You were not connected because a duplicate name exists on network

I have been requested to configure an alias for a server so that users can
map a drive using the alias instead of the host name.

I have a 2003 domain in native mode. On the dns server I configure a new
CNAME record with the name of TESTR for a A record that already exists in
DNS (the a record is "fileserver")

When I go to a cmd prompt on a client machine, I can ping the TESTR name and
it correctly resolves the fileserver ip address. If I ping the FQDN of TESTR
it also correctly resolves the fileserver ip address.

However if I try to connect to \\testr\sharename I get the message

"\\testr\sharename
You were not connected because a duplicate name exists on the network. Go to
system in control panel to change the computer name and try again"

I have tried using different CNAME values and regardless of what I choose I
still get this error. Can anyone help.

You've already added a CNAME alias in DNS so that part's done.

Now do this: Add the following value to the registry of the server:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
> Add Value > Value name: DisableStrictNameChecking > Data type: REG_DWORD >
Radix: Decimal > Value: 1 then reboot.

Connecting to SMB Share on a Windows 2000-Based Server May Not Work with an
Alias Name
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=281308

Hi. Please don't use the horrible Techarena forums to access the newsgroups.
The interface doesn't quote properly, and you're replying to a post which is
no longer on the news server, so it's unlikely that anyone will know what
you're talking about.

Try using a news client, such as Forte Agent, Thunderbird, or even Outlook
Express, instead. It's a lot easier to do nearly everything that way. You
can mark messages to be watched, filter the views so you can see replies to
your posts easily, and search.

The Microsoft public news server is msnews.microsoft.com and you can
subscribe to as many groups as you like; no authentication is required.

Still trying? :-)

Oops, didn't know that was a live link!

I had the same issue I found this article very good

This worked like a charm for me. Thanks for the fix!