Hi,

I origianlly posted this question under networking, but this may be a better
forum for my question.

Have a weird problem. We're on a Windows 2000 domain where the users' home
directory has been redirected using this syntax: \\fqdn.xxx\dfs
root\sharename\%username%. The DFS root server is a member file server that
holds the majority of the network shares (including the user profiles and
home folders). The DFS root is registered in our AD.

Here's the problem: Occasionally someone will try to open an Excel file on a
share via a DFS link and will get an error message stating that the
"\\fqdn.xxx\dfs root\" cannot be found. After a few minutes they can open the
file and this has only been reported to me 10 times or so out of 70 users
over a 60 day period, but I don't have an answer why this happens.

There is no problem with the Excel files in their home folder (also using
DFS) and when you check the DFS status of the folder they are having problems
with, it shows the status is OK. Additionally, any other type of file in that
folder can be opened with no problem--Word and text files open normally, but
I haven't tried Access files, as the problem usually fixes itself within 10
to 15 minutes. I can't find anything in the client or server logs that
indicate a problem.

The big mystery is why only Excel files are affected.

Any thoughts?

Byron