Logon Prompt Greyed Out

Hi,

We've come across a repeated intermittent problem that I'd be grateful if
anyone could share some light on.

It has occurred on a couple of Windows 2000 Advanced, Windows 2000 Standard
and Windows 2003 Standard Servers in our Active Directory domain. It happens
very rarely, but when it does it's a problem.

In a nutshell, when an administrator logs out from a session on the server
console, the logon screen (after pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring it up) is
"greyed out", not allowing the entry of any username or password to logon
with again.

I've tried remotely restarting the NETLOGON service, to no avail. The only
solution I've found is to remotely restart the actual server. The logon
prompt appears as per normal then.

Obviously this is not a good solution, especially for a DC that might
require an interactive logon during work hours.

Can anyone shed any light on why this might be happening, and what we can do
to stop it?

Regards,

Richard Tubb.
www.netlinktrading.co.uk

Hi Richard,

I have a couple of questions regards to this issue:

According to your description, "when an administrator logs out from a
session on the server console," which server do you refer to, the win2k DC
or win2k3 DC? I assume it is the win2k3 DC.

Does this issue after "The admin logs out from a session on the server
console", in other word, do you mean you have done the following steps:

1. Locally use administrator account to logon to the win2k3 DC,
2. Logoff administrator
3. Locally Press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon)and you found both of
username and password sections are grayed out.

If this is the case, this issue seems a little weird, troubleshooting this
kind of issue could be not easy and time-consuming since it is a random
issue and hard to be reproduced every time. Your understanding and patience
are greatly appreciated!

Based on my research, I suggest you use the following steps to check the
status:

Step 1:
=======

When the issue occurs, please terminal to the win2k3 server and logon to
the server, for example if you are on a winXP client, using "mstsc
-console" in Run box to logon to win2k3 server, are you able to logon? Or
use "mstsc" to win2k3 server to logon, what is the result?

On the XP client, key in "mmc" in Run box, add computer Managerment
snap-in, are you able to manage he win2k3 DC?

Step 2:
=========

I understand you need to restart the win2k3 DC to resolve this issue,
please check the application log after the rebooting, do you observe the
Event ID 1030 and 1097?
Step 3:
=========
Run " DCDiag " and " Netdiag " in CMD, do you observe any issues?
NOTE: Please install the resource kits on win2k3 DC and run the commands
above.

Please help me gather the following information to isolate this issue:
1. Refer to the following article to gather the MPSreport, please download
MPSRPT_DirSvc.EXE one:

Microsoft Product Support's Reporting Tools
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...C7C-7CA5-408F-
88B7-F9C79B7306C0&displaylang=en

2. Run the following two commands:
"dcdiag > c:\dcdiag.txt"
"netdiag > c:\netdiag.txt"
Send me two text files for research.
I look forward to your reply.

Best regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA


Microsoft Online Partner Support
Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

================================================== ===

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

================================================== ===
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

--------------------
>From: "Richard Tubb" <>
>Subject: Logon Prompt Greyed Out
>Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 12:58:04 +0100
>Lines: 30
>X-Priority: 3
>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106
>Message-ID: <##>
>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>NNTP-Posting-Host: brokerassistance.co.uk 62.173.74.14
>Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFT NGP15.phx.gbl
>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.general:41867
>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>
>Hi,
>
>We've come across a repeated intermittent problem that I'd be grateful if
>anyone could share some light on.
>
>It has occurred on a couple of Windows 2000 Advanced, Windows 2000 Standard
>and Windows 2003 Standard Servers in our Active Directory domain. It
happens
>very rarely, but when it does it's a problem.
>
>In a nutshell, when an administrator logs out from a session on the server
>console, the logon screen (after pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring it up) is
>"greyed out", not allowing the entry of any username or password to logon
>with again.
>
>I've tried remotely restarting the NETLOGON service, to no avail. The only
>solution I've found is to remotely restart the actual server. The logon
>prompt appears as per normal then.
>
>Obviously this is not a good solution, especially for a DC that might
>require an interactive logon during work hours.
>
>Can anyone shed any light on why this might be happening, and what we can
do
>to stop it?
>
>Regards,
>
>Richard Tubb.
>www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>
>
>

Hi Rebecca,

My apologies for such a long delay before replying to your helpful posting.
Unfortunately the error we mentioned hasn't occurred for a while now, but
I'd still like to get to the bottom of the problem for future reference.

To confirm, when I log off as an administrator from a Windows 2003 server
(it's not a DC) then press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon) from the logon
screen at the server console, I found both the username and password
sections are greyed out.

I have not tried using Terminal Services to remotely logon, but I have been
able to remotely manage the server(s) by using the Management MMC from
workstations - and rebooting the servers using this method.

I'll check the Event Logs for errors 1030 and 1097 when the problem next
occurs.

I also had an e-mail from Michael Hickey who spotted my posting on a forum
and replied directly to me. He's brought up an interesting theory that the
problem is related to TightVNC, which is indeed installed on all our Windows
2000 and 2003 servers.

See the below links for more details
http://www.mcse.ms/archive183-2004-4-504323.html

http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/m...sg_id=11631897

I shall post to the newsgroup with any further developments! The frustrating
thing with this problem is that it happens intermittently so is difficult to
allocate time to deal with as you are usually in the middle of something
else when it occurs. Thanks to Rebecca though I'm almost looking forward to
the next time it happens as I'm armed with some info to tackling it. :-)

Regards,

Richard Tubb.

www.netlinktrading.co.uk


""Rebecca Chen [MSFT]"" <v-> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi Richard,
>
> I have a couple of questions regards to this issue:
>
> According to your description, "when an administrator logs out from a
> session on the server console," which server do you refer to, the win2k DC
> or win2k3 DC? I assume it is the win2k3 DC.
>
> Does this issue after "The admin logs out from a session on the server
> console", in other word, do you mean you have done the following steps:
>
> 1. Locally use administrator account to logon to the win2k3 DC,
> 2. Logoff administrator
> 3. Locally Press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon)and you found both of
> username and password sections are grayed out.
>
> If this is the case, this issue seems a little weird, troubleshooting this
> kind of issue could be not easy and time-consuming since it is a random
> issue and hard to be reproduced every time. Your understanding and
> patience
> are greatly appreciated!
>
> Based on my research, I suggest you use the following steps to check the
> status:
>
> Step 1:
> =======
>
> When the issue occurs, please terminal to the win2k3 server and logon to
> the server, for example if you are on a winXP client, using "mstsc
> -console" in Run box to logon to win2k3 server, are you able to logon? Or
> use "mstsc" to win2k3 server to logon, what is the result?
>
> On the XP client, key in "mmc" in Run box, add computer Managerment
> snap-in, are you able to manage he win2k3 DC?
>
> Step 2:
> =========
>
> I understand you need to restart the win2k3 DC to resolve this issue,
> please check the application log after the rebooting, do you observe the
> Event ID 1030 and 1097?
> Step 3:
> =========
> Run " DCDiag " and " Netdiag " in CMD, do you observe any issues?
> NOTE: Please install the resource kits on win2k3 DC and run the commands
> above.
>
> Please help me gather the following information to isolate this issue:
> 1. Refer to the following article to gather the MPSreport, please download
> MPSRPT_DirSvc.EXE one:
>
> Microsoft Product Support's Reporting Tools
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...C7C-7CA5-408F-
> 88B7-F9C79B7306C0&displaylang=en
>
> 2. Run the following two commands:
> "dcdiag > c:\dcdiag.txt"
> "netdiag > c:\netdiag.txt"
> Send me two text files for research.
> I look forward to your reply.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Rebecca Chen
>
> MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA
>
>
> Microsoft Online Partner Support
> Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
>
> ================================================== ===
>
> When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
> that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
>
> ================================================== ===
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights.
>
> --------------------
>>From: "Richard Tubb" <>
>>Subject: Logon Prompt Greyed Out
>>Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 12:58:04 +0100
>>Lines: 30
>>X-Priority: 3
>>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
>>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106
>>Message-ID: <##>
>>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>>NNTP-Posting-Host: brokerassistance.co.uk 62.173.74.14
>>Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFT NGP15.phx.gbl
>>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.general:41867
>>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>>
>>Hi,
>>
>>We've come across a repeated intermittent problem that I'd be grateful if
>>anyone could share some light on.
>>
>>It has occurred on a couple of Windows 2000 Advanced, Windows 2000
>>Standard
>>and Windows 2003 Standard Servers in our Active Directory domain. It
> happens
>>very rarely, but when it does it's a problem.
>>
>>In a nutshell, when an administrator logs out from a session on the server
>>console, the logon screen (after pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring it up) is
>>"greyed out", not allowing the entry of any username or password to logon
>>with again.
>>
>>I've tried remotely restarting the NETLOGON service, to no avail. The only
>>solution I've found is to remotely restart the actual server. The logon
>>prompt appears as per normal then.
>>
>>Obviously this is not a good solution, especially for a DC that might
>>require an interactive logon during work hours.
>>
>>Can anyone shed any light on why this might be happening, and what we can
> do
>>to stop it?
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Richard Tubb.
>>www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>>
>>
>>
>

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your great information!

Based on my further research, some third-party application will cause this
issue. VNC is the one which cause this issue, in addition, this issue could
also occurred if you have Beam Server installed. Beam Server hang will
cause username and password grayed out.

Please remove VNC from the problematic machine to see if this issue
persists. Probably, VNC is the culprit.

Any update, let's get in touch.

Good luck!

Best Regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE, MCDBA
Microsoft Online Partner Support

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

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--------------------
>Reply-To: "Richard Tubb" <>
>From: "Richard Tubb" <>
>References: <##>
<>
>Subject: Re: Logon Prompt Greyed Out
>Date: Tue, 16 Aug 2005 12:55:00 +0100
>Lines: 177
>Organization: Netlink Trading Ltd.
>X-Priority: 3
>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2527
>X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original
>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2527
>Message-ID: <>
>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>NNTP-Posting-Host: 82-36-82-59.cable.ubr03.harb.blueyonder.co.uk
82.36.82.59
>Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFT NGP15.phx.gbl
>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.general:45022
>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>
>Hi Rebecca,
>
>My apologies for such a long delay before replying to your helpful
posting.
>Unfortunately the error we mentioned hasn't occurred for a while now, but
>I'd still like to get to the bottom of the problem for future reference.
>
>To confirm, when I log off as an administrator from a Windows 2003 server
>(it's not a DC) then press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon) from the logon
>screen at the server console, I found both the username and password
>sections are greyed out.
>
>I have not tried using Terminal Services to remotely logon, but I have
been
>able to remotely manage the server(s) by using the Management MMC from
>workstations - and rebooting the servers using this method.
>
>I'll check the Event Logs for errors 1030 and 1097 when the problem next
>occurs.
>
>I also had an e-mail from Michael Hickey who spotted my posting on a forum
>and replied directly to me. He's brought up an interesting theory that the
>problem is related to TightVNC, which is indeed installed on all our
Windows
>2000 and 2003 servers.
>
>See the below links for more details
>http://www.mcse.ms/archive183-2004-4-504323.html
>
>http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/m...sg_id=11631897
>
>I shall post to the newsgroup with any further developments! The
frustrating
>thing with this problem is that it happens intermittently so is difficult
to
>allocate time to deal with as you are usually in the middle of something
>else when it occurs. Thanks to Rebecca though I'm almost looking forward
to
>the next time it happens as I'm armed with some info to tackling it. :-)
>
>Regards,
>
>Richard Tubb.
>
>www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>
>
>""Rebecca Chen [MSFT]"" <v-> wrote in message
>news:...
>> Hi Richard,
>>
>> I have a couple of questions regards to this issue:
>>
>> According to your description, "when an administrator logs out from a
>> session on the server console," which server do you refer to, the win2k
DC
>> or win2k3 DC? I assume it is the win2k3 DC.
>>
>> Does this issue after "The admin logs out from a session on the server
>> console", in other word, do you mean you have done the following steps:
>>
>> 1. Locally use administrator account to logon to the win2k3 DC,
>> 2. Logoff administrator
>> 3. Locally Press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon)and you found both of
>> username and password sections are grayed out.
>>
>> If this is the case, this issue seems a little weird, troubleshooting
this
>> kind of issue could be not easy and time-consuming since it is a random
>> issue and hard to be reproduced every time. Your understanding and
>> patience
>> are greatly appreciated!
>>
>> Based on my research, I suggest you use the following steps to check the
>> status:
>>
>> Step 1:
>> =======
>>
>> When the issue occurs, please terminal to the win2k3 server and logon to
>> the server, for example if you are on a winXP client, using "mstsc
>> -console" in Run box to logon to win2k3 server, are you able to logon? Or
>> use "mstsc" to win2k3 server to logon, what is the result?
>>
>> On the XP client, key in "mmc" in Run box, add computer Managerment
>> snap-in, are you able to manage he win2k3 DC?
>>
>> Step 2:
>> =========
>>
>> I understand you need to restart the win2k3 DC to resolve this issue,
>> please check the application log after the rebooting, do you observe the
>> Event ID 1030 and 1097?
>> Step 3:
>> =========
>> Run " DCDiag " and " Netdiag " in CMD, do you observe any issues?
>> NOTE: Please install the resource kits on win2k3 DC and run the commands
>> above.
>>
>> Please help me gather the following information to isolate this issue:
>> 1. Refer to the following article to gather the MPSreport, please
download
>> MPSRPT_DirSvc.EXE one:
>>
>> Microsoft Product Support's Reporting Tools
>>
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...C7C-7CA5-408F-
>> 88B7-F9C79B7306C0&displaylang=en
>>
>> 2. Run the following two commands:
>> "dcdiag > c:\dcdiag.txt"
>> "netdiag > c:\netdiag.txt"
>> Send me two text files for research.
>> I look forward to your reply.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Rebecca Chen
>>
>> MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA
>>
>>
>> Microsoft Online Partner Support
>> Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
>>
>> ================================================== ===
>>
>> When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
>> that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
>>
>> ================================================== ===
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>> rights.
>>
>> --------------------
>>>From: "Richard Tubb" <>
>>>Subject: Logon Prompt Greyed Out
>>>Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 12:58:04 +0100
>>>Lines: 30
>>>X-Priority: 3
>>>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>>>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
>>>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106
>>>Message-ID: <##>
>>>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>>>NNTP-Posting-Host: brokerassistance.co.uk 62.173.74.14
>>>Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFT NGP15.phx.gbl
>>>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.general:41867
>>>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>We've come across a repeated intermittent problem that I'd be grateful if
>>>anyone could share some light on.
>>>
>>>It has occurred on a couple of Windows 2000 Advanced, Windows 2000
>>>Standard
>>>and Windows 2003 Standard Servers in our Active Directory domain. It
>> happens
>>>very rarely, but when it does it's a problem.
>>>
>>>In a nutshell, when an administrator logs out from a session on the
server
>>>console, the logon screen (after pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring it up) is
>>>"greyed out", not allowing the entry of any username or password to logon
>>>with again.
>>>
>>>I've tried remotely restarting the NETLOGON service, to no avail. The
only
>>>solution I've found is to remotely restart the actual server. The logon
>>>prompt appears as per normal then.
>>>
>>>Obviously this is not a good solution, especially for a DC that might
>>>require an interactive logon during work hours.
>>>
>>>Can anyone shed any light on why this might be happening, and what we can
>> do
>>>to stop it?
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>
>>>Richard Tubb.
>>>www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>

Hi Rebecca,

Thanks for the update about VNC being the culprit. I'd agree with you that
VNC is at fault here. A couple of people I've spoken to who are also
experiencing the problem (and have responded to me directly after seeing
this newsgroup message) have suggested using a different VNC client to
TightVNC, such as UltraVNC, as it uses a different code base to TightVNC
which uses, it is suggested, an older VNC code base?

Do you think this would make a difference to the problem in hand and whether
it re-occurs?

We do find VNC very useful and it's usefulness probably outweighs any
problems it causes. However we've never really investigated using Remote
Desktop for administering servers. Can you point me in the direction of any
literature for using Remote Desktop or Terminal Services to administer
Windows 2000 and 2003 servers?

If we could find a viable alternative to VNC, I see no reason why we
couldn't remove it from the servers altogether. The only benefit I could see
from using VNC over Terminal Services is the fact one or more administrators
can logon to the same server to "collaborate" and see what the other is
seeing - is this service possible through Terminal Services or any other
in-built Windows function?

Regards,

Richard Tubb.

www.netlinktrading.co.uk

"Richard Tubb" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi Rebecca,
>
> My apologies for such a long delay before replying to your helpful
> posting. Unfortunately the error we mentioned hasn't occurred for a while
> now, but I'd still like to get to the bottom of the problem for future
> reference.
>
> To confirm, when I log off as an administrator from a Windows 2003 server
> (it's not a DC) then press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon) from the logon
> screen at the server console, I found both the username and password
> sections are greyed out.
>
> I have not tried using Terminal Services to remotely logon, but I have
> been able to remotely manage the server(s) by using the Management MMC
> from workstations - and rebooting the servers using this method.
>
> I'll check the Event Logs for errors 1030 and 1097 when the problem next
> occurs.
>
> I also had an e-mail from Michael Hickey who spotted my posting on a forum
> and replied directly to me. He's brought up an interesting theory that the
> problem is related to TightVNC, which is indeed installed on all our
> Windows 2000 and 2003 servers.
>
> See the below links for more details
> http://www.mcse.ms/archive183-2004-4-504323.html
>
> http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/m...sg_id=11631897
>
> I shall post to the newsgroup with any further developments! The
> frustrating thing with this problem is that it happens intermittently so
> is difficult to allocate time to deal with as you are usually in the
> middle of something else when it occurs. Thanks to Rebecca though I'm
> almost looking forward to the next time it happens as I'm armed with some
> info to tackling it. :-)
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Tubb.
>
> www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>
>
> ""Rebecca Chen [MSFT]"" <v-> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Hi Richard,
>>
>> I have a couple of questions regards to this issue:
>>
>> According to your description, "when an administrator logs out from a
>> session on the server console," which server do you refer to, the win2k
>> DC
>> or win2k3 DC? I assume it is the win2k3 DC.
>>
>> Does this issue after "The admin logs out from a session on the server
>> console", in other word, do you mean you have done the following steps:
>>
>> 1. Locally use administrator account to logon to the win2k3 DC,
>> 2. Logoff administrator
>> 3. Locally Press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon)and you found both of
>> username and password sections are grayed out.
>>
>> If this is the case, this issue seems a little weird, troubleshooting
>> this
>> kind of issue could be not easy and time-consuming since it is a random
>> issue and hard to be reproduced every time. Your understanding and
>> patience
>> are greatly appreciated!
>>
>> Based on my research, I suggest you use the following steps to check the
>> status:
>>
>> Step 1:
>> =======
>>
>> When the issue occurs, please terminal to the win2k3 server and logon to
>> the server, for example if you are on a winXP client, using "mstsc
>> -console" in Run box to logon to win2k3 server, are you able to logon? Or
>> use "mstsc" to win2k3 server to logon, what is the result?
>>
>> On the XP client, key in "mmc" in Run box, add computer Managerment
>> snap-in, are you able to manage he win2k3 DC?
>>
>> Step 2:
>> =========
>>
>> I understand you need to restart the win2k3 DC to resolve this issue,
>> please check the application log after the rebooting, do you observe the
>> Event ID 1030 and 1097?
>> Step 3:
>> =========
>> Run " DCDiag " and " Netdiag " in CMD, do you observe any issues?
>> NOTE: Please install the resource kits on win2k3 DC and run the commands
>> above.
>>
>> Please help me gather the following information to isolate this issue:
>> 1. Refer to the following article to gather the MPSreport, please
>> download
>> MPSRPT_DirSvc.EXE one:
>>
>> Microsoft Product Support's Reporting Tools
>> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...C7C-7CA5-408F-
>> 88B7-F9C79B7306C0&displaylang=en
>>
>> 2. Run the following two commands:
>> "dcdiag > c:\dcdiag.txt"
>> "netdiag > c:\netdiag.txt"
>> Send me two text files for research.
>> I look forward to your reply.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Rebecca Chen
>>
>> MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA
>>
>>
>> Microsoft Online Partner Support
>> Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
>>
>> ================================================== ===
>>
>> When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
>> that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
>>
>> ================================================== ===
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>> rights.
>>
>> --------------------
>>>From: "Richard Tubb" <>
>>>Subject: Logon Prompt Greyed Out
>>>Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 12:58:04 +0100
>>>Lines: 30
>>>X-Priority: 3
>>>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>>>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
>>>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106
>>>Message-ID: <##>
>>>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>>>NNTP-Posting-Host: brokerassistance.co.uk 62.173.74.14
>>>Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFT NGP15.phx.gbl
>>>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.general:41867
>>>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>>>
>>>Hi,
>>>
>>>We've come across a repeated intermittent problem that I'd be grateful if
>>>anyone could share some light on.
>>>
>>>It has occurred on a couple of Windows 2000 Advanced, Windows 2000
>>>Standard
>>>and Windows 2003 Standard Servers in our Active Directory domain. It
>> happens
>>>very rarely, but when it does it's a problem.
>>>
>>>In a nutshell, when an administrator logs out from a session on the
>>>server
>>>console, the logon screen (after pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring it up) is
>>>"greyed out", not allowing the entry of any username or password to logon
>>>with again.
>>>
>>>I've tried remotely restarting the NETLOGON service, to no avail. The
>>>only
>>>solution I've found is to remotely restart the actual server. The logon
>>>prompt appears as per normal then.
>>>
>>>Obviously this is not a good solution, especially for a DC that might
>>>require an interactive logon during work hours.
>>>
>>>Can anyone shed any light on why this might be happening, and what we can
>> do
>>>to stop it?
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>
>>>Richard Tubb.
>>>www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the confirmation that VNC is the culprit!

I am not sure the difference of using UltraVNC since I lack of resource to
investigate this third-party application.
I suggest you use Windows terminal service to remote administrate win2k3
system.

Terminal Service is installed on a win2k3 system by default. There are two
modes for the terminal server, one is the Administrating mode, and other is
Application Mode.

Administrating mode is designed for administrator remote to the win2k3
server to perform administrative tasks; this contains two remote
connections can concurrently connect to the server. You can logon to win2k3
server locally to operate the server, at the meanwhile, two administrators
on the remote location can remote to win2k3 server. Therefore, three
administrators can operate the server at the same time. The server will not
check the license when the server is in Administrating mode. This is the
reason you are unable to increase the connections by only installing
license on the terminal licensing server.

Terminal service for Administrating mode is by default installed on win2k3
server as a new convenient feature compared with win2k server.

If you plan to allow more users to connect to win2k3 server, please install
terminal service from Control panel, this is called Application Mode.
Application Mode is designed for more users can concurrently connect to the
server to run applications or more administrators to operate the server.
The server check the licensing server and licensing server will issue the
license to the terminal users.

There are several articles address terminal service in win2k3 system:

For more information, please refer to the following white paper.

818773 White Paper: Remote Administration of Windows Servers Using Remote
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=818773

Terminal Services
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro.../library/Serve
rHelp/c8788dd5-5fae-453e-84df-efdd1dce8f5a.mspx

HTH.

Any update, let's get in touch!

Have a great weekend!

Best Regards,

Rebecca Chen

MCSE, MCDBA
Microsoft Online Partner Support

When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
that others may learn and benefit from your issue.

================================================== ===

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--------------------
>Reply-To: "Richard Tubb" <>
>From: "Richard Tubb" <>
>References: <##>
<>
<>
>Subject: Re: Logon Prompt Greyed Out
>Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2005 14:39:07 +0100
>Lines: 219
>Organization: Netlink Trading Ltd.
>X-Priority: 3
>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2670
>X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Response
>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2670
>Message-ID: <u#>
>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>NNTP-Posting-Host: 82-36-82-59.cable.ubr03.harb.blueyonder.co.uk
82.36.82.59
>Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFT NGP12.phx.gbl
>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl microsoft.public.windows.server.general:45912
>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>
>Hi Rebecca,
>
>Thanks for the update about VNC being the culprit. I'd agree with you that
>VNC is at fault here. A couple of people I've spoken to who are also
>experiencing the problem (and have responded to me directly after seeing
>this newsgroup message) have suggested using a different VNC client to
>TightVNC, such as UltraVNC, as it uses a different code base to TightVNC
>which uses, it is suggested, an older VNC code base?
>
>Do you think this would make a difference to the problem in hand and
whether
>it re-occurs?
>
>We do find VNC very useful and it's usefulness probably outweighs any
>problems it causes. However we've never really investigated using Remote
>Desktop for administering servers. Can you point me in the direction of
any
>literature for using Remote Desktop or Terminal Services to administer
>Windows 2000 and 2003 servers?
>
>If we could find a viable alternative to VNC, I see no reason why we
>couldn't remove it from the servers altogether. The only benefit I could
see
>from using VNC over Terminal Services is the fact one or more
administrators
>can logon to the same server to "collaborate" and see what the other is
>seeing - is this service possible through Terminal Services or any other
>in-built Windows function?
>
>Regards,
>
>Richard Tubb.
>
>www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>
>"Richard Tubb" <> wrote in message
>news:...
>> Hi Rebecca,
>>
>> My apologies for such a long delay before replying to your helpful
>> posting. Unfortunately the error we mentioned hasn't occurred for a
while
>> now, but I'd still like to get to the bottom of the problem for future
>> reference.
>>
>> To confirm, when I log off as an administrator from a Windows 2003
server
>> (it's not a DC) then press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon) from the
logon
>> screen at the server console, I found both the username and password
>> sections are greyed out.
>>
>> I have not tried using Terminal Services to remotely logon, but I have
>> been able to remotely manage the server(s) by using the Management MMC
>> from workstations - and rebooting the servers using this method.
>>
>> I'll check the Event Logs for errors 1030 and 1097 when the problem next
>> occurs.
>>
>> I also had an e-mail from Michael Hickey who spotted my posting on a
forum
>> and replied directly to me. He's brought up an interesting theory that
the
>> problem is related to TightVNC, which is indeed installed on all our
>> Windows 2000 and 2003 servers.
>>
>> See the below links for more details
>> http://www.mcse.ms/archive183-2004-4-504323.html
>>
>> http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/m...sg_id=11631897
>>
>> I shall post to the newsgroup with any further developments! The
>> frustrating thing with this problem is that it happens intermittently so
>> is difficult to allocate time to deal with as you are usually in the
>> middle of something else when it occurs. Thanks to Rebecca though I'm
>> almost looking forward to the next time it happens as I'm armed with
some
>> info to tackling it. :-)
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Richard Tubb.
>>
>> www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>>
>>
>> ""Rebecca Chen [MSFT]"" <v-> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> Hi Richard,
>>>
>>> I have a couple of questions regards to this issue:
>>>
>>> According to your description, "when an administrator logs out from a
>>> session on the server console," which server do you refer to, the win2k
>>> DC
>>> or win2k3 DC? I assume it is the win2k3 DC.
>>>
>>> Does this issue after "The admin logs out from a session on the server
>>> console", in other word, do you mean you have done the following steps:
>>>
>>> 1. Locally use administrator account to logon to the win2k3 DC,
>>> 2. Logoff administrator
>>> 3. Locally Press CTRL-ALT-DEL (interactive logon)and you found both of
>>> username and password sections are grayed out.
>>>
>>> If this is the case, this issue seems a little weird, troubleshooting
>>> this
>>> kind of issue could be not easy and time-consuming since it is a random
>>> issue and hard to be reproduced every time. Your understanding and
>>> patience
>>> are greatly appreciated!
>>>
>>> Based on my research, I suggest you use the following steps to check the
>>> status:
>>>
>>> Step 1:
>>> =======
>>>
>>> When the issue occurs, please terminal to the win2k3 server and logon to
>>> the server, for example if you are on a winXP client, using "mstsc
>>> -console" in Run box to logon to win2k3 server, are you able to logon?
Or
>>> use "mstsc" to win2k3 server to logon, what is the result?
>>>
>>> On the XP client, key in "mmc" in Run box, add computer Managerment
>>> snap-in, are you able to manage he win2k3 DC?
>>>
>>> Step 2:
>>> =========
>>>
>>> I understand you need to restart the win2k3 DC to resolve this issue,
>>> please check the application log after the rebooting, do you observe the
>>> Event ID 1030 and 1097?
>>> Step 3:
>>> =========
>>> Run " DCDiag " and " Netdiag " in CMD, do you observe any issues?
>>> NOTE: Please install the resource kits on win2k3 DC and run the commands
>>> above.
>>>
>>> Please help me gather the following information to isolate this issue:
>>> 1. Refer to the following article to gather the MPSreport, please
>>> download
>>> MPSRPT_DirSvc.EXE one:
>>>
>>> Microsoft Product Support's Reporting Tools
>>>
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...C7C-7CA5-408F-
>>> 88B7-F9C79B7306C0&displaylang=en
>>>
>>> 2. Run the following two commands:
>>> "dcdiag > c:\dcdiag.txt"
>>> "netdiag > c:\netdiag.txt"
>>> Send me two text files for research.
>>> I look forward to your reply.
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Rebecca Chen
>>>
>>> MCSE2000 MCDBA CCNA
>>>
>>>
>>> Microsoft Online Partner Support
>>> Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security
>>>
>>> ================================================== ===
>>>
>>> When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via your newsreader so
>>> that others may learn and benefit from your issue.
>>>
>>> ================================================== ===
>>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>>> rights.
>>>
>>> --------------------
>>>>From: "Richard Tubb" <>
>>>>Subject: Logon Prompt Greyed Out
>>>>Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 12:58:04 +0100
>>>>Lines: 30
>>>>X-Priority: 3
>>>>X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
>>>>X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
>>>>X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106
>>>>Message-ID: <##>
>>>>Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>>>>NNTP-Posting-Host: brokerassistance.co.uk 62.173.74.14
>>>>Path: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGP08.phx.gbl!TK2MSFT NGP15.phx.gbl
>>>>Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl
microsoft.public.windows.server.general:41867
>>>>X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windows.server.general
>>>>
>>>>Hi,
>>>>
>>>>We've come across a repeated intermittent problem that I'd be grateful
if
>>>>anyone could share some light on.
>>>>
>>>>It has occurred on a couple of Windows 2000 Advanced, Windows 2000
>>>>Standard
>>>>and Windows 2003 Standard Servers in our Active Directory domain. It
>>> happens
>>>>very rarely, but when it does it's a problem.
>>>>
>>>>In a nutshell, when an administrator logs out from a session on the
>>>>server
>>>>console, the logon screen (after pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring it up)
is
>>>>"greyed out", not allowing the entry of any username or password to
logon
>>>>with again.
>>>>
>>>>I've tried remotely restarting the NETLOGON service, to no avail. The
>>>>only
>>>>solution I've found is to remotely restart the actual server. The logon
>>>>prompt appears as per normal then.
>>>>
>>>>Obviously this is not a good solution, especially for a DC that might
>>>>require an interactive logon during work hours.
>>>>
>>>>Can anyone shed any light on why this might be happening, and what we
can
>>> do
>>>>to stop it?
>>>>
>>>>Regards,
>>>>
>>>>Richard Tubb.
>>>>www.netlinktrading.co.uk
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
>