diff --git a/LICENSE b/LICENSE
index df010701..bbf3c269 100644
--- a/LICENSE
+++ b/LICENSE
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 BSD 3-Clause License
 
-Copyright (c) 2021, byteskeptical
+Copyright (c) 2026, byteskeptical
 All rights reserved.
 
 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
diff --git a/docs/changes.rst b/docs/changes.rst
index 3073d4ed..4feeff51 100644
--- a/docs/changes.rst
+++ b/docs/changes.rst
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
-1.2.0 (current, released 2025-12-21)
-------------------------------------
+1.2.1 (current, released 2026-2-11)
+-----------------------------------
+    * adding boolean to rename for switch between posix and standard behavior.
+    * change in default path behavior where cwd is set when default path is not.
+    * update drivedrop to better handle all non-UNC Windows path possibilities.
+
+1.2.0 (released 2025-12-21)
+---------------------------
     * fix for change in pathlib behavior in Python 3.13+ on Windows.
-    * fix for parsing limitation of .stem causing issues with dots in path names.
+    * fix for parsing limitation of .stem causing issue with dots in path names.
 
 1.1.11 (released 2025-10-22)
 ----------------------------
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index 1ec0b7fd..459455df 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -47,16 +47,16 @@
 
 # General information about the project.
 project = u'sftpretty'
-copyright = u'2025, byteskeptical'
+copyright = u'2026, byteskeptical'
 
 # The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
 # |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout the
 # built documents.
 #
 # The short X.Y version.
-version = '1.2.0'
+version = '1.2.1'
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags.
-release = '1.2.0'
+release = '1.2.1'
 
 # The language for content autogenerated by Sphinx. Refer to documentation
 # for a list of supported languages.
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 18381556..5f917831 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ keywords = [
 name = 'sftpretty'
 readme = 'README.rst'
 requires-python = '>=3.6'
-version = '1.2.0'
+version = '1.2.1'
 
 [project.scripts]
 sftpretty = 'sftpretty:Connection'
diff --git a/sftpretty/__init__.py b/sftpretty/__init__.py
index 5b313c32..c566b5c6 100644
--- a/sftpretty/__init__.py
+++ b/sftpretty/__init__.py
@@ -328,10 +328,10 @@ def _sftp_channel(self):
             meta.settimeout(self._timeout)
             self._cache.__dict__.setdefault('cwd', self._default_path)
 
-            if self._cache.cwd:
-                channel.chdir(drivedrop(self._cache.cwd))
-            else:
-                self._cache.cwd = '/'
+            if self._cache.cwd is None:
+                self._cache.cwd = drivedrop(channel.normalize('.'))
+
+            channel.chdir(drivedrop(self._cache.cwd))
             log.info(f'Current Working Directory: [{self._cache.cwd}]')
 
             yield channel
@@ -643,7 +643,7 @@ def get_d(self, remotedir, localdir, callback=None,
 
         :raises: Any exception raised by operations will be passed through.
         '''
-        remotedir = Path(self._cache.cwd).joinpath(remotedir).as_posix()
+        remotedir = self.normalize(remotedir)
         filelist = self.listdir_attr(remotedir)
 
         if not Path(localdir).is_dir():
@@ -747,11 +747,8 @@ def get_r(self, remotedir, localdir, callback=None,
 
         :raises: Any exception raised by operations will be passed through.
         '''
-        with self._sftp_channel():
-            remotedir = Path(self._cache.cwd).joinpath(remotedir).as_posix()
-
         lwd = Path(localdir).absolute().as_posix()
-        rwd = remotedir
+        rwd = self.normalize(remotedir)
 
         tree = {}
         tree[rwd] = [(rwd, lwd)]
@@ -960,6 +957,7 @@ def put_d(self, localdir, remotedir, callback=None, confirm=True,
         :raises OSError: if localdir doesn't exist
         '''
         localdir = Path(localdir)
+        remotedir = self.normalize(remotedir)
 
         self.mkdir_p(Path(remotedir).joinpath(localdir.parts[-1]).as_posix())
 
@@ -1430,9 +1428,9 @@ def normalize(self, remotepath):
         :raises: IOError, if remotepath can't be resolved
         '''
         with self._sftp_channel() as channel:
-            expanded_path = channel.normalize(drivedrop(remotepath))
+            absolute = channel.normalize(drivedrop(remotepath))
 
-        return drivedrop(expanded_path)
+        return drivedrop(absolute)
 
     def open(self, remotefile, bufsize=-1, mode='r'):
         '''Open a file on the remote server.
@@ -1511,19 +1509,22 @@ def remove(self, remotefile):
         with self._sftp_channel() as channel:
             channel.remove(drivedrop(remotefile))
 
-    def rename(self, remotepath, newpath):
+    def rename(self, remotepath, newpath, posix=True):
         '''Rename a path on the remote host.
 
         :param str remotepath: Remote path to rename.
-
         :param str newpath: New name for remote path.
+        :param bool posix: *Default: True* - If set uses posix rename
+            extension behavior from OpenSSH otherwise fallback to standard
+            SFTP rename behavior.
 
         :returns: None
 
         :raises: IOError
         '''
         with self._sftp_channel() as channel:
-            channel.posix_rename(drivedrop(remotepath), drivedrop(newpath))
+            renamer = channel.posix_rename if posix else channel.rename
+            renamer(drivedrop(remotepath), drivedrop(newpath))
 
     def rmdir(self, remotedir):
         '''Delete remote directory.
diff --git a/sftpretty/helpers.py b/sftpretty/helpers.py
index 4ed65795..8233c246 100644
--- a/sftpretty/helpers.py
+++ b/sftpretty/helpers.py
@@ -18,9 +18,13 @@ def _callback(filename, bytes_so_far, bytes_total, logger=None):
 
 def drivedrop(filepath):
     if filepath:
-        if PureWindowsPath(filepath).drive:
+        if PureWindowsPath(filepath).drive and not filepath.startswith('//'):
             filepath = PurePosixPath('/').joinpath(
-                *PurePosixPath(filepath).parts[1:]).as_posix()
+                *PureWindowsPath(filepath).parts[1:]).as_posix()
+            filepath = filepath.encode('unicode_escape').decode()
+            filepath = filepath.replace('\\', '/').replace('//', '/')
+        elif filepath.startswith('//'):
+            filepath = PurePosixPath(filepath.replace('//', '/')).as_posix()
 
     return filepath
 
diff --git a/tests/test_getcwd.py b/tests/test_getcwd.py
index 9caaadf6..4e922e69 100644
--- a/tests/test_getcwd.py
+++ b/tests/test_getcwd.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ def test_getcwd_none(sftpserver):
         cnn = conn(sftpserver)
         cnn['default_path'] = None
         with Connection(**cnn) as sftp:
-            assert sftp.getcwd() is None
+            assert sftp.getcwd() == '/'
 
 
 def test_getcwd_default_path(sftpserver):
diff --git a/tests/test_issue_65.py b/tests/test_issue_65.py
index 46c82fb0..99d86654 100644
--- a/tests/test_issue_65.py
+++ b/tests/test_issue_65.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ def test_issue_65(sftpserver):
         cnn = conn(sftpserver)
         cnn['default_path'] = None
         with Connection(**cnn) as sftp:
-            assert sftp.getcwd() is None
+            assert sftp.getcwd() == '/'
             with sftp.cd(pubpath.as_posix()):
                 pass
 
diff --git a/tests/test_rename.py b/tests/test_rename.py
index e10d5960..f559a5f1 100644
--- a/tests/test_rename.py
+++ b/tests/test_rename.py
@@ -13,10 +13,14 @@ def test_rename(lsftp):
             lsftp.remove(base_fname)
         assert base_fname not in lsftp.listdir()
         lsftp.put(fname)
-        lsftp.rename(base_fname, 'bob')
+        lsftp.rename(base_fname, 'alice')
         rdirs = lsftp.listdir()
-        assert 'bob' in rdirs
+        assert 'alice' in rdirs
         assert base_fname not in rdirs
+        lsftp.rename('alice', 'bob', posix=False)
+        rdirs = lsftp.listdir()
+        assert 'alice' not in rdirs
+        assert 'bob' in rdirs
         lsftp.remove('bob')