VMware Communities: Message List - RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

RDPetruska — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:24:19 GMT

John,

There ARE no separate beta release notes. The current RC release notes should contain entries from the earlier beta versions as well (unless the issues have been resolved in a newer beta or RC build).

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

johnhc — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:17:22 GMT

RDPetruska,

Thanks for your reply. I guess I am blind or inept because I cannot find Beta Release Notes (not RC2). I am led to believe that the Beta notes contain information about my discussion subject. I have read RC2 notes (before I DLed it) but I was never able to get Beta 2 installed and don't remember comments in its notes about this subject. If you can direct me to the Beta (1 and/or 2) Release Notes (your link gave me RC2 notes), I would be most grateful.

Thanks, John.

Host and Guest Systems:
Windows XP Pro x64 Edition;
VMware Server 2.0.0RC2, Build 110949

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

RDPetruska — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:49:14 GMT

http://www.vmware.com/products/beta/vmware_server/releasenotes_vmserver2.html

Link to "Release Notes" in the Documentation frame on the right-hand side of the Server beta download page.

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

johnhc — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:41:53 GMT

rrdharan,

Thanks much for your response. I understand that my OS is not supported. It has been pointed out to me in this forum and I have read the manual. I hope this does not mean you are telling me not to attempt to use it. It seems to work great and I really like its responsiveness. I have removed the key for the VMGINA.DLL and I seem to run fine. I do not shutdown my host without shutting down my VM. Before I removed the key, on two occasions when I booted my host, my desktop was black except for a thin slice along the edge on the left and right. I was able to get my desktop back by cycling the power on my LCD monitor. I cannot really show that this was a result of the key, but I had never seen it before nor since.

The reason I keep asking about the Beta Release Notes is that Gabrielpc said there was some information concerning my problem. I cannot find the Beta notes. Can you point to the old notes?

Thanks again, John.

Host and Guest Systems:
Windows XP Pro x64 Edition;
VMware Server 2.0.0RC2, Build 110949

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

rrdharan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:23:55 GMT

VMGINA.DLL is used to implement automatic shutdown of VMs when the host system is shut down. To implement this properly requires replacing the GINA module, and replacing the GINA module automatically/unconditionally disables fast user switching.

This is probably not mentioned in the release notes because XP/Vista are not actually officially supported hosts (take a look at the supported host OS list).

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

johnhc — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:41:13 GMT

decomplexity,

I seem to be running fine, both my VM and Web UI. Please see my previous post and the one prior to that.

I still have not found the Beta Release Notes to see what was recommended. Do you know where to find them?

Thanks, John.

Host and Guest Systems:
Windows XP Pro x64 Edition;
VMware Server 2.0.0RC2, Build 110949

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

decomplexity — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:28:23 GMT

I would hazard a guess that if you reinstate MSGINA, VMware's Web Access user authentication screen (which authenticates against Win's user credentials) will fail to work properly. Fast User Switching is incompatible with replacement GINAs, with being on an AD domain, and with network user authentication methods such as CISCO's LEAP (I remember both Netgear and Linksys being slated when they did this).

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

johnhc — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:38:01 GMT

Gabrielpc,

Thanks for your reply. Interestingly, changing the value of the key to MSGINA.DLL did not correct the problem. I had to remove the key as the MS KB302346 instructed. VMware Server seems to run fine.

I would like to know where to find the Beta Release Notes. I have looked at the RC2 Release Notes and can find nothing about this problem. I also cannot find the old release notes. When I find a reference to the an old one, when I click on it the current (RC2) notes are displayed. I have tried to find the old notes for several reasons lately with no luck.

Thanks again, John

Host and Guest Systems:
Windows XP Pro x64 Edition;
VMware Server 2.0.0RC2, Build 110949

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

Gabrielpc — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:52:27 GMT

You should in fact be changing the registry back to msgina - for more information check the "Known Issues" section of the Release Notes for Server 2 beta.

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

johnhc — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:28:43 GMT

nick.couchman, thanks for your reply.

I have not tried the fix for this. I assume (perhaps falsely) that the VMware programmers had a valid reason for putting it there and wanted to hear someone tell me what it was for and if it was OK to remove. I suspect I can simply change the Registry entry to MSGINA.DLL for a test but don't really know it this will cause a serious problem with RC2. I don't want to do another install of RC2.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, John.

Host and Guest Systems:
Windows XP Pro x64 Edition;
VMware Server 2.0.0RC2, Build 110949

Re: RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

nick.couchman — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:12:29 GMT

So, removing the VMGINA.DLL file from the registry causes Server 2.0 RC2 to stop working?

RC2 installation turned off Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen - VMGINA.DLL.

johnhc — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:39:00 GMT

After installing RC2, I noticed that my Welcome Screen and Shutdown dialog were strange looking (see here). I found that Fast User Switching and Use the Welcome Screen are turned off in User Accounts. A dialog pops up there that says an installed program has done this by installing VMGINA.DLL. This module is in the VMware Server folder in the program files folder. MS KB302346 describes how to correct this "problem". For some reason VMware has installed this DLL and registered it to replace MSGINA.DLL. I would like to have my original Welcome Screen and Shutdown dialog back but do not know if I can apply the fix and have RC2 continue to run correctly.

I hope someone can tell me why VMware has inserted this DLL and if it is OK to bypass it.

Thanks, John.

Host and Guest Systems:
Windows XP Pro x64 Edition;
VMware Server 2.0.0RC1, Build 101586