SharePoint Server 2013: Navigation link error for network file shares

Issue Description

Since May 2013 I have been working with Sharepoint 2013.I have been coming across new things almost everyday.Recently, I had to add a URL link to navigation menu which redirect users to a folder on the network.

On the SharePoint 2013 site based on team Site template, when a user clicks on left navigation links pointing to a file share he gets the error "Invalid Page URL:".

The problem is this was working on SharePoint 2010 and I tested this in a 2010 environemnt and it was still working.

I tried giving the locations in the below formats:

file://location1

\\server\location2

file://\\location3\folder1

No luck!!! L

I tested the same by pasting the location in Internet Explorer and it opens up.

I had opened a ticket with Microsoft which was actually identified as a bug with Sharepoint 2013.This issue has been fixed with December 10, 2013 Cumulative Update for SharePoint 2013.

Fix for the issue

Disable the MDS feature to fix this. The issue is not in a publishing site(When publishing is enabled, this feature is disabled automatically.)

Site Actions -> Site Settings -> Site Actions ->Manage site features -> Minimal Download Strategy -> Activate