Loss of settings

C700KJM · 2017-02-10 17:45

•Windows version 7 Enterprise x64
•NetSetMan Version 4.3.3
•Is the NSM Service activated - Yes

Good Afternoon,
I have had loss of settings while using every version on NSM pro since March 2016.
The configuration appears to only be lost when the following settings are applied,
User administration locked and settings file encrypted - Always lost
User administration locked and settings file unencrypted - Always lost
User administration unlocked - Settings remain.
We want to lock the settings because we use the tool on shared user laptops
which may have an influence.
When the user logs on he gets the NSM administration dialog asking for the password and is unable to open the tool. When I log on with the admin password the settings are lost.
Please see attached screenshots.

Not sure what to try next?! Please help!!

NetSetMan Support · 2017-02-11 17:55

This is of course a serious problem that we need to take care of. Having said that, we're currently aware of only one other user who had the same problem within the last year, but wasn't able to reproduce it.
As a side note: About a year ago we've implemented a mechanism to protect the settings file from data loss due to unexpected shutdowns, system crashes, etc. But those cases don't seem to apply here.

The NSM Administration shouldn't have any effect on the settings file at all. It only checks for allowed actions. Theoretically, the encryption might have something to do with the problem, because it's treating the settings file completely differently than when it's disabled. But since you wrote that it happens even when encryption is disabled, it doesn't make sense to focus on that.

As soon as the administration dialog pops up at program start it's probably already too late. Depending on what that dialog says, it's likely indicating that the file is already unreadable.

How frequently does this happen? Is this always the same user or are those different users?

We would really like to track down and solve the reason for this problem, but we definitely would need your help for this. Our suggestion would be that we prepare a special version for you that is going to log internal program actions into a local log file and additionally create a copy of the settings file every time something is written to it. That way, as soon as the problem reoccurs, we would be able to see all previous steps. Then we'd probably have an indication where to look for this problem.

Please let us know if this is something you'd be willing to do.

C700KJM · 2017-02-13 18:42

Today I have been able to reproduce the loss of settings.

This does not always happen with the same user!!

User administration locked and settings file encrypted / Administration active.
Checked permissions: Run the program, Activate profiles, change profile settings, profile restrictions
NSM service active.

I forced a reboot without shutting down cleanly. after logging back on, the password dialog was present and the settings were once again lost but this did not happen the first time I force a shutdown.

NOTE: Was also connected to corporate network at the time of failure.

Willing to try a prepared version and will to continue to try to reproduce the failure to narrow down where the problem may be.

Many Thanks.

NetSetMan Support · 2017-02-17 12:40

Thank you for your willingness to help. We've now created the debug version for this specific case.
We're going to send you the download link and the instructions via email.
Hopefully you can reproduce the problem with that version as well, so we can use the log files to find the reason for the problem you're experiencing.

Edit: We've just sent you the email with detailed instructions. Have a look into your spam folder in case the email is filtered out.

Last edited by NetSetMan Support (2017-02-17 13:55)

m.corsi · 2017-04-20 13:40

I had the same problem 2 times with 2 different users. Please tell me if you find a solution.
Thank you

NetSetMan Support · 2017-04-20 14:12

We're still incontact with C700KJM for resolving this problem. In his case this problem occurs when the pc is turned off by pressing the power button for 5 seconds. This hard shutdown causes a possibly driver-related problem where the hard drive is writing null-data to the settings file instead of the actual data. The result is a broken settings.ini file. Since we're still unable to reproduce the problem, this problem is most likely based on some specific hardware or driver constellation. We're currently waiting for the test results C700KJM for a beta version that we've sent him.

Are you using the latest version 4.3.4?
Do you recall something special happening before the settings loss? An unexpected shutdown or something similar?
If you'd like to speed up the process a little bit, you're welcome to send us a file with your hardware details of both systems. We can then try to find similarities that might help us in finding the real cause of this. Run msinfo32.exe with administrative privileges and export the generated details as *.nfo file. Make sure to compress both files in a zip archive and send it to our email address (see contact page).

m.corsi · 2017-04-20 15:58

1. We are using version 4.3.4
2. In both cases we had brutal shutdown (one blue screen and one forced by the user)
3. If I can I will send you the system information

Thank you

m.corsi · 2017-04-26 17:07

Another time the same problem in another PC. Have you got some solutions? Is very important for me.

Thank you

NetSetMan Support · 2017-04-26 17:11

Did you already update to version 4.4.0 that we released two days ago?
We've included a fix there that solved the problem for the other user.

m.corsi · 2017-04-27 17:49

How can I download the new version of NetSetMan Pro? I cannot access to the Customer Area. I don't know if I'm already registered, if not how can I register?

Thank you

NetSetMan Support · 2017-04-27 17:55

m.corsi wrote:

How can I download the new version of NetSetMan Pro? I cannot access to the Customer Area. I don't know if I'm already registered, if not how can I register?

This is not the right topic to ask license or download access (remember that other users read this topic because of the issue "Loss of settings"), but to give a short answer: The person who purchased the license for your company has access to the download area. Please ask the person you received the license from for assistance. If you still have trouble with it, contact us via email, so we can have a look at your order directly.

NetSetMan Support

#1 2017-02-10 17:45

Loss of settings

#2 2017-02-11 17:55

Re: Loss of settings

#3 2017-02-13 18:42

Re: Loss of settings

#4 2017-02-17 12:40

Re: Loss of settings

#5 2017-04-20 13:40

Re: Loss of settings

#6 2017-04-20 14:12

Re: Loss of settings

#7 2017-04-20 15:58

Re: Loss of settings

#8 2017-04-26 17:07

Re: Loss of settings

#9 2017-04-26 17:11

Re: Loss of settings

#10 2017-04-27 17:49

Re: Loss of settings

#11 2017-04-27 17:55

Re: Loss of settings