Missing Network Drives - Windows 8

After upgrading my workstation from Windows 7 professional to Windows 8.1 professional, I discovered all my network drives were now missing.

The short answer on how to bring them back...

In my case, I as an End User belonged to the local Administrator's group on my local computer. After doing some research this is what worked for me and so many others...

1).  Remove yourself (or the end user in question) as a member of the local Administrator's group on the computer.

2).  Reboot the computer.

3).  Check to see if your mapped network drives are now present.

*Note: If you don't see them right away in the File Explorer window, wait about a minute or so to allow the login script or GP policy preference to run its course.

4).  Add yourself back as a member of the local Administrator's group on the computer.

5).  Reboot once again to ensure network drives are still properly mapping upon login after adding yourself or the End User back as a local Administrator on the computer.

Second recommended solution - For those who initially weren't part of the local Administrator's group...

If you are using a login script to map your network drives, try using Group Policy Preferences instead to create them during login.

Some Details behind the answer...

This indeed has been an issue for many who previously had no issues mapping to network drives before migrating to Windows 8.X. The issue seems to be more prevalent if the mapped drives are being created via a login script that's placed within Active Directory's SysVol folder.  The preferred method to map to network drives now appears to be via Group Policy Preferences. Though this has worked for some, after trying it on our domain, like others, the issue persisted.  It wasn't until I toggled myself out/in of the local Administrator's group on my PC was I able to once again regain my mapped network drives.