Shared Drives: Recover Missing Shared Drives While Connected to VPN on a College Owned Windows Device

Article Type: How To

Problem: When I logged in to my computer I was not able to see the shared drive that I want to access.

• A shared folder is a network folder that is available to multiple computers and users of the ARCC and Anoka Tech network.
• Sometimes access to these folders and files will unexpectedly stop.

Resolution: Update the Group Policy

• Connect to the college network via VPN.
• Once you are connected to the VPN, a group policy that "tells your computer" what access levels you should have will eventually be downloaded and you will eventually get access to the shared drives again.
• To fast-track this process, you can run the command "gpupdate /force" from the command prompt app (search for "command prompt" in the Windows Start menu, open the app, type in the command, and press "Enter").

• Once the group policy has been updated shared drives should be available.
• If the shared drives are not available, restart the computer and check again.
• You should see the shared drives appear in File Explorer under "This PC".