Windows elevated programs can't access mapped network drives.

I recently installed an older program on a new Windows 8 system and found that when trying to open or save files to a mapped network drive the network drives didn't exist.  However when I open My Computer or Windows Explorer folders, the mapped network drives were there and functioned normally.  What gives?  It all has to do with how Windows provides (or rather limits) access to profile based resources when running with elevated privileged.



Here is the Microsoft KB937624 that discusses the topic.

The work around is to enable linked connections via a registry entry. To configure the EnableLinkedConnections registry value, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press Enter.
2. Locate and then right-click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
3. Point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type EnableLinkedConnections, and then press Enter.
5. Right-click EnableLinkedConnections, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
7. Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

Caution: If you are not familiar with Registry Editor, be careful.  Modifying registry entries can yield some great results.  It can also cause great disaster if .