Article ID: 151979
Article Last Modified on 2/21/2007
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.5
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q151979
SYMPTOMS
If you log on to a Windows NT Workstation 3.51 computer, and your account
has a profile path that has been configured using the Windows NT 4.0 or later syntax
may receive the following error message:
Unable to load your central profile. The cached copy of your profile
will be loaded instead. Possible causes of this error include network
problems, insufficient security rights, missing or corrupt central
profile.
CAUSE
This error occurs when a subdirectory has been created (containing a
Windows NT 4.0 or later profile) within the profiles share that has the same name as
the user profile the Windows NT 3.51 computer is requesting. This is
because, under Windows NT 4.0 or later, the syntax for defining a user profile path
is \\server\share\username. In this case, the Windows NT 3.51 computer is
requesting the file "username", but a directory exists with this same name
because of the presence of a Windows NT 4.0 or later profile. An error is returned
to the Windows NT 3.51 computer, stating that the requested file is a
directory, and thus the error message returned to the user.
MORE INFORMATION
This problem will not affect accounts created and configured for use under
Windows NT 3.51 using the .man or .usr extensions. As part of the upgrade
process, a new user profile is created in Windows NT 4.0 or later that consists of
the original user profile updated to the Windows NT 4.0 or later format. This can be
identified by a "username.pds" folder (subdirectory). Also, the Windows NT
3.51 profile is not deleted, and the configuration of the user account need
not be changed. Instead, when a user is validated and a profile path is
defined with the .usr or .man extension, if the user is using a Windows NT
3.5x computer, the Windows NT 3.5x profile is located and loaded. If the
user is logging on from a Windows NT 4.0 or later computer, Windows looks for
\\server\share\username.pds instead of \\server\share\username.usr.
Keywords: kbnetwork kbprb KB151979