Data is lost when you log off from a Windows Server 2003 Remote Desktop Connection (840693)

SYMPTOMS

When you log off from Remote Desktop Connection on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based server, all data may be deleted from the Roaming Profile Storage server in your user profile path.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if all the following conditions are true:

You have administrative permissions, including the share permissions and the file permissions that are required to delete files on the Roaming Profile Storage server.
Your user profile path is set to the root path of the hard disk that contains the system files. For example, this problem can occur if Microsoft Windows Server 2003 is installed in the C:\Windows folder, and the root folder of drive C is configured as your user profile path.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, make sure that your user profile path is not a folder with important data. To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type dsa.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
In the left pane, click Users, right-click the user name that you want to verify the path for, and then click Properties.
On the Profile tab, verify that the path in the Profile path box under User profile is not the path of a folder that contains important data.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION

We strongly recommend that you make sure that the profile path for users does not point to a folder that contains important data.

When a new user logs on to a Windows Server 2003-based computer by using Remote Desktop Connection, the system checks for the user registry hive in the Ntuser.dat file. Because the user is a new user, the system cannot locate the hive. Therefore, the system copies the default user profile.

When the user logs off, the system determines that data on the Roaming Profile Storage server does not exist in the local user profile and deletes that data.