. But then one person on the network got a computer that had dual floppy drives (yeah, like I said, this is going back a few years), two hard drives, and one of those drives was partitioned twice, two CD-ROM drives, and a ZIP drive (if memory serves). So the first available drive letter was like G or H.

He had a fit because I had to remap everybody in the office to drive Z or use UNC paths (which I recommended, but he didn't like - because "the customer always knows best" - NOT!), which was going to take me a few hours, and he didn't want to pay my hourly rate, which at the time was something ridiculous like 50 bucks. But lesson learned: try to use UNC paths if possible, or start with Z and work backward for any shared drives because the chances of someone having 26 drive letters is pretty slim.

Kevin Yip @Reply

2 years ago

It would've been much more beneficial for both you and your client if your client had been a bit more techno-literate in matters like this. He doesn't have to be an expert like a developer, but at least "literate" to a certain extent so he can (a) at least talk the same language as you, and (b) have an idea what the right tech solution to ask for -- solutions that could end up saving them money and time in the long run.

	Richard Rost @Reply 2 years ago
Education is key... One of the reasons I switched from consulting to training LOL

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