Windows Vista Forums

InitializeDefaultDrives Error message on Startup
  1. #1


    malckelly Guest

    InitializeDefaultDrives Error message on Startup

    When I fire up powershell I get in red letters:



    "Attempting to perform the InitializeDefaultDrives operation on the
    'FileSystem' provider failed."

    I have a whole load of mapped network drives but I don't think that any of
    these are the problem. We also use SoftGrid which means that Q: is in use,
    but totally inaccesible. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be part
    of the problem.

    Can anyone else shed some light on this error?

    Thanks

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  2. #2


    Oisin Grehan Guest

    Re: InitializeDefaultDrives Error message on Startup

    On Nov 21, 9:38 am, malckelly <malcke...@xxxxxx>
    wrote:

    > When I fire up powershell I get in red letters:
    >
    > "Attempting to perform the InitializeDefaultDrives operation on the
    > 'FileSystem' provider failed."
    >
    > I have a whole load of mapped network drives but I don't think that any of
    > these are the problem. We also use SoftGrid which means that Q: is in use,
    > but totally inaccesible. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be part
    > of the problem.
    >
    > Can anyone else shed some light on this error?
    >
    > Thanks
    Hi,

    The initializedefaultdrives operation does exactly what it says on the
    tin: it creates a powershell drive for each of your windows fat/ntfs/
    cifs drives. If this is failing, you are almost certainly correct in
    saying that it is one of your mapped drives that is causing the
    problem. You can find out exactly which one by attempting to map them
    manually one by one until you get an error. For example:

    Your windows drive is p: and is mapped to \\server\share

    ps> new-psdrive -name p -psprovider filesystem -root p:\

    Note that you don't use the colon : in the name, just the plain
    letter.

    Let us know how you get on.

    - Oisin / x0n
    http://www.nivot.org

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  3. #3


    malckelly Guest

    Re: InitializeDefaultDrives Error message on Startup

    I have created new psdrives for all drives that appear under my computer (c,
    e, f, g, l, n, o, r, v). All of these drives appear under My Computer. The
    only one that doesn't appear under 'get-psdrives' is q: (the softgrid drive).
    Technically that drive isn't a partition on any local disk or a network
    location of any kind. Its virtual and you can't access it through my
    computer. I have tried creating it as a psdrive in powershell but I get

    New-PSDrive : Drive root "q:\" does not exist or it's not a folder.

    Likewise I can't access it through the GUI.

    Any other ideas?

    "Oisin Grehan" wrote:

    > On Nov 21, 9:38 am, malckelly <malcke...@xxxxxx>
    > wrote:

    > > When I fire up powershell I get in red letters:
    > >
    > > "Attempting to perform the InitializeDefaultDrives operation on the
    > > 'FileSystem' provider failed."
    > >
    > > I have a whole load of mapped network drives but I don't think that any of
    > > these are the problem. We also use SoftGrid which means that Q: is in use,
    > > but totally inaccesible. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be part
    > > of the problem.
    > >
    > > Can anyone else shed some light on this error?
    > >
    > > Thanks
    >
    > Hi,
    >
    > The initializedefaultdrives operation does exactly what it says on the
    > tin: it creates a powershell drive for each of your windows fat/ntfs/
    > cifs drives. If this is failing, you are almost certainly correct in
    > saying that it is one of your mapped drives that is causing the
    > problem. You can find out exactly which one by attempting to map them
    > manually one by one until you get an error. For example:
    >
    > Your windows drive is p: and is mapped to \\server\share
    >
    > ps> new-psdrive -name p -psprovider filesystem -root p:\
    >
    > Note that you don't use the colon : in the name, just the plain
    > letter.
    >
    > Let us know how you get on.
    >
    > - Oisin / x0n
    > http://www.nivot.org
    >

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  4. #4


    Oisin Grehan Guest

    Re: InitializeDefaultDrives Error message on Startup

    On Nov 21, 10:54 am, malckelly <malcke...@xxxxxx>
    wrote:

    > I have created new psdrives for all drives that appear under my computer (c,
    > e, f, g, l, n, o, r, v). All of these drives appear under My Computer. The
    > only one that doesn't appear under 'get-psdrives' is q: (the softgrid drive).
    > Technically that drive isn't a partition on any local disk or a network
    > location of any kind. Its virtual and you can't access it through my
    > computer. I have tried creating it as a psdrive in powershell but I get
    >
    > New-PSDrive : Drive root "q:\" does not exist or it's not a folder.
    >
    > Likewise I can't access it through the GUI.
    >
    > Any other ideas?
    >
    >
    >
    > "Oisin Grehan" wrote:

    > > On Nov 21, 9:38 am, malckelly <malcke...@xxxxxx>
    > > wrote:

    > > > When I fire up powershell I get in red letters:
    >

    > > > "Attempting to perform the InitializeDefaultDrives operation on the
    > > > 'FileSystem' provider failed."
    >

    > > > I have a whole load of mapped network drives but I don't think that any of
    > > > these are the problem. We also use SoftGrid which means that Q: is in use,
    > > > but totally inaccesible. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be part
    > > > of the problem.
    >

    > > > Can anyone else shed some light on this error?
    >

    > > > Thanks
    >

    > > Hi,
    >

    > > The initializedefaultdrives operation does exactly what it says on the
    > > tin: it creates a powershell drive for each of your windows fat/ntfs/
    > > cifs drives. If this is failing, you are almost certainly correct in
    > > saying that it is one of your mapped drives that is causing the
    > > problem. You can find out exactly which one by attempting to map them
    > > manually one by one until you get an error. For example:
    >

    > > Your windows drive is p: and is mapped to \\server\share
    >

    > > ps> new-psdrive -name p -psprovider filesystem -root p:\
    >

    > > Note that you don't use the colon : in the name, just the plain
    > > letter.
    >

    > > Let us know how you get on.
    >

    > > - Oisin / x0n
    > >http://www.nivot.org- Hide quoted text -
    >
    > - Show quoted text -
    What answers do you get for:

    ps> test-path -type container filesystem::q:\

    ....and:

    ps> test-path -type leaf filesystem::q:\


    If all else fails, you may be able to avoid the error by following the
    procedure here (if it makes sense for you - I haven't had a chance to
    play with softgrid yet)

    "How to hide and to restrict access to the SoftGrid Client drive
    letter"
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931626

    Hope this helps,

    - Oisin

    - Oisin

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  5. #5


    malckelly Guest

    Re: InitializeDefaultDrives Error message on Startup

    75> Test-Path -type container filesystem::q:\
    False
    76> Test-Path -type leaf filesystem::q:\
    False

    Will try the support article and let you know how it goes.

    Thanks very much.


    "Oisin Grehan" wrote:

    > On Nov 21, 10:54 am, malckelly <malcke...@xxxxxx>
    > wrote:

    > > I have created new psdrives for all drives that appear under my computer (c,
    > > e, f, g, l, n, o, r, v). All of these drives appear under My Computer. The
    > > only one that doesn't appear under 'get-psdrives' is q: (the softgrid drive).
    > > Technically that drive isn't a partition on any local disk or a network
    > > location of any kind. Its virtual and you can't access it through my
    > > computer. I have tried creating it as a psdrive in powershell but I get
    > >
    > > New-PSDrive : Drive root "q:\" does not exist or it's not a folder.
    > >
    > > Likewise I can't access it through the GUI.
    > >
    > > Any other ideas?
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > > "Oisin Grehan" wrote:

    > > > On Nov 21, 9:38 am, malckelly <malcke...@xxxxxx>
    > > > wrote:
    > > > > When I fire up powershell I get in red letters:
    > >

    > > > > "Attempting to perform the InitializeDefaultDrives operation on the
    > > > > 'FileSystem' provider failed."
    > >

    > > > > I have a whole load of mapped network drives but I don't think that any of
    > > > > these are the problem. We also use SoftGrid which means that Q: is in use,
    > > > > but totally inaccesible. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be part
    > > > > of the problem.
    > >

    > > > > Can anyone else shed some light on this error?
    > >

    > > > > Thanks
    > >

    > > > Hi,
    > >

    > > > The initializedefaultdrives operation does exactly what it says on the
    > > > tin: it creates a powershell drive for each of your windows fat/ntfs/
    > > > cifs drives. If this is failing, you are almost certainly correct in
    > > > saying that it is one of your mapped drives that is causing the
    > > > problem. You can find out exactly which one by attempting to map them
    > > > manually one by one until you get an error. For example:
    > >

    > > > Your windows drive is p: and is mapped to \\server\share
    > >

    > > > ps> new-psdrive -name p -psprovider filesystem -root p:\
    > >

    > > > Note that you don't use the colon : in the name, just the plain
    > > > letter.
    > >

    > > > Let us know how you get on.
    > >

    > > > - Oisin / x0n
    > > >http://www.nivot.org- Hide quoted text -
    > >
    > > - Show quoted text -
    >
    > What answers do you get for:
    >
    > ps> test-path -type container filesystem::q:\
    >
    > ....and:
    >
    > ps> test-path -type leaf filesystem::q:\
    >
    >
    > If all else fails, you may be able to avoid the error by following the
    > procedure here (if it makes sense for you - I haven't had a chance to
    > play with softgrid yet)
    >
    > "How to hide and to restrict access to the SoftGrid Client drive
    > letter"
    > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931626
    >
    > Hope this helps,
    >
    > - Oisin
    >
    > - Oisin
    >

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

  6. #6


    malckelly Guest

    Re: InitializeDefaultDrives Error message on Startup

    Ok I just setup a fresh Vista machine with current hotfixes/updates +
    powershell and no SoftGrid Client to check for sure if it is softgrid's Q:
    that is causing this and it looks extremeley likely. I'm now getting
    absolutely no errors on powershell launch.
    Still to try the GP change that was suggested.

    "malckelly" wrote:

    > 75> Test-Path -type container filesystem::q:\
    > False
    > 76> Test-Path -type leaf filesystem::q:\
    > False
    >
    > Will try the support article and let you know how it goes.
    >
    > Thanks very much.
    >
    >
    > "Oisin Grehan" wrote:
    >

    > > On Nov 21, 10:54 am, malckelly <malcke...@xxxxxx>
    > > wrote:

    > > > I have created new psdrives for all drives that appear under my computer (c,
    > > > e, f, g, l, n, o, r, v). All of these drives appear under My Computer. The
    > > > only one that doesn't appear under 'get-psdrives' is q: (the softgrid drive).
    > > > Technically that drive isn't a partition on any local disk or a network
    > > > location of any kind. Its virtual and you can't access it through my
    > > > computer. I have tried creating it as a psdrive in powershell but I get
    > > >
    > > > New-PSDrive : Drive root "q:\" does not exist or it's not a folder.
    > > >
    > > > Likewise I can't access it through the GUI.
    > > >
    > > > Any other ideas?
    > > >
    > > >
    > > >
    > > > "Oisin Grehan" wrote:
    > > > > On Nov 21, 9:38 am, malckelly <malcke...@xxxxxx>
    > > > > wrote:
    > > > > > When I fire up powershell I get in red letters:
    > > >
    > > > > > "Attempting to perform the InitializeDefaultDrives operation on the
    > > > > > 'FileSystem' provider failed."
    > > >
    > > > > > I have a whole load of mapped network drives but I don't think that any of
    > > > > > these are the problem. We also use SoftGrid which means that Q: is in use,
    > > > > > but totally inaccesible. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be part
    > > > > > of the problem.
    > > >
    > > > > > Can anyone else shed some light on this error?
    > > >
    > > > > > Thanks
    > > >
    > > > > Hi,
    > > >
    > > > > The initializedefaultdrives operation does exactly what it says on the
    > > > > tin: it creates a powershell drive for each of your windows fat/ntfs/
    > > > > cifs drives. If this is failing, you are almost certainly correct in
    > > > > saying that it is one of your mapped drives that is causing the
    > > > > problem. You can find out exactly which one by attempting to map them
    > > > > manually one by one until you get an error. For example:
    > > >
    > > > > Your windows drive is p: and is mapped to \\server\share
    > > >
    > > > > ps> new-psdrive -name p -psprovider filesystem -root p:\
    > > >
    > > > > Note that you don't use the colon : in the name, just the plain
    > > > > letter.
    > > >
    > > > > Let us know how you get on.
    > > >
    > > > > - Oisin / x0n
    > > > >http://www.nivot.org- Hide quoted text -
    > > >
    > > > - Show quoted text -
    > >
    > > What answers do you get for:
    > >
    > > ps> test-path -type container filesystem::q:\
    > >
    > > ....and:
    > >
    > > ps> test-path -type leaf filesystem::q:\
    > >
    > >
    > > If all else fails, you may be able to avoid the error by following the
    > > procedure here (if it makes sense for you - I haven't had a chance to
    > > play with softgrid yet)
    > >
    > > "How to hide and to restrict access to the SoftGrid Client drive
    > > letter"
    > > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931626
    > >
    > > Hope this helps,
    > >
    > > - Oisin
    > >
    > > - Oisin
    > >

      My System SpecsSystem Spec

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