Cannot Create New User Profiles

[Pat Fry]

We are unable to create new user profiles on Windows XP Pro
workstations on my client's network. The network has one Windows 2000
server which is also the domain controller. Most, but not all, of
the workstations on the network are Windows XP Pro with up to date
Service Packs and patches. All of the XP computers have joined the
domain.

All of the workstations can log on to the network without problem if
the logon is done with a username that logged into the computer prior
to some undetermined point in time. An attempt to login on that same
computer by a domain user who has not previously used the computer
will result in the message :

"Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be
loaded. Check that you are connected to the network, or
that your network is functioning correctly. If this problem
persists, contact your network administrator. "

There is actually no problem connecting to the network. Logins procede
correctly as noted above.

In an attempt to get around the message, I logged into a workstation
as the domain administrator (who had previously used the computer and
had a working profile). Once in, I added the domain user to the local
user accounts. When this is done, the "new" user can log in, but is
initially greeted with a message along the lines of:

"Windows cannot locate your profile but will log you in using the
default user profile..."

Once logged in everything is fine until the next time the user logs
in. Of special concern is Outlook, which runs in Exchange Server mode
and is able to connect immediately after the first login.. At the next
login, the system hangs while "loading personal preferences". On the
third login, the login process completes, but Outlook fails to open
giving an error message like "Outlook cannot open."

I believed there was something wrong with the W2k server and the
netlogon share, so I brought in a "fresh" Windows XP machine and
joined it to the domain. Once a part of the domain, I was able to log
in as any domain user without a problem. No messages or other
distractions.

There must be something wrong with profile creation on the problem XP
machines.

 

[David Candy]

%SystemRoot%\Debug\UserMode\Userenv.log might shed some light on it.

 

[Pat Fry]

Thanks. I will check it out.

 

[Brian]

It would be hard for me to trouble shoot this with out actually seeing it,
but just one thing you should take note of. Is that you talk about only
users that have logged on before can log on now. With xp it will cache the
users password incase there is no network connection. log in as one of these
users. and do an ipconfig /all and see if its a 192.168.x.x address. this is
so if your network goes down a user can still log on and do some work be it
only local but he can at least do some stuff if no network connection is
required.

 

[Pat Fry]

David,

Here is the relevant (after a failed login) text of userenv.log. Any
ideas? Sorry about the poor wrapping. I'm a total newbie at this.

U S E R E N V ( 2 1 0 . 2 1 4 ) 1 0 : 2 1 : 3 5 : 9 0 7 R e s t o
r e U s e r P r o f i l e : I s s u e D e f a u l t P r o f i l e
f a i l e d w i t h l o c a l d e f a u l t .
U S E R E N V ( 2 1 0 . 2 1 4 ) 1 0 : 2 1 : 3 5 : 9 8 5 R e s t o
r e U s e r P r o f i l e : C o u l d n o t l o a d t h e u
s e r p r o f i l e . E r r o r = 2
U S E R E N V ( 2 1 0 . 2 1 4 ) 1 0 : 2 1 : 3 5 : 9 8 5 R e p o r
t E r r o r : I m p e r s o n a t i n g u s e r .
U S E R E N V ( 2 1 0 . 2 1 4 ) 1 0 : 2 1 : 4 0 : 1 4 1 D e l e t
e P r o f i l e E x : F a i l e d t o q u e r y p r o f i l
e g u i d w i t h e r r o r 2
U S E R E N V ( 2 1 0 . 2 1 4 ) 1 0 : 2 1 : 4 0 : 1 5 7 L o a d U
s e r P r o f i l e : R e s t o r e U s e r P r o f i l e r e t u
r n e d F A L S E
U S E R E N V ( 2 1 0 . 2 1 4 ) 1 0 : 2 1 : 4 0 : 1 5 7 L o a d U
s e r P r o f i l e : L o a d U s e r P r o f i l e P f a i l e d
w i t h e r r o r 2
U S E R E N V ( 2 1 0 . 3 8 8 ) 1 0 : 2 1 : 5 2 : 2 1 8 G e t G P
O I n f o : L o c a l G P O ' s g p t . i n i i s n o t
a c c e s s i b l e , a s s u m i n g d e f a u l t s t a t e .

 

[Pat Fry]

Brian,

Thanks for the reply. I don't quite understand your suggestion though. There is no doubt that
network connectivity exists. Logging in with a "good" user results in all network connections
functioning properly.

In the previous post, I was trying to say that the problem with logins is relatively new. At some
previous time, say 6 months ago, domain users could log in on any XP workstations. No users traded
computers or were changed on the domain for several months. The current situation was discovered
only when some new users were added to the domain and given computers that had previously been used
by other users. The new users can't log on, the users who had first logged on more than 6 months ago
are OK.

 

[David Candy]

Typing
net helpmsg 2
returns File Not Found.

Check that the default profile is on the server and workstations. This is what new users are based on. Check that shares haven't changed or that security hasn't changed.

Turn on Verbose logging
PSS ID Number: 221833

Article Last Modified on 1/24/2003


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:


a.. Microsoft Windows XP Professional
b.. Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
c.. Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
d.. Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
e.. Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This article was previously published under Q221833
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SUMMARY
The versions of Microsoft Windows listed at the beginning of this article include debug logging of the user profile and the Windows system policy processes. To turn on debug logging, modify the registry on the computer on which the logging occurs. The debug logging functionality is also available with Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, but the functionality requires a checked (debug) build of the Userenv.dll file on Windows NT 4.0.
For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
154120 Debugging User Profiles and System Policies in Windows NT 4.0

You can use the output of this logging to troubleshoot problems with user profiles and Group Policy processing.
MORE INFORMATION
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Use Registry Editor to add the following registry value (or modify it, if the value already exists):
Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Value: UserEnvDebugLevel
Value Type: REG_DWORD
Value Data: 10002 (Hex)

UserEnvDebugLevel can have the following values:
NONE 0x00000000
NORMAL 0x00000001
VERBOSE 0x00000002
LOGFILE 0x00010000
DEBUGGER 0x00020000

The default value is NORMAL (0x00010000). NOTE: To disable logging, select NONE (where the value would be [0X0000000000000]).

You can also combine the values. For example, you can combine VERBOSE 0x00000002 and LOGFILE 0x00010000 to get 0x00010002. So if UserEnvDebugLevel is set with a value of 0x00010002, this turns on both LOGFILE and VERBOSE. Combining these values is the same as using an AND statement:
0x00010000 AND 0x00000002 = 0x00010002

The log file is written to the %SystemRoot%\Debug\UserMode\Userenv.log file.


Additional query words: userenv.log enable

Keywords: kbhowto KB221833
Technology: kbwin2000AdvServ kbwin2000AdvServSearch kbwin2000DataServ kbwin2000DataServSearch kbwin2000Pro kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Search kbwin2000Serv kbwin2000ServSearch kbWinAdvServSearch kbWinDataServSearch kbWinXPPro kbWinXPProSearch kbWinXPSearch