I'd buy that if it prompted for credentials when manually entering the UNC and expanding the hierarchy. But no prompts and it accesses just fine that way. It also doesn't explain the missing mapped drive letters; even if the account couldn't open the share, the letter ought to be included in the left-side tree, ya?

Ditto what Musicvid said. There is way too much going on with network connectivity to conclude it is a Vegas problem. FYI, it works on my system properly as you describe, but not 100% of the time.

As a software developer of 16 years, writing both low-level and high-level file access routines for file systems and database management systems running on local, LAN and WAN networks, I understand the complexities of how networks work. I don't say this as an ego statement -- but to say -- I get it.

AND -- that said -- I don't think it's as complicated as you say, but I'd be open to hear troubleshooting tips.

Without seeing the code -- I can presume they have code to handle file-drop events in the application, and that they parse the file (or attempt to access it) via some custom code or library. Somewhere in the code, it's determining that mapped network drive letters aren't valid, and they are excluded from the list. That would explain why they don't show up in the Explorer window, and also why they aren't accepting a file-drop if the source file is on a mapped drive (and the path would include that drive letter).

It absolutely seems like a bug of some sort (to me), whether it has to do with access rights, drive enumeration, or even error handling to alert if there's a permissions issue.

AND -- if not a bug -- what areas would be recommended I look (configuration) to have this work properly? What troubleshooting steps would be recommended?

List the steps needed for others to reproduce the problem.

The initial post outlines the problem and when it occurs. Or do you need it reformatted in an enumerated list for troubleshooting?

1. Create a mapped drive that points to a UNC share (e.g. \\MYFILES)
2. Confirm that drive letter appears in Windows Explorer, and the tree can be expanded with file access OK
3. Launch Vegas 14. Open a new project and insert a Video track.
4. Open the Vegas Explorer tab. Notice that the mapped drive letter will not appear.
5. Try dragging a valid .PNG file from the Windows Explorer share onto the Video track in the Vegas timeline. Windows will show the circle-with-slash cursor indicating the file can't be dropped into the timeline.
6. Go to <File>, <Import Media>. The mapped drive letter won't show, but manually type the UNC to the shared network drive (e.g. \\MYFILES). You'll now see the directory tree. Navigate to that .PNG file which couldn't drag/drop and select it .. It inserts into the Project Media OK and can be added to the timeline OK.
7. Confirm that drag-and-drop still does not work for that same .PNG file from Windows Explorer

I could troubleshoot more by installing SysInternals tools and monitoring the low level file access attempts, but presuming this problem isn't unique to me, I don't feel it's appropriate for me to have to do this level of debugging.

"I don't feel it's appropriate for me to have to do this level of debugging."

This is a user to user forum. Given your expertise, you should spend the time to solve your problem. You should also install screen capture software, let in run while you're doing it and post the edited version as a tutorial here on the forum for the benefit of others.

I am able to use files from mapped network drives on my system running Windows 7 Pro and Vegas Pro 9-13. I rarely do such a thing, but I took the time to help you do problem determination.

Hey John -- no need to be sarcastic. If there's a bug, I'm used to working with the software team to resolve it through a bug reporting, troubleshooting and resolution process.

I realize this is a user forum, and was hoping someone here might have had similar experience to validate it's a bug, or offer advice if they had the problem and figured out what was causing it.

Happy Holidays!

Que? What sarcasm?

@RedRob-CandlelightProdctns

Is your goal to "discover" a new bug or is it to find a practical solution or workaround? You can always report it to tech support.

By the way, why is it that you need the mapped drive letter rather than the network path? (Not a pointy question, just curious. I can see my NAS fine from Vegas, but all my current edit media files are on local RAID drives.)

Goal is to figure out why it isn't behaving as expected, and get it to behave properly either via bug-fix (future release) or configuration change. But if code can be fixed/changed to behave better, all users benefit which is a good thing, ya? :)

I have a small home network with a Netgear NAS. On the NAS I have a shared "stock" folder with sound bytes, closing and opening slates, graphics, overlays, etc. While I *could* make duplicate copies on the local machines, that means more upkeep and creates the likelihood that there will be disparate versions. All primary media assets are connected to the local machine directly while the project is active.

Whether it's a drive letter or UNC path isn't important to me. What is a nuisance is:

• drag-and-drop from Windows Explorer does not reliably work as a result of this problem
• the "network explorer" in Vegas Explorer window doesn't show the network drive until I manually type the UNC path... it's a nuisance. We're used to going to "the U: drive" where all these network assets are stored, but the "U" drive just doesn't show up.

Bottom line is -- network drives (e.g. U:) don't appear in Vegas's Explorer, but they do in Windows Explorer, and drag-and-drop from a network drive isn't working in Vegas directly from Windows Explorer.

You are jumping to conclusions by insisting a bug-fix/ code change is required. Maybe/maybe not. You have insisted it is a widespread problem. Maybe / maybe not.

Understood - It doesn't work for you. But for the third time now - IT DOES WORK HERE. So why is that?

If it was me, I would forget about Vegas explorer for now and look into why you can't drag and drop from windows explorer, and specifically test if drag and drop from media managers like Adobe Bridge and Grass Valley Mync work (they should). Testing network access from other independent programs would be informative, ya? :)

"I have a small home network with a Netgear NAS."

I would gather more data about success or failure to recognize network shares mapped to drive letters as follows:

1) Create a network share on the local machine and map that share to a drive letter. Test in Vegas Pro.

2) Create a network share on another Windows machine on the LAN and map that share to a drive letter. Test in Vegas Pro.

3) Report results to the community.

One thing that can prevent drag and drop from Windows Explorer is starting Vegas as admin (e.g. by checking "Run as administrator" in the Advanced section of the shortcut's properties). I don't think that's specific to network drives, but it's worth considering in the troubleshooting process here.

Thank you Nick. That was it.

At the recommendation of another post I saw online (my vague recollection is from a Magix post) I had the Vegas shortcut and actual executable set to "Run as Administrator". After un-checking that, both the mapped network drive showed up AND drag-and-drop works again. I also just noticed that Excaliber's "auto-save" feature began working again.. awesome! (My... Hero!)

Funny that running with "Admin" privs should have the problem, as that user presumably has full privs. to the machine!

It'd be interesting to load up SysInternals to monitor the underlying file system requests and see a bit more of what's going on. Related -- before removing the Admin priv, I noted that drag-and-drop wasn't working from the local C: drive either.

It's admin privileges, permissions, UAC, or antivirus.

Happens a lot.

😬

At the recommendation of another post I saw online (my vague recollection is from a Magix post) I had the Vegas shortcut and actual executable set to "Run as Administrator". After un-checking that, both the mapped network drive showed up AND drag-and-drop works again. I also just noticed that Excaliber's "auto-save" feature began working again.. awesome! (My... Hero!)

It's the 2nd item in the startup troubleshooting FAQ post, which was based on the old SCS one. Maybe it shouldn't be. I wonder how often that actually solves the issue of Vegas not starting.

Mull the implications of "Run as administrator" vs running as the user that's logged on, John, who is a member of the Administrator Group.

I think it's way more complicated than it really needs to be.