Administrative shares are also referred to as a “hidden share. These file shares are hidden shares on Windows PCs with a name appended at the end with a dollar sign, for example, “test$“. These shares are not visible when viewing them from other PC’s shares, but still accessible if the hidden share name (test$) is known. Windows includes some Administrative shares, such as PRINT$, FAX$, C$, IPC$, and ADMIN$. This idea is beneficial when you wish to hide resources (directories) from users without completely denying them access will ACLs. Kindly refer to the following guides for more information on WDS and MDT. How to setup and install WDS role, how to configure DHCP, and Folder Access Denied, you require permission from SYSTEM: Unable to delete old windows folder.
This error was prompted after the deployment of Windows 10 was completed and the log entries were not available in the specified directory due to inaccessibility of the hidden share. When you copy the path into the run dialog box as shown here "\\TECHDARCHIVEDC\test$" The following error below was prompted. You may want to see the difference between MDT and WDS.
To fix this issue, you have to understand your environment and determine if other settings (policies) need to be configured to make shares accessible in your network. For me, there was no need to have additional settings configured as they have been taken care of before. Therefore, kindly follow the steps discussed below. All you need to do is to ensure the dollar sign “$” is added to the folder name “Deploymentlogs$” under the advanced sharing option. You may want to see this guide on how to create a hidden share (Administrative Shares) folder on Windows devices“
To do this, you will have to Open File Explorer, navigate to the folder you want to share.
– Right-click the folder and select the Properties option.
Next, you will have to click the Sharing tab and click the Advanced Sharing button.
This will open the Folder’s (test) Advanced Sharing Window. On the advanced Sharing Window,
– Click on “Share this Folder”
– Under the “Settings” section, type a name share name, and add the “$” character at the end to make the folder hidden.
Note: You do not need to add spaces within the share name.
– Click on Apply.
Click on Ok and Finally click on close as shown below to close the Test (folder) properties window.
Optional: Specific to MDT only!!!
Ensure the following rules are added to Deploymenet Share in MDT. The folder defined for the log as described here "SLShare=\\TECHDARCHIVEDC\Deploymentlogs$" and the monitoring rule as well. Here is a comprehensive article on Windows deployment via MDT and WDS.The shared folder will be invisible henceforth using File Explorer on any device. However, it’ll still be accessible using the folder path\\TECHDARCHIVEDC\test$.
To see all the available shares on this server, launch the Computer Management Tool as shown below and navigate to the shared folder.
I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment session.