%HOMEPATH%, %HOMESHARE%, and %HOMEDRIVE% Variables Resolved Incorrectly (237566)

SYMPTOMS

One of the features of the Microsoft Distributed File System (Dfs) is to allow users to map drives directly to folders and subfolders under a Dfs share. If a user's home folder is on a Dfs share, the %HOMEDRIVE% variable is mapped only to the Dfs root, and not to the complete path. This behavior is evident when it is viewed from Windows NT Explorer. In addition, the %HOMEPATH% and %HOMESHARE% variables are not resolved correctly.

For example, if "Dfs_root" is the DFS root on \\Pkdfs and the user's home folder is \\Pkdfs\Dfs_root\Home\User1:

%HOMEDRIVE% (for example, drive Z) is mapped to \\Pkdfs\Dfs_root
%HOMESHARE% resolves to \\Pkdfs\Dfs_root
%HOMEPATH% resolves to \Home\User1.

Instead, %HOMEDRIVE%%HOMESHARE% should resolve to \\Pkdfs\Dfs_root\Home\User1, %HOMEPATH% should resolve to \, and %HOMEDRIVE% (Z:) should map to \\Pkdfs\Dfs_root\Home\User1.

RESOLUTION

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

152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Server, Terminal Server Edition, Service Pack 5.