How to resolve “An extended error has occurred” or “Error Code 0x80004005” when trying to connect to a UNC share on Windows.

So I was trying to open a UNC share through a link in a Libre Office document and I got this error error message telling me “An extended error has occurred” (all paths removed from images since this occurred on a work machine):

Naturally, my next response was to just try to browse to it through Windows Explorer using the UNC path myself. When I did that I got a Network Error saying Windows cannot access the UNC share and the never so helpful Error Code: 0x80004005 Unspecified Error message.

Puzzled I hit Event Viewer and saw a Kerberos error in the System logs that told me the issue was with a password stored in Credential Manager.

To be honest I didn’t know what Credential Manager was so I hit up Microsoft and found:

Credential Manager allows you to store credentials, such as user names and passwords that you use to log on to websites or other computers on a network. By storing your credentials, Windows can automatically log you on to websites or other computers. Credentials are saved in special folders on your computer called vaults. Windows and programs (such as web browsers) can securely give the credentials in the vaults to other computers and websites.

Ok so it’s a password vault built into Windows… here’s how we resolve the “An extended error has occurred” or “Error Code 0x80004005” errors when trying to connect to a UNC share on Windows.

The old skool way is to open a command prompt and type the following:

rundll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr

When you do you’ll see the Stored User Names and Passwords. Just edit or remove the problematic share.

The new skool way (and this might just be a Windows 7+ thing… I haven’t verified it. Hit your Orb, and in the “Search Programs and Files” box type in “Credential Manager” and you’ll see it pop up in your start menu. This brings up the… cooler looking?! way of editing or removing the UNC that’s being problematic.