Reg reader trapped in Vista network folder hell

A Reg reader got in touch to tell us that since installing Vista on his machine he can no longer rename folders he creates on the network.

Creating a new folder on his machine's own drive is fine but there is no way to name or rename folders or files on the network. Calls to the hardware manufacturer were not helpful but the retailer where he bought his machine was more helpful.

Bizarrely the bug seems fairly well known - there are posts on Microsoft's TechNet dating backing to last summer. Our reader wanted to know why, if the bug was known about last year, nothing was done to fix it before Vista gold shipped. This is the thread on Microsoft's TechNet forum, which dates from July 2006, explains the issue.

Microsoft UK told us: "It's not something that's come to our attention through technical support. It's possible that hitting F5 after naming the folder will do the trick. But your reader, or anyone else, is having problems with this issue should call technical support and we'll try and help."

Our reader said he bought two PCs with Vista pre-installed. Once connected to the network he could go onto other drives and create folders, but not name them. But if you look at the forums this seems to have happened in the beta versions of Vista and with several major manufacturers.

He described the workarounds he was aware of as "an embuggerance". One such workaround is to create folders on your local drive and then copy across to the network drive.

Let us know how you're getting on with Vista at the usual address.®