As we have been upgrading workstations and servers over the past couple of years, one of the things we might overlook in the upgrade plans is the impact on network devices. Some of these network devices have been in use for many years. Like Windows 7 they worked great and are not giving any outward signs of problems. With the move to updated operating systems (OS) from Microsoft, problems may occur trying to connect to these older devices.
A common problem we experience is with scanning to a network share on a new Windows server or workstation from an older copier. The copier may have been able to do this with the previous Microsoft OS (running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008), but with the new OS (Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016+), it does not work.
The root cause is commonly caused by Microsoft deprecating (and removing) Server Message Block v1 (SMBv1) from Windows servers and workstations starting in late 2017. All versions of Windows since 2006 include the more updated (and more secure) versions of SMBv2. SMBv1 goes back to the early days of Windows and several security issues / problems have come to light since then. Windows XP and Server 2003 were the last versions of Windows that required SMBv1 to function and those went out of support in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Since 2017, SMBv1 has been removed with upgrades and updates. This removal can cause connectivity issues with devices that only support SMBv1.
There are two options in order of priority:
The above described issues to not impact these copiers from scanning to an email mailbox. Scanning to email has it’s own challenges, but SMBv1 is not used in that communications process.
Rod Hatley, Practice Manager, leads the Aktion service team in delivering IT infrastructure and cloud solutions. Rod has more than 25 years of experience in IT.