Q. You receive 'Cannot access the \\ \ \ ' when you try to access a link under a DFS root?

When you attempt to connect to a shared folder that belongs to a workgroup or another forest that is not trusted, from a Windows Server 2003, or a Windows 2000 Server, you cannot connect. You receive and authentication dialog, and eventually receive:

Cannot access the \
Possibly you may not have the access permission. Ask your administrator if you have the access authorization for this server.
Log-on failed : Might not be able to recognize the user name, or you typed the wrong password.

This behavior occurs because a session with the DFS root is already established, and an attempt to establish another session to the link under the DFS root uses the same connection target.

To workaround this behavior, use any of the following:

- Use an account that has the same user name and password as the logon user on the target server.

- Use a direct shortcut to the resource, not through DFS.

For additional information about DFS, see the links at tip 10429 Description of the Distributed File System (DFS) Management snap-in in Windows Server 2003 R2.