🛑 Mapped drive disconnects after inactivity — “cannot create unique file name”

If you map a drive to a network share, the mapped drive may be disconnected after a regular interval of inactivity, and Windows Explorer may display a red "X" on the icon of the mapped drive. However, if you try to access or browse the mapped drive, it usually reconnects quickly.

If you do not reconnect, the Roof Wizard cannot access the ...\User folder paths, especially the ...\User\Temp folder and cannot write the temp files required to run.

It seems to be an issue with Windows10 on the client and one of these Windows

Server variants -

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition
Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit Edition
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
Windows 7 Enterprise

The issue is manifest by error messages in the prompt area such as "cannot create unique file name", "cannot access file to write roof defaults", "unable to write to AppliCad.log" and perhaps others we haven't specifically noted.

Note that other folder access issues may also cause similar issues, such as incorrect paths, or file access permissions under the Windows UAC (User Acess Control) settings. These should also be checked.

#1 - When the ..\Temp folder is not a valid folder path. This is the easy fix - set the \Temp folder path in Preference Settings.

#2 - This behavior occurs because the systems can drop idle connections after a specified time-out period (by default, 15 minutes) to prevent wasting server resources on unused sessions. The connection can be re-established very quickly, if required.

To resolve this behavior, change the default time-out period on the shared network computer.

To do this, use one of the following methods.

Disclaimer: Editing the Windows Registry file is a serious undertaking. A corrupted Windows Registry file could render your computer inoperable, requiring a reinstallation of the Windows 10 operating system and potential loss of data. Back up the Windows 10 Registry file and create a valid restore point before you proceed.

Use Registry Editor to increase the default time-out period. To do this, follow these steps, and then quit Registry Editor:

NOTE: You cannot use this method to turn off the autodisconnect feature of the Server service. You can only use this method to change the default time-out period for the autodisconnect feature.

NOTE: The client-side session is automatically disconnected when the idling time lasts more than the duration that is set in KeepConn. Therefore, the session is disconnected according to the shorter set duration value between AutoDisConnect and KeepConn. To change the time-out duration in the client-side during a UNC connection, specify the arbitrary time in KeepConn.

Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
​HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanworkstation\parameters
Value: KeepConn
Data type : REG_DWORD
Range : 1 to 65535 (sec)
Default value: 600 sec = 10 mins

NOTE: If you use this method, you may turn off the autotuning feature for the Server service.

To change the default time-out period for the autodisconnect feature of the Server service, open a command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER

net config server /autodisconnect:number

where number is the number of minutes that you want the server to wait before it disconnects a mapped network drive. The maximum value for this command is 65,535.

NOTE: If you set the autodisconnect value to 0 (zero), the autodisconnect feature is not turned off, and the Server service disconnects mapped network drives after only a few seconds of idle time.

To turn off the autodisconnect feature, open a command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER:

net config server /autodisconnect:-1

More details may be found here.