VERY Slow startup - Workstation Service error?!?!

[Mike]

I've been troubleshooting an XP machine for 2 days now.
I'm at wits end. The machine is joined to a W2K3 domain
using DHCP for everything.

After the domain login, the login screen disappears, and
hte desktop background appears. The UI becomes
unresponsive for 3 - 4 minutes, with only the mouse
pointer being able to move. There is no harddrive
activity. After 3 - 4 minutes, it finishes starting up
(start menu appears, icons, etc.)

This happens regardless of the user logging in (Admin,
Power User, etc.). Also it happens regardless of being
connected to the network.

I've traced the problem back to the Workstation Service by
using msconfig. If I disable Workstation, it works great -
no problems. As soon as I re-enable, it pauses on startup.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I've also tried setting a static IP - no effect.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mark]

Mike,
Are the PC's located in sub-containers in the domain? Sometimes
workstations will do what they call walking the tree looking for policies
going all the way to the root of the domain. You can set their inheritance
level through Active directory to look only at their container level for
policies.

 

[Guest]

Nope - there's no subcontainers. I've tried a few more
things without luck:

1. Join/unjoin from domain
2. Recreate profiles

Sitll in the same boat. I'm off to google groups some info
on slow Workstation service startup.

Thanks!

 

[CZ]

I've been troubleshooting an XP machine for 2 days now.
I'm at wits end. The machine is joined to a W2K3 domain
using DHCP for everything.

After the domain login, the login screen disappears, and
hte desktop background appears. The UI becomes
unresponsive for 3 - 4 minutes, with only the mouse
pointer being able to move. There is no harddrive
activity. After 3 - 4 minutes, it finishes starting up
(start menu appears, icons, etc.)

This happens regardless of the user logging in (Admin,
Power User, etc.). Also it happens regardless of being
connected to the network.

I've traced the problem back to the Workstation Service by
using msconfig. If I disable Workstation, it works great -
no problems. As soon as I re-enable, it pauses on startup.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I've also tried setting a static IP - no effect.

Mike:

Domain members must be setup to point to an internal DNS server, not your
ISP's DNS server.
Verify the ws has that by running ipconfig /all on the ws.

 

[Mike B]

Thanks for advice. I've double checked the settings - when
the machine is plugged into the network, it points to our
internal DNS servers.

Still seems strange - it happens even when the network is
disconnected.

Thanks!

 

[Mark]

Mike have you also checked the TCPIP properties to see what order the
protocols are loading...I've seen that cause some wacky logins....Just a
thought...let us know if you find the answer.

 

[CZ]

I've been troubleshooting an XP machine for 2 days now.
I'm at wits end. The machine is joined to a W2K3 domain
using DHCP for everything.

After the domain login, the login screen disappears, and
hte desktop background appears. The UI becomes
unresponsive for 3 - 4 minutes, with only the mouse
pointer being able to move. There is no harddrive
activity. After 3 - 4 minutes, it finishes starting up
(start menu appears, icons, etc.)

This happens regardless of the user logging in (Admin,
Power User, etc.). Also it happens regardless of being
connected to the network.

I've traced the problem back to the Workstation Service by
using msconfig. If I disable Workstation, it works great -
no problems. As soon as I re-enable, it pauses on startup.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

I've also tried setting a static IP - no effect.

Mike:

Review Active Directory Users and Computers on a DC for:
A computer acct for your ws.
A user acct for your ws user (create/use a new domain user acct as a test?).

During ws bootup & login, are you:
Entering a domain user acct.
Selecting the domain from the drop-down list (this is easy to overlook).

Review Event Viewer on the ws and the DC

Comments:
Local user accts are not used for domain logins.
Power Users gp is a XP default gp, but is not a default gp in a Win2k3
domain.
If you are using the same user acct NAME for both local logons and domain
logins, does the ws have two profiles for that user acct name?

Your problem sounds login related, as the Workstation server is involved
with logins, and you are having the problem just after the login screen.