Windows NT Setup for Windows NT 3.51 Fails When Deleting User Profiles

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.51
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.51

SYMPTOMS

Selecting Options | Delete user profiles..., from Windows NT Setup for Windows NT 3.51 results in the following error message:

No user profiles were found on this machine.

An application error has occurred and an application
error log is being generated.
Setup.exe
Exception: access violation (0xc0000005), Address: 0x77f52edb

CAUSE

The stack trace shows the access violation occurs in GetUserAccounts.

The GetUserAccounts function enumerates the user profile summary information from the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT
\CurrentVersion\ProfileList

NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

The receive buffer for the enumeration is set to a fixed length. For the case of approximately nine or more user profiles, the fixed buffer gets overwritten during enumeration, which results in the Dr. Watson access violation.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, delete the user profile(s) manually using the following procedure:

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe), and select the following subkey:
   
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT
   \CurrentVersion\ProfileList
   
   NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.



2. Click Save Key from the Registry menu to create a backup copy of this parent key.



3. Within this key, select the subkey that represents the user profile that you wish to delete.
   
   You can typically determine the user name for the profile subkey by referring to the ProfileImagePath value of that subkey. Make a note of that profile's ProfileImagePath value, because this information is used in a later step to delete the actual user profile.



4. Delete the user profile subkey.



5. From a command prompt, start File Manager. Go to the path referenced in the ProfileImagePath value of the user profile subkey just deleted, and delete the file referenced at the end of the ProfileImagePath value.

RESOLUTION

Obtain the updated Setupdll.dll from Microsoft Product Support Services.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51.

A supported fix is now available, but has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to systems experiencing this specific problem. Unless you are severely impacted by this specific problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Service Pack that contains this fix. Contact Microsoft Technical Support for more information.

Keywords          : ntboot kbbug3.51 NTSrvWkst 
Version           : WinNT:3.51
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbbug 

Last Reviewed: January 20, 1999