Subject: X300 on XP SP3 as a Windows Domain Member
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NaticusUser is Offline

Posts:9

07/02/2008 2:16 PM  

Making a note to this post since people are overlooking the purpose of this topic.  If you are having a problem with "Winlogon Terminated" EVERY OTHER TIME you logon to an Windows XP SP3, domain-joined computer, my post below describes a possible fix for you.  HOWEVER, if the problem is with EVERY logon, there have been other posts for fixes on this subject, as this problem affects both SP2 and SP3.  There is a difference!

So I believe I have a solution to the problem where you get the message "Winlogon Terminated" every other logon immediately after adding your XP SP3 workstation to a Windows Domain.  Looking through an overview article for SP3, I found that there are some new security features of SP3 that could possibly come into conflict with NComputing's software.  Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS) seems to be the culprit here, as it's called by Winlogon.  As described here:

"Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS): This feature enables the users logged into any domain based computer to seamlessly access their certificates and private keys for applications and services."

I suppose when added to a domain is the only time where DIMS is taken into effect, so this is why I only ran into problems after I joined it.

Now, I don't know of a way to disable it short of deleting a registry key, so here's how I did it.

  1. Open REGEDIT.
  2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify\dimsntfy
  3. Export this key for safe keeping in case you ever need to put it back.
  4. Delete the key.
  5. Reboot.

This SHOULD fix the problem for you.  Note, this isn't for the problem where Winlogon terminates EVERY logon, just every other logon.  You still need to follow the instructions for installing v88 and then upgrade to v92.

NaticusUser is Offline

Posts:9

07/02/2008 3:36 PM  

Well, I tried another fix for this problem that would not require deleting this key, but it seems to not be working right.  I wanted to make a logoff script that manually called DLL functions from dimsntfy.dll, such as those seen in the key I mentioned above to delete.  If you look in there you'll see some functions such as "WlDimsShutdown" that you can run via RUNDLL32.EXE.  I attempted to manually call the shutdown, logoff, and lock functions but it got me no where and Winlogon still crashed upon my second logon as normal.  I also tried to change the Asynchronous value to 0, but that didn't do anything.  And if you open dimsntfy.dll in Dependency Walker to see all available functions, only those 7 listed in the registry are available, so there's no hidden "disable" function or anything of the sort.  So far as I see, it looks like you'll have to delete this key for it to work on the domain.  If anyone else comes up with a solution though, I'd gladly take a look at it.

smpcompdudeUser is Offline

Posts:2

07/23/2008 6:58 PM  

I accidentally came across a solution that will make the X300 work with Windows XP Service Pack 3.  I installed a unit about a year ago with the software from the CD.  It ran fine and continued to run even when the computer was upgraded to SP3.  The problem came later with (I don't remember which) with a KB Fix that caused errors.  I updated the version of X300 software to current and the problem went away and it continues to work. 

 

The problem I ran into was installing new x300 units on existing computers that had already updated to SP3.  I pulled my hair out trying to get it work.  I thought about the other install and came up with the following routine which has worked flawlessly up to this point.

 

I removed SP3 from the target computer. 

I installed the X300 using the software from the CD not allowing it to go out and get the latest version.  Get it working correctly and then:

I then install SP3 on the computer which will usually result in an incompatibility message about a certain .dll (Sorry don't remember and didn't write it down).

Once I logged back in and updated the x300 software the error went away and they work flawlessly.

 

I hope this makes sense and if anyone needs more info I'll write down these messages I receive.  Good Luck! and hope this makes sense.

 

NaticusUser is Offline

Posts:9

07/24/2008 10:24 AM  

Most likely the file you saw with the incompatibility message was WIN32K.SYS, and yes you'll need v92 for this error to go away. My question for you is, what exactly was the problem you were having with the software? There are two different "Winlogon Terminated" problems that I know of right now from personal experience. One is SP3 specific because of the new DIMS feature (which is for roaming credentials) where after you join a domain, EVERY OTHER logon terminates Winlogon.exe. The other problem happens on both SP2 and SP3, and is also related to joining a domain. If you install v92 on either SP2 or SP3 after joining a domain, it'll have "Winlogon Terminated" on every single logon. If you install it prior to joining the domain, it'll be fine. You may then join a domain and it'll continue to be working properly.

So far, I have yet to ever see a reason to uninstall SP3. My installs have SP3 slipstreamed (making uninstalling SP3 impossible), and making an install for SP2 hasn't been necessary. It's really important that you differentiate between the times that Winlogon terminates because they are separate issues entirely. One being every logon, one being every other logon.

My rule of thumb so far for X300 is to always install the software to a non-joined machine.  You may join to a domain afterwards, but never try installing it beforehand or you are likely to run into problems.

smpcompdudeUser is Offline

Posts:2

07/25/2008 6:35 PM  

It was the winlogon terminated problem trying to install from scratch on an SP3 machine.  Wouldn't work.  The long way around solution I found works.  After the initial setup and upgrade to SP3 I upgrade the X300 software and it works fine after that.

 

And yes the error message you eluded to is the one I get before I upgrade the x300 software.

 

 

SNAGUser is Offline

Posts:6

08/03/2008 2:30 AM  

I have this issue with L230 boxes....tried the Reg fix with no luck.

pgeipelUser is Offline

Posts:2

08/05/2008 6:22 AM  

Here is what you need to do to fix the situation:

Uninstall nComputing through Add/Remove Programs

Restart

Remove the computer from the Domain

Restart

Install the nComputing Software again

Restart

Join the computer back to the domain

Restart

Following this sequence fixes the issue with winlogon terminated.  Always install nComputing prior to joining to a domain.

NaticusUser is Offline

Posts:9

08/05/2008 10:13 AM  

You know, you guys really need to specify what "Winlogon Terminated" problem you are talking about.  They are NOT the same, but it seems everyone is treating them as such.  There is one for every logon, there is one for every other logon.  They are caused by two separate and distinct components of Windows.

If you say that this fixes a problem, say what problem, please.  I already gave a solution to both of them that so far has worked 100% for me, but doesn't seem many people are trying either one of them yet.  I have SP3 slipstreamed into my original Windows XP install, meaning that uninstalling is not an option (e.g. it's impossible), so I have had to work around that when I run into SP3-specific issues.

Just to clarify, what pgeipel said for a fix is for the "Winlogon Terminated" problem every time.  And yeah, you most definitely want to install to a non-joined workstation (leave it on a workgroup environment, not a domain environment) as it seems to have serious install problems, at least with v92 when on a domain (v88 seems to not have this problem, but requires you to update to v92 afterwards).

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