Open/browse a password protected mapped network drive

Question

I want to open a mapped network drive from C# code, but it is password protected, so when I try to open it directly an exception is thrown. Can someone shed light on providing a username and password while opening the this drive? Exception details:

at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithShellExecuteEx(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start()
at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
at System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(String fileName)

I am just calling System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("Z:")

@Reddog. Why do you feel its a prank query? It is a genuine questions @ fredrik stack trace added in the question — Ravisha, Jun 15 '10 at 07:10
Pun, not prank. Asking us to "throw light" on why an exception is occurring... — Reddog, Jun 15 '10 at 07:24
Now you are making some PUn/PJ.Please read question again i did not ask to throw light on the exception Can some one throw light on providing username password while opening the this drive I suggest you to take time reading question carefully before commenting — Ravisha, Jun 15 '10 at 08:05

Rox · Accepted Answer · 2010-06-15T07:35:20.947

2

Z: is not a file name. [edit: it's ok if it's not password protected, tried executing your code and it worked]

Try using a ProcessStartInfo object as a parameter, as it allows setting a username and password.

And about the FileName parameter from here:

The file name is any application or document. A document is defined to be any file type that has an open or default action associated with it. You can view registered file types and their associated applications for your computer by using the Folder Options dialog box, which is available through the operating system. The Advanced button leads to a dialog box that shows whether there is an open action associated with a specific registered file type.

edited Jun 15 '10 at 07:35

answered Jun 15 '10 at 07:19

Rox

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Incorrect! If you try accessing any other folder for ex d: it works perfectly fine. This process.start() is just like command line execution of start command – Ravisha Jun 15 '10 at 07:22
Please see what I added about the FileName parameter – Rox Jun 15 '10 at 07:23

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:02

Perhaps you might consider instead opening the UNC path that your "z drive" is meant to point to. A reminder that a PC user can disconnect the Z: and replace it with whatever path they wanted to...

It's not entirely clear what you mean by "launch directly" and "opening this drive" but if as your code snip suggests you're trying to launch the Explorer for the drive's folder then you could use the ProcessStartInfo as a mechanism to provide credentials.

If you're trying to programmatically get access to a file(s) on that share, then you might look into the term impersonation to run your file access code blocks under a different credential. This Accessing a Shared File (UNC) From a Remote, Non-Trusted Domain With Credentials looks particularly promising.

If you're trying to actually create the network drive using pre-specified credentials then there's another solution over here - https://serverfault.com/questions/47005/specifying-username-pass-as-part-of-a-unc-path-or-map-network-drives-for-a-window/47008#47008 (don't forget to disconnect it after).

Open/browse a password protected mapped network drive

2 Answers2