IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you
modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore
the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the
registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
SYMPTOMS
When you try to create a Distributed File System (DFS) replication policy for a replica set, you may receive the following error message:
The following error occurred while creating the staging path \\server1\DRIVE_LETTER$\Frs-Staging for subscriber object:
The network name cannot be found.
RESOLUTION
To resolve the behavior, administrative shares need to either be created manually by an administrator, or automatically by the Server service, which is the default method.
To re-enable automatic creation of the administrative shares, you must modify the registry.
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may
require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve
problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own
risk.
To re-enable automatic creation of the administrative shares, change the value of the following registry key to one (1), or delete the value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\AutoShareServer
A setting of zero (0) prevents the administrative shares, such as C$, D$, Admin$, and so on, from being created automatically.
To manually create the necessary share, type
Net share DRIVE_LETTER$=DRIVE_LETTER:\, for example: