No Network drives after Windows Update

Network issues after update, no access to network drives after Winodws update.

Windows 10 clients no longer display network drives correctly in Windows Explorer. Access to NAS and servers with SMBv1 shares are no longer possible. This after feature update for Windows 10 version 2004 is installed.

Access to NAS and server interrupted after Update Build 19041.508 (2004)

Symptom

Network drives to Windows shares are no longer accessible after the feature update May 2020 was downloaded. With the Windows Update 2004 Build 19041.508. Access is no longer possible for standard users to share who use the SMB 1.0/CIFS network protocol.

Cause

Microsoft has changed the behavior for the SMB version 1 network protocol with the Windows 10 feature update 2004. The SMBv1 network protocol is no longer considered secure. Microsoft’s recommendation is to stop using the outdated SMB 1.0/CIFS protocol. See also – Windows 10: Unable to access SMBv1 share

Solution

The Registry Key ProviderFlags controls the recovery of network shares they use Server Message Block (SMB) version 1 when they are stored in the registry. The registry DWORD Key ProviderFlags can be add in the registry key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Network\] with regedit, or run the next line in a opened command prompt:

REG ADD "HKCU\Network\i" /v "ProviderFlags" /t REG_DWORD /d "1" /f
No network drives after Windows update. regedit providerflags
Illustration: Registry Key ProviderFlags

The network drive (i) is mapped to the share info on SERVER01, which uses the SMBv1 network protocol. The Key ProviderFlags is required if network drives are used that use devices with SMBv1; all network drives in the HKCU\Network branch must then be registered with the REG_DWORD ProviderFlags. The change requires a restart.

Solution: net use persistent:no

Another solution is using the /persistent:no parameter, where the network drive mapping is executed from login scripts. As by batch files on the logon server, or on a network without ADS, through a local logon script on the client. The windows network drives are created in the logon script using net use /persistent:no.

@echo off
net time \\SERVER01 /set /y
net use * /delete /y
net use i: \\SERVER01\info /persistent:no
net use j: \\SERVER01\data /persistent:no

This example deletes all network drives before they are mapped. But does not permanently store the network drives in the registry. So there is no further interruption that exists with the 2004 feature update for network drives that use network shares with use the SMBv1 network protocol.

Shutdown while press Shift Key

The computer may have to be shut down completely in order to trigger a cold start without a quick start. So that the windows update for the network drives are initialized. Press the Shift key when switching off the computer. At the same time when you click on Shutdown, a cold start takes place the next time you power on.

Exchange Server External Relay

Allow anonymous forwarding on Exchange Server Relay

An open relay is a very bad thing for messaging servers on the Internet.

SMTP relays that have been accidentally or intentionally configured as open relays allow you to transparently route e-mail from any source through the open relay server.

This behavior masks the original source of the messages and makes them look as if the email originated from the open relay server.

Open relay servers are eagerly searched and used by spammers.

550 5.7.54 SMTP; Unable to relay recipient in non-accepted domain

On the other hand, anonymous relay is a common requirement for many organizations that have internal Web servers, database servers. Monitoring equipment, or other network devices that generate e-mail messages but cannot actually send and deliver those messages.

Exchange 2019 Set up SMTP external relay in the Powershell

Exchange Servers can use a FrontEndTransport service on a Mailbox server to provide a dedicated receive connector that allows anonymous forwarding from a specific list of internal network hosts.

To do this, run the following command in the Exchange management shell for the appropriate dedicated receive connector:

PS C:> Set-ReceiveConnector "EXCH19-Frontend Anonymous Relay" -AuthMechanism ExternalAuthoritative -PermissionGroups ExchangeServers

In this example, the Exchange 2019 Server EXCH19 with the Frontend Anonymous Relay as the Receive Connector.

Check that the anonymous Exchange SMTP relay is successfully configured with the following command:

PS C:> Get-ReceiveConnector "EXCH19-Frontend Anonymous Relay" | Format-List Enabled,TransportRole,Bindings,RemoteIPRanges
Exchange Server External Relay
Exchange Server External Relay