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ERROR_IS_JOIN_TARGET
What ERROR_IS_JOIN_TARGET means
ERROR_IS_JOIN_TARGET is a Win32 system result whose documented message is: “A JOIN or SUBST command cannot be used for a drive that contains previously joined drives.” In practical troubleshooting, it belongs to legacy DOS drive JOIN and SUBST namespace manipulation where a drive already participates as a target of an existing join.
Typical causes
- startup scripts repeat a JOIN operation without removing the previous mapping
- different scripts manage the same drive namespace independently
- persisted compatibility state survived an application restart
How to investigate the result
- enumerate current JOIN and SUBST mappings before making changes
- trace which logon or startup script created the existing relation
- Test cleanup in the same user and compatibility context that owns the mapping
Developer guidance
Make mapping operations idempotent: detect an equivalent existing target and treat it as success, while rejecting conflicting topology.
Administrator and support guidance
Remove or consolidate duplicate legacy startup commands. Modern Windows deployments should replace JOIN usage with supported mount points or explicit paths.
Example
A second initialization script tries to repurpose a drive that already contains a directory used as a JOIN target and receives this result.
How it differs from related results
It means the drive contains a target of a previous JOIN, which is different from ERROR_IS_JOINED where the drive itself is already joined.
References
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