SMS: How to Recover Remote Control Agent from Broken Mirror (162951)

SUMMARY

If a computer running Windows NT Server has a mirrored boot partition, there may be problems with remote controlling that computer after the mirror is broken. If the client computer running Windows NT Server is started from the previously mirrored drive, the Systems Management Server Remote Control Agent (Wuser32.exe) does not start, because the registry is still pointing Wuser32.exe to the original drive letter.

MORE INFORMATION

After the computer is started by using the fault tolerant startup floppy disk to recover the fault tolerant partition, it is necessary to change the drive letter designation for Wuser32.exe before the second restart.

To correct this problem, perform the following steps:

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:

      SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuser32

Change the string to the drive that Windows NT Server is now starting from:
Value Name: ImagePath
Data Type: REG_EXPAND_SZ
Data: <The new boot drive letter>:\WINNT\WUSER32.EXE
Click OK and quit Registry Editor.

At that point, it will be possible to start the Remote Control Service on the computer running Windows NT Server. Wuser32.exe will start, and it will be possible to remote control the computer. Once the mirrored partition is completely restored, and the Boot.ini file is changed back to the original configuration, it is necessary to repeat the above process to change the drive letter back.