How to fix Slow WebDAV Performance in Windows: (should work for all versions)

1. In Internet Explorer, open the Tools menu, then click Internet Options.
2. Select the Connections tab.
3. Click the LAN Settings button.
4. Uncheck the “Automatically detect settings” box.

Unfortunately, Windows’ support for WebDAV is a little strange and may not always function correctly. We therefore recommend using one of the following WebDAV clients for Windows:

• NetDrive is free for home users.
• WebDrive is a robust product, but a bit pricey.
• Cyberduck works on Windows and Mac and provides synchronization on demand. Very nice.
• Total Commander together with the WebDAV plugin provides a FTP like interface to a WebDAV server.
• BitKinex also provides an FTP like interface and integrates with Windows Explorer for drag and drop and is Freeware.

In addition to the above tools, the Microsoft Office products have built in WebDAV support. As an example, Microsoft Word can directly open and edit remote documents by using a WebDAV server.
This is also supported by LibreOffice.

Mapping a Windows Drive to a WebDAV Server

This tutorial shows you how to connect a Folder or a Windows Drive Letter to any WebDAV server, what to do if the command fails, what not to do, and security. This tutorial is for Windows XP/Vista/W7 client users.

The Two WebDAV Windows Clients

Microsoft Windows provides two WebDAV clients: Web Folders and WebDAV Mini Redirector. The clients are integrated and come preinstalled with your Windows.

Web Folders (XP only)

The first generation WebDAV client provided by Microsoft is called Web Folders and allows one to drag and drop between a remote WebDAV server and your local computer. The Web Folders client provides functionality similar to (secure) FTP.

How to connect (XP only):

1. Go to My Network Places, and click on Add Network Place at the top of the left sidebar.
2. The window that pops up is the Add Network Place Wizard. Click Next.
3. On the next page, enter the URL of the WebDAV folder in the box named Internet or network address and click Next.
4. A window asking for your username and password will pop up at this point. Enter your username and password, and click OK.
5. On the next page, enter a name for this share — this is the name that will show up in the My Network Places listing.
6. Click Finish on the next page.

WebDAV Mini Redirector (XP, Vista, and Win7)

The second generation Microsoft WebDAV client is called WebDAV Mini Redirector and allows one to map a WebDAV location to a Drive letter the same way as if you were using a Windows File Sharing/SMB/CIFS share.

WebDAV Mini Redirector limitations:

• No support for secure connections (HTTPS) on Windows XP. There is support on Windows 7, but it does not always work. It is inconsistent.
• Your WebDAV server must be using port 80, the default port.
• Typically fails when transfering larger files.
• Gets confused if the user does not have access to read and/or write to a file or directory.

How to connect:

1. Right click on My Computer and select Map Network Drive.
2. In the Folder “entry field”, enter the URL, and click Finish.
3. Enter your username and password in the authentication box that appears.

You can use the network drive like you use your C:\ hard drive as soon as the command completes successfully. This means that you can directly work with documents without first copying them, start computer programs, and more over the Internet.

The following image shows a Windows Explorer window listing the content of a WebDAV server.

Windows WebDAV Mini Redirector Authentication Bug:

Many Windows computers have a bug in the digest authentication process and thus authenticating using the above procedure will fail. You have the bug in your computer if the “Windows credentials dialogue” reappears after you have entered the correct username and password. It is possible to circumvent this bug by mapping the drive from the command line. Note, if the “Windows credentials dialogue” reappears, you must reboot your Windows computer before using the command line. Windows will continue to fail if you do not reboot. This is also true if you accidently enter the wrong credentials.

Do the following to map a drive and authenticate from the command line:

1. Open a command window (DOS Window) by clicking the Windows start button and typing in the command “cmd” in the “run” or “search programs …” box.
2. Type the following command in the command window:  (This will map to the N: drive)
   NET USE N: \\cloud.internetpro.net\netsol\remote.php\webdav /USER:yourusername yourpassword /persistent:no

What to do if the command fails

Error messages such as “The network name cannot be found” can be related to a number of problems. The first thing to do is to check if your Windows WebDAV client is disabled.

You can enable the client manually:

Things get a bit complicated if you have the same problem after enabling the WebClient service and after rebooting Windows. You may have to upgrade your WebDAV Mini Redirector Windows client.

You can do a search on Google and you will find many articles related to the WebDAV Mini Redirector problems. You can also see Wikipedia: WebDAV and Microsoft Windows.

Upgrading Windows Vista WebDAV client:Microsoft has ackowledged there are Web Folder issues in Vista, but unless your system is 64-bit, you should be able to get Web Folders working by installing an update from Microsoft and using the instructions and “workarounds” in the following steps:

If you have a 32-bit Vista apply this Software Update for Web Folders (Microsoft.com).

After Rebooting

With Windows 7, the drive will not stay mapped.   This behavior is by design and more information about it can be found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2673544. To work around this issue, create a BAT file using an editor like Notepad.  In that BAT file, just enter a command line like the NET USE statement above. We recommend starting the BAT file with “@echo off” (no quotes) so that your password is hidden when the window pops up.  Place this BAT file in your Startup folder.  It will run each time your start your computer and will remap the drive.   If you need help creating a BAT file, please contact us at support@internetpro.net.