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Server 2003 slow to log in Administrator

Hi, We have an MS Server 2003 Standard , was installed 12 moths ago, new good specs intel base hardware. It is the Domain control with active directory , 20 users with XP Pro, file & print share, latest win updates, not serving any apps.
It sometimes take VERY long time (10 - 40 minutes) to log in as administrator onto it. It authenticates, shows you the standard MS blue desktop screen (no icons) & just sits there...
When you restart it (by pressing the naughty little button at the front) Admin can log in within 2 -3 minutes, as you would normally expect.
We used to backup w Retrospect 6 server (inheritance from old server) & it seemed to lock up when login in as backup user to swap backup HDD's (since few months reverted to only admin login) & starting a second instance of retrospect. Last month we remove Retro & changed over to Acronis server 11 (AUR), issue is still existing - especially when login using RDP

Any ideas out there? Many thanks for our help.

Karl

If you log in with a different account (with Admin rights) is it as slow? or is it the same?

Michael Worsham

What are the hardware specs of the problematic server? (i.e. Model/Brand, CPU, Ram, Disk space, etc)

Is the Windows Server acting as the DNS server or is it querying a remote DNS server site?
http://www.ntcompatible.com/Slow_login_to_Domain_t26626.html

Does your Event Log show any warnings or errors?

crystaltec

ASKER

harware specs are
Intel Xeon 2.4G
2G ECC KIngston RAM
2x250G SATA Seagate in RAID 1

Server is the DNS Server
users login on the domain with raoming profiles happily & fast

will check logs & check re the info in link & post back , ta

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Michael Worsham

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crystaltec

ASKER

Checked the logs, some errors w DNS after boot, DNS complains in can't find active directory....NAT is installed although Server only using 1 NIC (onboard, Intel Giga) , will uninstall it & test than (can only do it late night ealy next week).
interestingly enough, I was working on some of the workstations, moved a 1.5G file from a wrkstn on to server D drive (main RAID drive partitioned to 2) & the server got VERY sluggish, behaving like the issue I was experiencing, copied file back to work station, still sluggish but not as bad - copied it back to server - pretty bad.
Copied large fle for C: to D: directly on server - no worries.
another piece to the mystery is taskmgr would not work, even when I Run C:/Windows/System32/taskmgr.exe it won't run, can see the file there but can't execute. (properties permissions etc are all fine) , even tried run as Admin, no go.
Installed Process Explorer & from within it click restore task mgr & WALLA, it's back....
Corrupted registry? bad NIC?

Michael Worsham

Sounds like it could be a combination problem.

1) Is SMART enabled on the SATA hard drives?
2) What happens if you add another NIC to the board and try with it?
3) Are any errors or warning appearing in the Event Log?

crystaltec

ASKER

Thanks for suggestions, will try all above & report back, may take a few days to find right after-hours time.

crystaltec

ASKER

here's the dump.txt

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : server
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : bbcc.local
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : bbcc.local

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 PM Network Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-15-17-23-7B-5A
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.254
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.254
192.168.0.1

Errors in DNS logs are appearing only after boot, otherwise it's clean
source DNS Event ID 4004
The DNS server was unable to complete directory service enumeration of zone bbcc.local. This DNS server is configured to use information obtained from Active Directory for this zone and is unable to load the zone without it. Check that the Active Directory is functioning properly and repeat enumeration of the zone. The extended error debug information (which may be empty) is "". The event data contains the error.

Errors in Application logs are appearing only after boot, otherwise it's clean
source MSDTC Event ID 53258
MS DTC could not correctly process a DC Promotion/Demotion event. MS DTC will continue to function and will use the existing security settings. Error Specifics: %1

crystaltec

ASKER

server was mis configure in the initial set-up.
found this once studied details of logs & IPCONFIG
Thanks mwecomputers: (points awarded) for putting me in right direction

DHCP was coming from router, DNS & NAT (RAS) installed on the server.
but server only using 1 NIC so NAT was not needed.

Now we have DHCP & DNS served by the server, & uninstalled NAT (RAS).

Seems much better now.
Thank you all for your help