logon problem to windows2003 server

[joolsyjoolsy]

suddenly i cant seem to log on to my windows 2003 server ( it is off site so no clients connected) logon as my administrator account - it starts loading personal settings - then immediately says logging off and logs me out - any ideas? might try and remote conmpter manage it andsee if the security log is full i spose but that shouldn't stop the administrator a/c logging on...

[Michael]

Is it a domain controller or a member server? I'm trying to establish is it the domain admin or local admin you're logging on as?

[FN-GM]

So you have any logon scripts running?

[joolsyjoolsy]

yep its a domain controller - the only server on the network - - and the logon scripts do nothing other than map drivers and printers ... no other scripts are run at logon either.

[FN-GM]

Anything in the event log?

[kmount]

Have you tried another account?

Or, maybe try deleting the local copy of the profile from the HDD if you can get to that from across the network.

Anything interesting in the eventviewer?

[elsiegee40]

You say the server is off site. Are you logging on using Remote Desktop?

 

There's a maximum of 2 Remote Desktops sessions, I believe.

[Michael]

It sounds like it might be a corrupt profile causing the problem. Do you have a secondary administrator account you can try?

 

Although you have only one server in the domain, do you use a seperate/different admin account to logon workstations?

[joolsyjoolsy]

Michael - that what I am hoping too - luckily there is a second account - I will be calling the other technician for her password tomorrow - my head is too fried today ! thanks for the suggestions guys my plan tomorrow is try second admin a/c, hook up another pc on a mini network with same ip range and run computer management on it - maps some drives to it and get my fingers on the event viewer- and rename the administrator profile! for now I am going to go home and think fluffy thoughts!

[FN-GM]

You say the server is off site. Are you logging on using Remote Desktop?

 

There's a maximum of 2 Remote Desktops sessions, I believe.

 

I thought it was 3

[Michael]

Three sessions in total. One local and two remote

[elsiegee40]

I thought it was 3

 

Either way, it's not many!

[FN-GM]

I was half right....

[joolsyjoolsy]

curiouser and curiouser - second admin account has same problem - hooked up a lappy and used remote computer management - i have limited access but can see the shared folders - it appears the c:\ drive believes it is actually the d:\ drive. sadly i cannot seem to get into the disk management section of computer management.I'm wondering about using a bootable floppy or maybe asr to change the drive letter at a commad prompt - - i know it sounds a bit like clutching at straws in the bottom of a barrel but surely its possible - and i'm nt even gonna start investigating how the drive letter got played with yet... 1st priority is fix

[FN-GM]

can you get into safe mode?

[Michael]

There's no chance you can do it from a command prompt. Realistically a registry hack and a reboot is what you'd be looking at.

 

A quick google and here's what I found

[joolsyjoolsy]

hmm getting into the registry remotely is proving to be a pain but thanks michael that looks like the only way ahead.. i'll try a few more tricks before I resign myself to a rebuild. At least it is the easter holiday!

[joolsyjoolsy]

new hard disk, rebuild and system state restore - jobs a good'un! Looks like random file corruption /missing system files as what i did look at seemed to point to random missing files from system32 and a few other weird things. thanks all for trying