Error Messages 1009 and 18 Appear When You Try to Log On to a Domain That Uses Roaming Profiles (287330)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
This article was previously published under Q287330

SYMPTOMS

When you log on to a computer that is running Windows NT Workstation 4.0 in a Windows NT Server 4.0-based domain, you may receive the following error messages:
The Operating System was unable to load a locally stored profile. A new profile will be created. (1009).
The operating system was unable to load your profile. Please contact your network administrator. [18]
Within the domain, the roaming profiles and system policies are in effect. The policy is configured with a Default User, Default Computer, and Domain Administrators group. The default computer policy is set to delete the cached copy of the roaming profiles. The administrator can log on to the same computer and obtain a profile because the administrator is not configured to use a roaming profile. Other users are not able to log on, or else they receive the error messages.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the maximum registry size on the computer is set lower than the current registry size. Multiple profiles become locked in the HKEY_USERS hive.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, unlock the user profiles and then increase the maximum registry size to be greater than the current registry size.

To unlock the profiles that are locked in the HKEY_USERS hive:

NOTE: The settings in a deleted user profile will be lost. However, you can save the profile settings before you delete the profile. Use the Copy To function to copy the profile to a folder, and then after you change the registry size, map the user account to the profile in User Manager for Domains. If you do not copy the profile, a new profile is created for that account when the user logs on, but it is based on the default user settings of the local computer.
  1. Identify the locked user profiles.
  2. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click User Profiles.
  3. Click the username for the locked profile, and then click Delete.
  4. Log off the computer, and then have the user log on.
To change the current registry size:
  1. Click Start on the taskbar, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click System, and then click Performance.
  3. Click Change, and then increase the number in the Maximum Registry Size (MB) box to be larger than the Current Registry Size.
  4. Click OK, click Close, and then click Yes to restart the computer.

MORE INFORMATION

HKEY_USERS is a dynamic registry hive that contains the user profiles of all the accounts that are currently logged on to the computer. This includes the user profile of the current user and any system or service accounts that are running in the background. The HKEY_USERS hive includes the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive, which is also dynamic and which contains the current user's profile.

All user profiles on the local computer are stored in the registry at the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

You can identify the profiles that are currently loaded in HKEY_USERS by matching the security identifiers (SIDs) in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE location with those listed in HKEY_USERS. For example, the profiles currently loaded on the computer in HKEY_USERS may be the profiles for the user account and for an SMS service account (SMSCliSvcAcct&).

A profile appears "locked" if you do not receive information about the settings of your user profile (desktop settings, environment variables, and so on) when you log on. If you restart the computer, log on again, and receive the same error messages, the user profile is "locked" in HKEY_USERS. The current user's profile is supposed to load into HKEY_USERS, removing the profile of the previous user.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:8/8/2001
Keywords:kberrmsg kbnetwork kbprb KB287330
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.