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Q189119: UserEnv Returns Corrupted Profile for All Failures

Article: Q189119
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): 2000,4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbWinNT400sp4fix
Last Modified: 06-AUG-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server 
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When you log on to a Windows NT 4.0 computer, you may receive the following
error in the User Environment dialog box:

  The operating system was unable to load the locally stored profile. A
  new local profile will be created (1009).

The following message may be displayed as well:

  Your profile was not successfully loaded, but you have been logged on
  with the default system profile. Please correct the problem and log off
  (18).

Your profile settings (desktop icons, application settings, and so on) are reset
to the default. If you look in the %SystemRoot%\Profiles folder, you should see
your profile directory has been renamed to %SystemRoot%\Profiles\Username.bak,
and a new default profile has been stored in %SystemRoot%\Profiles\Username.
This is done to allow a user to log on successfully if the profile has been
corrupted or does not load for some other reason.

If the registry size limit has been exceeded, a system pop-up message indicating
this will be presented to the user during the first logon attempt when this
occurs. The following message will be displayed:

  System Process - Low on Registry Quota: Your system is running low on
  registry quota. Start the System option in the Control Panel and choose
  the Virtual Memory button to increase the registry quota.

During subsequent logon attempts, profile load errors will occur and the
following application events will be logged:

  Event ID 1000 userenv RegLoadKey failed with error 1009 for
  C:\WINNT\Profiles\username\ntuser.dat

  Event ID 1000 userenv The operating system was unable to load the
  locally stored profile.  A new local profile will be created. (1009)

NOTE: If a user commonly locks the workstation instead of logging off, the
original Registry Size Limit error may have been forgotten or lost from the
event log by the time a subsequent logon attempt occurs and the profile fails to
load.


CAUSE
=====

Although the user profile registry keys may fail to load for a number of
reasons, one status code is always returned indicating that the profile is
corrupted. The Registry Size Limit (RSL) may have been exceeded. The RSL is a
user-defined quota that places a maximum upper limit on how large the registry
can grow. When this limit is approached, a message stating this in the
Application Popup dialog box will be presented to the user. Because the loading
of a user profile (stored in Ntuser.dat) consumes Registry Quota, this may
contribute to the exhaustion of this resource.

RESOLUTION
==========

A User Profile does not load if the RSL has been exceeded. This is by design. To
work around this problem, the RSL can be increased to avoid the restriction. To
do this, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, double-click System.

2. On the Performance tab, click Change in the Virtual Memory section.

3. In the Virtual Memory dialog box, in the Registry Size section, the current
  registry size and the maximum registry size are displayed. Modify the current
  RSL in this section.

Microsoft recommends increasing the RSL only enough to accommodate the current
Registry and a small amount of growth. For additional information, please see
the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q176083
  System Is Running Low on Registry Quota

In Windows NT 4.0, Terminal Server Edition, the RSL is based on paged pool. The
maximum size of paged pool is 192 MB. RSL can consume a maximum of 80 percent of
paged pool, for a maximum of 153.6 MB. For additional information, click the
article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q124594 Understanding and Configuring Registry Size Limit (RSL)

Windows NT 4.0
--------------

If the profile has been renamed to Username.bak as a result of the RSL being
exceeded, it is possible to restore the original profile settings.

1. Log on to the computer as Administrator.

2. Rename or delete the %SystemRoot%\Profiles\<Username> profile folder.

3. Rename the %SystemRoot%\Profiles\<Username>.bak profile folder to
  <Username>.

4. Log off as Administrator and log on as <Username>.

Windows 2000
------------

Windows 2000 includes a UserEnv enhancement so that the user profile is not
deleted if or when the profile is not corrupt. A pop-up message is provided
indicating insufficient resources. The user is then logged off if the user does
not have local administrative priviledges or the user is logged on when
administrative priviledges are identified. The administrator can then increase
the registry size limit and log on again. The user profile used prior to the
problem is still being saved on the local computer unless it has just been
copied.


To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or
Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information,
click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack


STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT
Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows
NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition
Service Pack 4.


MORE INFORMATION
================

Error code 1009 is always returned as the NtStatus code for the Windows API
MyRegLoadkey. This code maps to the configuration registry database as
corrupted: ERROR_BADDB or STATUS_REGISTRY_CORRUPT. This is misleading if the
loading of the registry hive failed because of other causes. If the RSL is
exceeded, the correct NtStatus code is 1450, insufficient system resources exist
to complete the requested: ERROR_NO_SYSTEM_RESOURCES or
STATUS_INSUFFICIENT_RESOURCES.

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  ARTICLE-ID: Q185198
  TITLE : Error 1000 and User Profiles



Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbWinNT400sp4fix 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTWsearch kbWinNTW400 kbWinNTW400search kbWinNT400search kbwin2000AdvServ kbwin2000AdvServSearch kbwin2000Serv kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTS400search kbWinNTS400 kbwin2000ServSearch kbwin2000Search kbwin2000ProSearch kbwin2000Pro kbNTTermServ400 kbNTTermServSearch kbWinAdvServSearch
Version           : :2000,4.0
Hardware          : ALPHA x86
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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