Users started complaining about occasionally having problems logging-on on Windows 2003 Terminal Server via Remote Desktop client.

A quick check in Event Viewer Application logs revealed following errors:

Source: Userenv
Even ID: 1509
Type: Error
Description:
Windows cannot copy file \\server2\tms\profile_path\user\Favorites\File.url. Possible causes of this error include network problems or insufficient security rights. If this problem persists, contact your network administrator.
DETAIL - Access is denied.

Source: Userenv
Even ID: 1500
Type: Error
Description:
Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be loaded. Check that you are connected to the network, or that your network is functioning correctly. If this problem persists, contact your network administrator.
DETAIL - Access is denied.

Interestingly, all or most of the offending files were Internet Explorer Favourites, or Temporary Internet Files. File permissions check didn't indicate any permissions issue, however it wasn’t possible to delete any of these files – they appeared to be locked. Process Explorer revealed that files are locked by cidaemon.exe process.

cidaemon.exe is Windows Indexing Service component. It is supposed to release all its file locks as soon as other process tries to access the file, but for reasons better known to Microsoft is often not doing this. There is not much use of Indexing Service on Windows 2003 (especially Terminal Server) so we disabled it completely which immediately fixed the problem.

There are two ways to disable Indexing Service:

• Windows Explorer > Search > Change preferences > Without Indexing Service > No, do not enable Indexing Service > OK
  
• Start > Run > services.msc
  Stop Indexing Service and set Startup type to Disabled
  

If you are trying to run older version of VMware vSphere Client on Windows 7, or fully updated Windows XP you may get following errors:

VMware vSphere Client error - Error parsing the server "[server]" "clients.xml" file

The type initializer for VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy' threw an exception.

These errors are caused by an updated Microsoft .NET version.

You have couple of options here.
Probably easiest fix is to download latest version of vSphere Client from VMware. If for some reason you can't do this follow instructions below

1. Download system.dll file. This file is taken from older version of Microsoft .NET installation.
2. Copy this file to C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\lib
   On 64 bit OS path would be: C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\lib
   If lib folder doesn't exist then create it.
3. Open file C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe.config in a text editor and just before last line </configuration> paste following code:
   <runtime>
   <developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/>
   </runtime>
4. Control Panel > System > Advanced > Environment Variables
   In System Variables click New and add following system variable:
   Name: DEVPATH
   Value: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\lib
   Remember that on 64 bit system instead of Program Files you have to use Program Files (x86)
5. Launch VMware vSphere Client again. This time it should run without any errors.

Background

Windows Server 2003 domain
Windows XP SP3 clients

Problem

Domain administrator is trying to access remote computer's file system via UNC administrative share e.g \\computer01\c$
Operation fails with error:
\\computer01\c$ not accessible you might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.
Logon failure: The target account name is incorrect

Solution

This issue is often caused by an incorrect DNS entry for the client computer on the DNS server. Sometimes it happens after computer is assigned a static IP address and DNS server still have a record for the old IP. Try accessing computer using its IP address. e.g. \\192.168.1.105\c$. If this works update computer's DNS record on your DNS server. Ensure that DNS server is functioning properly.

Background:

Windows Small Business Server 2008 with built in Exchange 2007 SP1
External email screening service (anti-spam and antivirus)

Problem:

Users complaining that some emails from external senders are randomly bouncing back with NDR 550 error.

Investigation:

Searched external email filtering service logs for a particular bounced back email.
Error found:
2011-08-12 18:33:55    Recipient Disposition: [250 Backend; Mode: normal; Queued: no; Frontend TLS: no]
2011-08-12 18:33:55    Message Disposition: [550 Backend Replied: System error (Mode: normal); Backend TLS: no]

It looks like email was rejected by the in-house Exchange (SBS) server.

Checked Exchange Tracking Logs. Unsurprisingly there was no trace of the rejected message. It means message was rejected at an earlier stage.

Checked Receive Connector Protocol Logs located in C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\TransportRoles\Logs\ProtocolLog\SmtpReceive
Note: By default Protocol Logging in Exchange 2007 is disabled. To enable it read this article.
Searched for a particular  bounced back email.
Error found:
2011-08-12T18:33:33………[removed]………..,550 5.7.1 Message rejected as spam by Content Filtering.,

Now it’s clear that message was rejected by Exchange internal Anti-Spam system

Resolution:

Exchange Management Console > Organization Configuration > Hub Transport > Anti-Spam > Content Filtering > Properties > Action
Disable Reject messages that have a SCL rating greater than or equal to 7

In this case when company uses external email screening service we could disable Exchange Content Filtering completely. Alternately we could just increase SCL threshold.