Windows Server help needed!

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

I was trying to find something to do one day about a week ago because I was bored to death.  So I decided to try and turn one of my old Pentium 4 desktops into a small local server using Windows Server 2003.  Now I have my server all set up and functioning beautifully except for one problem:

When I try to log into a user account on the server from my Windows 7 PCs, it won't load the user profile.  It instead makes a temporary profile, which doesn't really serve a purpose if I want to save documents to the user profile on the server.  I am pretty sure I have the user account set up properly because it works just fine on my Windows XP PCs.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem?  I have practically zero experience with managing a server and have no clue how to fix this.

[Dox]

We had this problem a few times at work.
Try this fix (see post #2) and report back.

[mmmty]

Who can help me fix permanent-black-screen-of-death in Windows 7. After entering your log in it just stays at black screen forever and ever and never gets to the desktop. The way around it is to hit SHIFT 5 times, click on the link for Sticky keys, then enter explorer.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

We had this problem a few times at work.
Try this* fix (see post #2) and report back.

User Profile Error - Logged on with a Temporary Profile:

1. Login using another local administrator account. (Make one if there isnt another).
2. Remove the corrupted user from Users in control panel.
3. Move the corresponding folder from the Documents and Settings (XP) or Users folder (Vista and Windows7) to the desktop of the newly created admin user’s desktop.
4. Open regedit and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList Find the key on the left that corresponds to the corrupted profile. Note the value of the string on the right called GUID. Delete all keys that list the corrupt user profile (.bak versions and regular).
5. THIS IS THE STEP THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDED TO KB:
Go up a few lines in regedit to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileGuid.
6. Delete the key (keys?) within this ProfileGuid folder that match the value of the GUID string that you noted above.
7. Restart PC
8. Login as the temporarily created admin profile. Go to control panel and recreate the corrupted profile. (Make it an administrator at least temporarily so you’ll be able to access the files we moved to the other admin’s desktop if needed).
9. Logout and login as fixed user.
10. Copy any files from the temp admin’s desktop where we copied the corrupted profiles data, into the appropriate places in the fixed profile. This includes My Documents,Favorites, Outlook data, and any other user data you need.
11. Once everything is working properly, you can remove the temp admin from control panel> Users and delete its folder.MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL OF THE DATA YOU NEED BEFORE REMOVING THE TEMP ADMIN.

I tried this, but it didn't work, it still logs in as a temporary profile. However, I was unable to follow 100% of the instructions due to the following reasons:

• I had to omit steps 1-3 because I had already deleted the user profile from the computer.
• For step 8 I used my regular user profile because I never made a temporary one in step 1.
• I had to omit step 10 because there was no data to copy, as I had already deleted it.

That being said, I did retry this process again after its first failed attempt, and I did follow 100% of the instructions this time, but it still failed to fix the problem. Could I possibly be adding the user profile improperly? Or could the way the user profile is set up on the domain be wrong in some way that makes it incompatible with Windows 7? And if I were to try upgrading to Windows Server 2008, might that work better with the combination of XP/7 workstations?

EDIT: I currently have the user account set up so that its home folder is set as network drive X:\ and I can access this from within the temporary profile when I try to log onto the user profile.  I wasn't seeing this before, so I think it is a good thing, but the profile itself still does not load in Windows 7.  I have tested it on three Windows XP machines and they all work beautifully, so I have no clue as to what the problem is.

[IvanIvanovich]

Have you set the encryption on 7 to use the old style 56bit under file sharing connections? The default 128bit incompatible with older versions of windows. Not sure if this is the cause, but it certainly won't be helping.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

I tried that too, it didn't change anything.  I even upgraded to Windows Server 2008, but that didn't do anything either.  Actually, Server 2008 just made it so all my Windows XP machines (which had worked fine with 2003) weren't able to use the user profile properly, either.  I think I am just going to completely rebuild my entire server with a new domain and new user profiles.  If I still have the same problems then I'll probably give up on it and stick with local profiles.

[Arexxk]

Who can help me fix permanent-black-screen-of-death in Windows 7. After entering your log in it just stays at black screen forever and ever and never gets to the desktop. The way around it is to hit SHIFT 5 times, click on the link for Sticky keys, then enter explorer.

Is it possible that it's having an issue loading your profile? Can you login in safe-mode, or some other account? If not you may want to just backup your files and do a fresh install.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

UPDATE: So I fixed my user profile issues after having to re-install and reconfigure Windows 2003 on my server.  I have since installed FTP, HTTP, SMTP and POP3 roles onto it.  My FTP configuration works just fine, as does my HTTP setup.  I have not been able to get the SMTP and POP3 working properly, however.  Well, let me rephrase that... they may be working just fine, but I may not be able to tell due to the fact that my server is using a local domain name and is only accessible over the internet via an IP address.  So my question is this: can emails be sent/received over an IP address without having a proper domain name, or must I register a domain in order to do so?  I have been trying to test this myself, but despite having sent emails from both my AOL address and my server address (to each other) I have not yet received any of them, nor have I received any "error - can't send" emails.  Any ideas as to why this is or how to fix it?

[alaricljs]

I have a cable internet connection and use dyndns to supply a DNS name against that connection should the IP change.  I don't pay for a static IP but I have had the same exact IP for years on end.  DynDNS has cut back on their free services, but you can still get 1 name for your free account.  Due to the way in which blacklisting and other anti-spam measures work I also pay $20/yr for outbound mail relaying (also DynDNS) which guarantees that being in a dynamic IP pool won't get my outbound mail rejected.  It was far cheaper than paying for a static IP.  There are other providers for both services, I happen to have used these guys for a very long time, so have stuck with them as a happy user and customer.

You will however need to have a domain registered with an MX (Mail eXchange) record for your mail server, the MX record can point to a CNAME (alias) which points to your dyndns name.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Ok, I knew it the day would soon come that I would need a registered domain name.  However, I have assigned a static IP to my router and do not use a ddns service.  I am not sure if this is significant in any way, but as far as I know I haven't had to pay any more to the cable company since setting a static IP on my router.  I could be talking about something completely unrelated to the static IP you are refering to, I don't have much knowledge about such things to be honest.  But I do know this: I can access my server's webpage(HTTP) and FTP server from the IP address 68.191.57.8 .  So I am pretty sure my server is working properly, but I am not sure if I want to spend the money to register a domain name just to be able to use my server's email capabilities.  And if I were to get myself a domain, where would be the best place for me to get one?

[metafour]

namecheap.com or gandi.net have pretty good user testimonials from what I've seen.
Stay away from go daddy.

I moved my domains from godaddy to namecheap recently.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Thanks, I think I'll go with namecheap.  Hopefully I can register a domain and have my entire server up and running by tomorrow.

[alaricljs]

sorbs.net has that IP listed as being in a dynamic pool
here is the results from spamhaus


So basically, you're on a dynamic IP even if they are telling you otherwise.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Somehow I had figured this was the case.  Well, once I register a domain name I will set up a DDNS if I need it.  Until then I'll just have to make due with using an IP address to access my server.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Ok, so here is an update on my current situation:

I registered a domain yesterday from namecheap.com.  My new domain is theclib.net, and as of right now I can use it to access my server's website (via http) and my FTP server.  However, my email server (POP3) doesn't quite work properly.  Using Outlook I can add my email account and, according to Outlook, both my incoming and outgoing (SMTP) mail servers are working.  However, when I try sending an email from this email account (ramen946@theclib.net) to my AOL email, I never receive any of them.  Does anyone have any clue as to what could cause this?

[alaricljs]

AOL is most likely blocking/filtering it since your IP is listed in a dynamic address block.

[Computer-Lab in Basement]

Problem solved (maybe).  Apparently I have to use my ISP's SMTP server to send mail, as it is one of their policies.  After changing this setting I was able to successfully send mail to my AOL account.