Issues on Windows Based Systems

Windows users connecting to Files.com via WebDAV encounter several recurring issues rooted in the Windows WebDAV client itself. The sections below cover each issue and the resolution.

These limitations are one of the reasons we do not recommend WebDAV. The Files.com Desktop App avoids them and is the better choice on Windows.

Unable to Map Drive on Windows 7

One common issue with older versions of Windows and WebDAV is the lack of proper encryption support for making secure WebDAV connections. Our WebDAV service requires the use of TLS 1.2 or newer.

Microsoft provides instructions for enabling TLS 1.2 support in Windows on the Microsoft Support site.

Use the Easy Fix download solution published there, reboot, and then try the drive mapping again.

Large Uploads (Taking Over 30 Minutes) Are Failing

By default, Windows does not allow a WebDAV upload that takes longer than 30 minutes. Microsoft provides instructions for making a registry setting change to address the issue in their archived article (see Scenario 2).

Downloads Over 50MB Are Failing

Windows has a default limit of 50MB for WebDAV downloads. Microsoft provides instructions for making a registry setting change to address this issue in their archived article (see Scenario 1).

Some Files or Folders Are Not Visible on the WebDAV Mapped Drive

The Windows operating system has a path length limit of 260 characters. When a path exceeds that limit, Windows does not display any files or folders within that path, even though the files appear in the Files.com web interface.

More detail on this Windows limitation is in this Microsoft article.

To work around the limit, shorten your folder names or rearrange your folder hierarchy to reduce path length. The Files.com Desktop App also works around this OS limitation.

WebDAV Drive Is Not Automatically Reconnected After Reboot

According to this Microsoft KB article, this behavior is by design in Windows.

In Windows 7, Basic authentication credentials cannot be persisted by the Credential Manager. With Basic authentication, the only way to reconnect is to disconnect the drive and reconnect again, because WinHttp cannot retrieve saved Basic and Digest credentials.

The workaround Microsoft suggests is a logon script that reconnects the WebDAV share at user logon. The example below uses Z as the drive letter, your_username as the username, and your_password as the password:

net use Z: https://app.files.com /user:your_username your_password

WebDAV Mapped Drive Capacity Reported Different Than Expected

Older versions of Microsoft WebDAV clients on Windows did not implement RFC4331.

Before this RFC was published in 2006, WebDAV had no way to provide capacity information to the client. Microsoft clients showed the capacity of the local C: drive instead.

Around 2021, Microsoft implemented RFC4331 in their WebDAV clients. Newer and updated Windows systems now show the correct capacity of mapped drives that use WebDAV.

"Windows Cannot Access..." Error

This error occurs when attempting to map a network drive if the Windows WebDAV client service is not running on the machine.

To check the service, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Windows Services Manager (run: services.msc).
2. Locate the WebClient service in the list of services and verify that its status is listed as "running". If it is not, double-click the service, and then click the Start button under Service status.
3. To make sure the service starts automatically on boot, change the Startup type to "Automatic".
4. Click OK and then close the Services Manager window.

Then try the drive mapping again.

Unable to Map WebDAV Drive on Windows Server

On a Windows Server operating system, such as Windows Server 2008 or later, the Desktop Experience feature must be installed to enable WebDAV drive mapping.

To install it, use the following steps, as documented by Microsoft:

1. Start the Windows Server Manager.
2. In the tree view, highlight the Features node.
3. In the details pane, click Add Features.
4. In the Add Features Wizard, check the Desktop Experience box, and then click Next.
5. Click Install.
6. When the Add Features Wizard has finished, click Close.
7. Click Yes when prompted to restart the computer.

Receiving Error Message "Error 0x800700DF: The File Size Exceeds the Limit Allowed and Cannot Be Saved"

This is caused by a default security setting in Windows that was introduced in Windows XP SP2 and is present in all subsequent versions of Windows.

Microsoft's explanation:

This issue occurs because a security change that was introduced in Windows XP SP2 affects the Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) redirector. This security change makes sure that an unauthorized server cannot force a client computer into a denial of service attack. If you try to download a file that is larger than 50000000 bytes, the client computer interprets this download as a denial of service attack. Therefore, the download process stops.

Microsoft provides a resolution that involves making a registry setting change. The details are in their documentation under "Resolution".