MCIS Personalization System Troubleshooting Guide

MORE INFORMATION

1. Verify that the operating system is Windows NT Server 4.0 with Service Pack 2 or later. To verify, run WINVER at a Windows NT command prompt to verify that it is Windows NT 4.0 (Build 1381; Service Pack 2) or later.
2. Verify that the problem is not a Windows NT operating system issue or general networking issue. To do this, use the Windows NT 4.0 troubleshooting guides and Microsoft Knowledge Base articles. A frequent issue with Windows NT has been the denial of NTFS or share Permissions, which can affect the proper operation of MCIS Personalization System. To verify that this is not the issue, remove any modifications to the NTFS or share permissions.
3. Verify that the released version of Internet Information Server (IIS) 3.0 with Active Server Pages is installed. To install IIS 3.0 Active Server Pages, the system administrator must have previously installed IIS 2.0 on a new installation of Windows NT 4.0 to a freshly formatted drive.
   
   The administrator also must have installed the released version 1.0 of IIS 3.0 Active Server Pages. Verify this by using Microsoft Windows NT Explorer. Go to the File menu, choose Properties, and then click the Version tab, and look at the information on the file Asp.dll. The version number on this file should be 1.12.06 or later.
   
   NOTE: IIS 3.0 Active Server Pages (ASP) does not support an upgrade from previous pre-release beta or release candidate version.
4. Check the installed version of MCIS Personalization System. The version identification of all DLL files within the MCIS Personalization System, Admin and Bin directories should state 5.00.7494 or later. Use the Windows NT Explorer Properties, Version tab to confirm.
   
   If the system is running an earlier beta or release candidate version, this version must be completely removed by executing an uninstall-all from the currently running pre-release Setup before installing the released version.
   
   NOTE: You cannot complete a clean uninstall of the pre-release version if the pre-release version is not completed from the same Setup that was used to complete the original installation. Each pre-release version only tracks the registry and file information for that specific beta version of the software.
   
   If attempts to upgrade pre-release versions have occurred, the Windows NT registry may be corrupted, and a new, clean installation of Windows NT to a freshly formatted drive may be required to restore confidence in the Windows NT registry.
   
   If the issue cannot be duplicated on a new, clean installation of Windows NT, Active Server Pages, and MCIS Personalization System to a freshly formatted drive, you can verify that this is an improper upgrade issue.
5. Verify the working installation of IIS. Use a Microsoft Internet Explorer client to verify that a WWW publication file such as default.htm can be opened on the system through an HTTP protocol request. If not, then this is a basic installation issue with IIS and should be handled by the IIS support group.
6. Verify the working installation of Microsoft IIS 3.0 Active Server Pages (ASP). Use a Microsoft Internet Explorer version 3.01 for Windows 95 or Windows NT to verify the proper execution of an Active Server Page script from the IIS 3.0 server. To verify that you are using Internet Explorer 3.01, select About Internet Explorer from the Internet Explorer Help menu. The version number should state Version 3.0 (4.70.1215) or later.
   
   To test the proper execution of the IIS 3.0 ASP, go the MCIS server's Start menu, select Programs, Microsoft Internet Server, Active Server Pages Roadmap. The browser client should display a page called Roadmap.asp with Microsoft Active Server Pages Roadmap as the title. If this page is not displayed, there is a problem with the installation of the IIS 3.0 Active Server Pages.
7. Define the components of MCIS Personalization System installed on the system. The choices are User Property Database, SendMail component, and Voting component. Define which MCIS components are involved when creating the support issue.
8. Define the Web farm configuration that MCIS Personalization System is installed on. The Microsoft Personalization System Operations Guide, Chapter 3, "Setting Up MPS under Recommended Configurations," describes four unique Web farm configurations. Define the configuration that most closely matches one of these recommended configurations.