XADM: Where Newprof.exe Gets the Username

ID: Q148198

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5

SUMMARY

The Microsoft Exchange Automatic Profile Generator (Newprof.exe) reads a Profile Descriptor File (PRF) and creates a profile based on the information in this file. One of the settings in the PRF is for the Microsoft Exchange mailbox name for which the profile is being created. If this entry is missing or does not have a value associated with it, Newprof.exe automatically inserts a user name into the profile. The user name inserted may or may not be a valid Microsoft Exchange user.

This article explains where Newprof.exe gets the user name that it uses in the profile.

MORE INFORMATION

When it creates a profile, Newprof.exe looks in the PRF for the MailboxName= entry under the section containing the Microsoft Exchange Server Service settings. If this entry is missing or empty, Newprof.exe uses the user name specified during the Setup process.

Most Microsoft products use a setup toolkit (ACME) for their Setup programs. When the Setup program is run, users are prompted for their name and company name. This information is saved on the local computer for later use. This allows the Setup program to automatically populate the above information if the user has run the Setup program for most other Microsoft products.

Newprof.exe reads this setup information to obtain the user name, and adds this user name to the profile being created.

Depending on the operating system of the client computer, the Setup information is saved in different locations.

Windows NT or Windows 95:

Under Windows NT and Windows 95, the setup user information is saved in the Registry in the following Key:


   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MS Setup(ACME)\User Info

The above key has two values: DefName and DefCompany, for the user name and company name, respectively.

Windows 3.x:

Under Windows 3.x, the setup information is saved in the Win.ini file, in the following section:


   [MS User Info]
   DefName= <User Name>
   DefCompany= <Company Name>

Since the Microsoft Exchange Client Setup program does not check the user and company name entered by the user, it is possible that the default profile created by Newprof.exe, when it is spawned by the client Setup program, will contain a user name not found in the Microsoft Exchange Directory. In this case, when the user runs the Microsoft Exchange client for the first time, the following error message will be displayed:

Microsoft Exchange could not be started. The name could not be matched to a name in the address list.

Upon clicking the OK button, the Microsoft Exchange Server Properties dialog will be displayed that allows the user to change the Microsoft Exchange account and/or server name.

In order to avoid confusing users when they see the above dialog, one workaround to this problem will be to manually edit the Default.prf file present in the client installation share point. Edit the entry MailboxName= in the [Service2] section with the following information and if the entry is not present, add it:


   MailboxName= Enter your Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Name

Now when the Microsoft Exchange Client Setup program is run, the default profile created will have "Enter your Exchange Mailbox Name" as the mailbox name. When the Microsoft Exchange client is run for the first time, it will not be able to find an entry in the Microsoft Exchange Directory with the name "Enter your Exchange Mailbox Name". This will cause the Microsoft Exchange client to display the error message indicating that the name could not be matched in the address list. Upon clicking OK to dismiss the error message, the Microsoft Exchange Server Properties dialog will be displayed. The edit box for the mailbox name will contain "Enter your Exchange Mailbox Name". The user can then enter his/her mailbox name and then click on the CheckName button to verify the name entered.

Additional query words: exclnfaqold

Keywords : kbsetup kbusage XADM exc4 exc5 exc55
Version : winnt:4.0,5.0,5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbhowto