Common Window NT Problems

Roaming Profiles

Q:What is the advantageof roaming profiles, and are NT 4.0 roaming profiles different from NT 3.51roaming profiles?

Just as in previous versions of Windows NT, NT 4.0 loads a user profileeach time a user logs on. Many companies set up roaming user profiles becausesuch a profile lets users have the same profile configuration on any NT 4.0machine that can access the network.

An NT 3.x user profile is an individual file. This file is a Registry hive.When the user logs on, this file becomes the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive.

The new Windows interface allows for greater flexibility. The profile is acollection of folders and files. The profile path now points to a folder ratherthan the single file. The profile folder contains folders and files that make upthe Desktop, Start Menu, Network Neighborhood, and the like.

The ntuser.dat file also resides in the profile folder and represents theHKEY_CURRENT_USER hive for the currently logged on user. NT 3.x stores theuser profile in the %SystemRoot%System32Config folder. NT 4.0 stores the userprofile in a folder within %SystemRoot%Profiles.

When you use roaming profiles, in either NT 3.x or NT 4.0, the system copiesthe user profile from the centrally stored location to the location specified aspart of the logon process. When the user logs off, the system copies the userprofile from the location specified, back to the central location.

Q:Are user profiles thesame for Windows 95 and NT 4.0? Do Win95 and NT 4.0 store user profiles in thesame directory path?

Because Win95 and NT 4.0 have a similar user interface (UI), the userprofiles are also similar, but they are not the same. For example, in Win95, thefile that the system copies to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive of the Registry isuser.dat. When you configure Win95 for roaming profiles, the central profile isautomatically stored in the home directory path.

Don't configure NT 4.0 to use the home directory path as the centrallocation for the profile, because at logon, the system caches the entirecontents of the profile path locally. If a user has a lot of data in the homedirectory, this configuration will be inefficient.

When Win95 copies the locally cached profile to the central location, itcopies only shortcuts (*.lnk) files. NT 4.0 copies all files. This approachallows for a more flexible roaming profile. However, future versions of NT willhave an option to copy only shortcuts for roaming profiles.

Q:How can I create aroaming profile?

To create a roaming profile, follow these steps:

1. Create a folder called profiles on the network and share it with allusers who will store their profiles there. These users must have at least Changepermission access for the profile folder.

2. In User Manager, select the users who will store their profiles on thenetwork, and press Enter to bring up the user properties. Select Profile andenter

\in the User Profile Path. 3. If you want to test this procedure immediately, don't forget tosynchronize any Backup Domain Controllers (BDCs) with the Primary DomainController (PDC). When these users log on, the system will load their user profiles. When theylog off, the system will copy this local profile to the network locationspecified in the User Profile Path. The system will create a folder with thename of the user if this folder does not already exist. A Word About Security
Q:I'm worried about thevulnerability of individual user profiles. Can one user change or copy anotheruser's centrally stored profileIf you are concerned about a user's ability to change or copy anotheruser's centrally stored profile, you can do a couple things. Rather than callingthe share to the profile path profiles, you can call it profile$. This approachhides the share. Hiding the share is not a problem because users have no reason to know thecentral location of their profile. You don't change the permissions on the sharewith this approach, but the share won't show up in the browse list. You can put the profile path on an NTFS partition and set permissions to theuser folders accordingly. Remember each user needs at least Change permissionaccess to the profile folder. You can put the profile path on a server that is already secure to the user.For example, suppose the accounting department has a server that has permissionsalready set to let only accounting users access it. This server might make agood location for those users' centrally stored profiles. Note that because roaming profiles are stored on a server and cachedlocally, you have some redundancy in case you delete or change either copy ofthe profile. For up-to-the-minute information on user profile issues, checkMicrosoft's Knowledge Base on the Web. Go to http://www.microsoft.com andselect Support; then select Search the Knowledge Base. Search for user profiles.Setup, Upgrade, and Installation
Q:I can't select theoption to upgrade my current NT 3.x installation. Why?To do a clean upgrade to a new directory, you must have a retail release ofthe NT 3.x CD-ROM. NT 4.0 looks for a valid path to the software hive and loadsthe software hive for version number and product ID. The ARC path in theboot.ini must be correct and point to the current installation of NT 3.x. Youmust have a valid system and system32 subdirectory, and the ntoskrnl.exe andntdll.dll files must be present. Your inability to upgrade can be the result of one of the following: 1. If an application or the user has altered the software hive version orProduct ID, NT will not find a valid upgrade path. 2. If the software or system hives are corrupt, NT will not find a validinstallation and require a clean installation. 3. If NT does not find a valid install, make certain the boot drive is usingthe same disk controller as the system drive. A retired driver or a controllerdriver that is not detected might control one drive. If so, press F6 during thehardware detection phase of setup and select the correct controller driver fromthe list. 4. Upgrade to a clean directory will not work with floppy disk installationsets. You must have an NT 3.x CD-ROM. 5. NT 4.0 will not upgrade NT 3.51 that is running the Shell update. 6. NT will not upgrade Server to Workstation. Make certain the system you'reupgrading is not a member server. 7. NT has no back door to fool Setup for upgrade purposes. If an upgrade fails during the GUI portion of setup because of lack of diskspace or misconfiguration of hardware, exit Setup and reboot. The GUI portion ofsetup will automatically restart. Q:What conditions causethe error messages for 0x0000007b and 0x4, 0,0,0?The 0x4, 0,0,0 message is usually a virus because that message is the resultof a mismatch of the boot record through an initial int13 query and the mappingthrough the ARC path. If the setupldr and bootldr cannot rectify a sectorcomparison, the result is a 0x0000007b error message. This error can result froman incorrectly configured controller, a failing controller or drive, a retireddriver controlling the boot drive, or a virus on a second drive that causes theARC path search engine to fail. You usually see the 0x0000007b message only on systems with two drives. Ifyou have only one drive, the error is probably a configuration problem. Q: When I reboot from character-based to GUI-based setup, the screen showsthat NTOSKRNL is loading. Then, before or at the version screen, I get one oftwo stop codes: 0x0000000A or 0x0000001E. Why?This problem can signify the presence of a third-party driver at the systemlevel that is incompatible with the version of NT you are upgrading to. Orperhaps you have a corrupted driver that did not copy correctly during thetext-mode portion of setup. Try installing NT into a clean directory. If it installs correctly, try toaccess the first tree and replace the corrupted file or remove the filesassociated with any suspect third-party drivers. If you are unable to install NT into a separate tree, check all essentialhardware, including adapter cards and drive controllers. If you havenonessential adapter cards in the system, remove them and try the installationagain. Also verify that the essential hardware in use is NT certified and hasup-to-date firmware. Printing
Q:I'm looking for adriver for my printer. What's the best way to get updated printer drivers?Microsoft has had several print driver releases for NT 3.51 and NT 4.0. Thebest information about these drivers is in Knowledge Base articles, Q142643, "WindowsNT 4.0 Driver Library"; and Q100654, "Windows NT 3.51 Driver Library."Point your Web browser to http://
www.microsoft.com. Click Support,click Search the Knowledge Base, and select the product. Enter the applicable IDnumber, and click Retrieve Article. Q:How do I set up TCP/IP printing services for NT?NT uses the Line Print Daemon (LPD) server service and the Line Print Remote(LPR) client application for TCP/IP print services. Configuring these servicescan be challenging because they often interact with third-party print providersand UNIX hosts. The best source for Installation instructions is the NT 4.0Server CD-ROM at SupportBooks Book_cp.hlp, Chapter 5, "Setting UpPrint Servers," or NT 3.51 Server CD-ROM at SupportBooks Concepts.hlp,Chapter 6, "Sharing Printers." If problems continue, consultMicrosoft's Knowledge Base. Table 1 lists relevant Knowledge Base articles. Q:How do I configureprint sharing with NT 4.0?You can share a printer you've just installed with the Sharing tab in thePrinter Properties dialog box. Click Printers in the Settings group on the Startmenu to add printers, share printers, install printer drivers, configure printerports, set printer properties, and set permissions. For information about setting up and sharing printers, and printerpermissions, see Chapter 5, "Setting Up Print Servers," on the NT 4.0Server CD-ROM at SupportBooks Book_cp.hlp. For information about managingprinter sharing, see "To set up a new printer," "To share yourprinter with other people," "To use a shared network printer,"and "To stop sharing your printer" in Windows NT Help. Also, consultMicrosoft's Knowledge Base if problems occur. Table 2 lists relevant articlesfrom Microsoft's Knowledge Base.