Terminal Server profiles not Unloading

[ykbhardwaj]

We are running Metaframe XPe/Windows 2000. We are currently facing problem of terminal server profiles either not unloading or taking too long time. It results in users losing their settings like outlook setup or defaut printers etc. Please advise.
Thanks.

 

[Ogi]

Hi,

Give further details please!

Windows SP Level
Citrix SP/FR Level

If you search the forums there are similar calls with solutions!

Cheers,
Carl.

 

[ykbhardwaj]

Winodws 2000 SP3
Citrix Metaframe XPe FR2

The profile unloading problem is not happening always but is very annoying if user has just setup outlook or set deafult printer and if profile is not saved, all settings are gone in next login. Please advise.

 

[DDILL]

Have you applied MS03-026? It causes this issue. Many other things can cause the issue too but this is a recent and popular problem. If you have applied this patch, try disabling windows installer, reboot the server, and remove all profiles before allowing users to re-connect. If the problem goes away contact MS and get yourself added to the list of cases. One good thing is they do have some trial fix that seems to be working for me.

 

[ykbhardwaj]

Yes we have applied MS03-026 but the installer service is not running.

 

[DDILL]

It is not "running" but it is probably set to manual. What I am suggesting is setting it to disabled and following the additional instruction above. Also, if it is feasible, you can uninstall the MS03-026 and the issue goes away. This would be the best way to determine if that patch is your problem.

 

[shellac]

Hey,

We seem to be having a similiar problem. Our Citrix guy is out so me and another guy are working through this. On our server, it's not unloading some profiles plus it seems to be creating new ones for some users who already have a profile created. It will name the new profile username.KL (Kl being our domain), then username.KL.000, then username.KL.001...
They are supposed to point to another server because they are supposed to be roaming profiles. We did not put any patches on our server recently.

 

[DDILL]

Profile unload issues are basicly an issue with an open handle to the profile keeping it from unloading. The issue with MS03-026 is intermitent so I would not rule it our too quick if you have MS03-026 on the system. You should start looking at what is being left open. Check the registry for the key that is not unloading. Then you need to look at what is holding that key locked. It is going to send you on a chase. It can be caused by a specific application, print driver, or a MS patch. Can you reproduce the issue?

 

[ykbhardwaj]

In most of our cases the file usrlass.dat is stuck. Sometimes we can unload the hive manually but sometimes it says Insufficient Previlage. Any idea which process might use this.

 

[DDILL]

This really sounds like the issue we have with MS03-026. It also was userclass.dat which is the sid_classes key in the registry. Did you try disabling windows installer and cleaning up the profiles? I have a hot fix from MS that took care of this. MS also sent me a service that will unload these profiles when they can not unload and will log the process that held it locked into the event log under applications. What is your e-mail? I will send it to you.

 

[ykbhardwaj]

Thanks a lot. My id is ykbhardwaj@yahoo.com. I am disabling windows installer on some of the servers and see if it helps.

 

[Ogi]

DDIL & others,

When you log in first thing, do you go to My Computer/Properties and then go to User Profiles and then manually delete the profiles or do you go to ?:\Documents and Settings and manually delete from there?

When your users can't write their profile back, do you get an entry in the event log?

Event 1000
Windows cannot unload your registry file. If you have a roaming profile, your settings are not replicated. Contact your administrator.

DETAIL - Access is denied. , Build number ((2195)).

I'm getting this issue and I'm on W2K SP2 with the blaster patch, plus a few others!!!!

Cheers,
Carl.

 

[ykbhardwaj]

I am using Delprof.exe to remove the local copies of roaming profiles as a scheduled job. But Delprof is not deleting all unused profiles. I think it takes the information from somewhere and do not check the unused profiles in the profile directory. i have to remove some profiles manually.

 

[DDILL]

ykbhardwaj,
Did you setup uphclean? It seemed to unload them for me every time. The logging it does is good too. Also, did you try disabling windows installer? The hotfix for this MS says will be bundled tomorrow if all goes well with testing. It fixed my issue. The current install of this fix is to go into safe mode and replace msiexec.exe and some msi dll files. The hotfix will be these bundled into an install.

Ogi,
Sounds like the same issue. Can you try disabling windows installer?

 

[ykbhardwaj]

I have installed the UPHClean service and seems to be working very good. In most cases the culprit is spoolserv.exe of winmgmt.exe. I really appreciate the event logging facility by this service. Now i know who is holding the profiles.