Reinstall Web Folders in Windows XP using webfldrs.msi
It is not uncommon for the web folders / WebDAV support in Windows XP to just stop working for no apparent reason.
You can usually reinstall the original Web Folders support by finding and executing webfldrs.msi with specific options.
webfldrs.msi is probably in one of your system directories. It is easiest to search for it (remember to set advanced search options to include system and hidden folders). When you find the program (it’s a normal Microsoft install package) launch it, then do these steps:
Click “Select Reinstall Mode”
- Uncheck “Repair all detected reinstall problems”.
- Check “Force all files to be reinstalled, regardless of checksum or version”.
- Check “Verify that required user registry entries are present”.
- Check “Verify that required machine registry entries are present”.
- Check “Validate shortcuts”.
- Press OK
Click REINSTALL
Normally no reboot is required. Now the web folder client should have been restored as it was shipped.
If you previously installed Software Update for Web Folders (KB907306) from the Microsoft site, you may have to install it again
Thanks! This trick saved me some serious headache, right before I have to travel out of country. Now at least I’ll be able to access Web Folders. Well done.
Thanks for taking the time to leave the comment, we’re happy to be of service.
This worked like a charm. I followed a link from another troubleshooting site.
You guys saved the day!
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You’re welcome!
I have been searching for a solution to my problem for months, I also found this from a link in another troubleshooting site. Worked perfectly. Thank you for taking the time to post it.
You’re welcome – this seems to be a recurring problem where updates are whacking the Webfolders installation. I’m glad we were able to help.
While this did help us resolve the “The folder http://mjhintranet is no longer available” error message in SharePoint we found that checking the last 4 checkboxes causes an error in Office applications (Word/Excel/PPT), whereupon when doing a save of a new document (or when renaming an existing file) to a sharepoint library spaces in the filename are replaced with “%20″ which causes the save operation to fail. But if we ran webfldrs.msi with the defaults (only 1st check box checked), and installed the update, it fixed the “folder…no longer available” error. On one PC affected by the spaces “%20″ issue all we had to do was make sure it was up-to-date on alll the recent Office and Windows updates and that solved the issue.
Thanks Phil, I’m sure that will be helpful to others as well.
One Microsoft document I saw recommended running webfldrs.msi with only the 1st checkbox checked (default) otherwise it will put old files back on your system. Unfortunately running it in default mode often doesn’t solve the immediate issue.
Phil
The only way we have ever performed the reinstall with our customers is as described – but it is not uncommon to then have to reapply the software update for Web Folders (KB907306).
I am experiencing a this issue… “A problem occurred while connecting to the server. If the problem continues, contact your administrator”.
However, I’m using Vista – Version – 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2 Build 6002
with SharePoint 2010 and Microsoft Office 2007
Is there a similar fix? I found a link to this site from another site with the same issue but the user had XP.
(http://www.eggheadcafe.com/software/aspnet/35248492/read-only-access-when-editing-office-document-on-sharepoint.aspx)
Robin
Sorry but to our knowledge that “fix” is relevant to XP only. Is your Vista the 64 bit version? That version of Vista has major Web Folders WebDAV problems establishing a connection, including to SharePoint.
Thank you! This was the perfect fix for the problem I had. It rebooted after reinstall. I wish Microsoft had better error description. Just FYI error was “A problem occurred while connecting to the server. If the problem continues, contact your administrator”
Manish
You are welcome! Glad it helped.
Thanks it works on two of my XP computers used to access Shareportal via Windows Explorer.
AWESOME Philip. Thank you!