Roaming Profiles and Access problem

[Hardlyhome]

G'day all,

Having some problems in a classroom environment. Classroom is subnet of main orgs network. DC is 2K Server SP4 and full appropriate updates. All profiles were copied from one original profile. All client machines are XP Pro SP1, made from single Ghosted image and hardware identical. The classroom is completely separate from main orgs domain except for one network link to get Internet access. Problem I am having has reared its ugly head only fairly recently. Users have started reporting that, all of a sudden, they can no longer start MS Access (Office XP SP1). Usually, they first notice they cannot get into a file they could get into only a few hours before. From this point on, it doesn't matter how they try to open Access they cannot get in. Access keeps throwing up event id 1000 errors in the event log. It doesn't seem to matter what computer they are on either and log onto same client using different profile and different user can get into Access no worries. So it seems as if there is some problem with the individual profiles themselves. If I delete one of the affected profiles and make another with the same name the problem starts again. Make new profile with different name and new profile is fine. Haven't been able to find anything about this problem anywhere. Can anyone help please?

Craig Powell
Association f/t Blind W.A.

 

[Ger2111]

Seems like possible DNS errors , not being able to browse shared data on the network. Not 100% here, but are the XP clients configured to use the W2K server as their DNS server??
Just a thought.

MCP

 

[Hardlyhome]

Thanks for the response Ger2111. Yes the XP clients are configured to use the DC as their DNS server. If they aren't configured that way, their logon takes ages. Two minutes or more. Changing them to point to the DC as DNS made all the difference there. The Access files the students are looking at are usually kept on floppy disk but they could also be stored in their My Documents section of their profile or elsewhere on HDD. But it doesn't seem to make any difference where the files are stored, once this problem starts the file can be anywhere and it makes no difference. Also, trying to open Access from the Start menu with no file also causes the same symptoms. Everyone I ask about this problem seems stumped as well. Any idea what checks I can do on a users profile more than just what appears in ADUC or even in ADUC. It really does appear to be a corrupted profile but where is the corruption and what has become corrupted? The only way I appear to be able to solve it is to delete the profile and start a new one with a new name but that doesn't solve the problem just gets around it. I would prefer to solve the problem rather than just get round it.

Thanks again,
Craig Powell
Association f/t Blind W.A.

 

[GlenJohnson]

JSI says it's DNS problems.
DNS problems. Good luck.

Glen A. Johnson
If you're from Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin check out Tek-Tips in Chicago, Illinois Forum.

TTinChicago

 

[Hardlyhome]

Thanks for the reply Glen. I have looked at possible DNS problems and the DC has had DNS problems in the past. It took us ages to get it right when we set it up in the first place. But I'm not convinced this time for a couple of reasons. Why only some profiles and not others? My understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is that DNS settings are a computer setting not a user setting. If that was the problem surely all users would have the problem on the computer not just some? Why would a profile be fine one minute and when user comes back from a coffee break, bang, problems appear? I checked out the link you provided above and the main difference is the source. The one on the page you mention is coming from USERENV but mine is coming from Microsoft Office 10. Unfortunatley, It would appear that this is enough of a difference to make that page not usable in this case.

Not in the U.S. at all cobber (BTW "cobber" is not a swear word or derogatory in the least, it means mate or friend Just didn't want to cause any confusion). "Down under" as you Yanks like to say. Little ol' backwater of about 1.5 million people on the west coast of Australia.

Thanks again for the suggestion Glen. Any others? Willing to try just about anything at this point including, but not restricted to, burnt offerings, rituals involving egg beaters, feathers of rare South American parrots and cabbage, recreational substances and even... horror of horrors .... reading books.

Craig Powell
Association f/t Blind W.A.