Carl Webster Accessibility Statement

Carl Webster is committed to facilitating the accessibility and usability of its website, carlwebster.com, for everyone. Carl Webster aims to comply with all applicable standards, including the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 up to Level AA (WCAG 2.0 AA). Carl Webster is proud of the efforts that we have completed and that are in-progress to ensure that our website is accessible to everyone.

If you experience any difficulty in accessing any part of this website, please feel free to email us at info@carlwebster.com and we will work with you to provide the information or service you seek through an alternate communication method that is accessible for you consistent with applicable law (for example, through telephone support).

  • Active Setup and Non-Responding Internet Explorer

    November 9, 2015

    XenApp 6.5

    A few days ago, Carl wrote a very interesting article on “strange” IE behavior here: https://www.carlwebster.com/internet-explorer-10-and-11-open-to-blank-white-screen-or-become-unresponsive/

    This made me remember an issue I had dealt with earlier, very similar to the one Carl was facing.

    Mine presented itself on XenApp 6.5 on Windows 2008R2 though. I wasn’t using a published desktop either, but Published Apps. When inside a published app, a user tried to open a URL, nothing would appear to happen for that user, it seems IE would start and close again. In another occasion the user was prompted over and over again for his credentials when accessing a web service displaying a PDF file that was stored on that webserver.

    In my case, it was pretty consistent too. Those specific users ran into the problem every single time, every session on every available server. Other users on the same servers worked perfectly.

    The solution? Those users didn’t have “Active Setup” in their profiles. Active Setup? Yes, that is wat Carl is referencing to in his article. Everyone should have seen this screen at a given time:

    So for some reason the affected users didn’t have working “Active Setup” settings in their profile. My solution at that time was them have run 2 scripts containing these lines of code:

    Script 1:

    "C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe" "C:\Windows\System32\iedkcs32.dll",BrandIEActiveSetup SIGNUP
    
    C:\Windows\System32\ie4uinit.exe –UserIconConfig
    
    %SystemRoot%\system32\unregmp2.exe /ShowWMP
    
    "C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe" "C:\Windows\System32\iesetup.dll",IEHardenUser
    
    "C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe" "C:\Windows\System32\iesetup.dll",IEHardenAdmin
    
    C:\Windows\system32\Rundll32.exe C:\Windows\system32\mscories.dll,Install
    
    C:\Windows\System32\ie4uinit.exe –BaseSettings
    
    regsvr32.exe /s /n /i:U shell32.dll
    
    %SystemRoot%\system32\unregmp2.exe /FirstLogon /Shortcuts /RegBrowsers /ResetMUI
    
    "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" OCInstallUserConfigOE
    
    %SystemRoot%\system32\regsvr32.exe /s /n /i:/UserInstall %SystemRoot%\system32\themeui.dll
    

     

    Script 2:

    "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rundll32.exe" "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\iedkcs32.dll",BrandIEActiveSetup SIGNUP
    
    C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ie4uinit.exe –UserIconConfig
    
    "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rundll32.exe" "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\iesetup.dll",IEHardenUser
    
    "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\rundll32.exe" "C:\Windows\SysWOW64\iesetup.dll",IEHardenAdmin
    
    C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Rundll32.exe C:\Windows\SysWOW64\mscories.dll,Install
    
    C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ie4uinit.exe –BaseSettings
    
    regsvr32.exe /s /n /i:U shell32.dll
    
    "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Windows Mail\WinMail.exe" OCInstallUserConfigOE
    

    Looks familar? It should, because it’s (more or less) the same script as Carl described.

    In short, if IE is behaving strangly, or better said: not working as expected -> make sure to look at Active Setup. This not only applies to XenApp/Desktop 7.x on Windows 2012R2, but also to “good old” XenApp 6.5 on Windows 2008R2.

    Bart Jacobs







    About Bart Jacobs

    Bart Jacobs is a Senior System Engineer/Consultant based in Belgium. He started his career back in 1998. One of the first projects he worked on in those days was Citrix Metaframe 1.8 on Microsoft Windows NT 4 Terminal Server codename "Hydra". Over the years, Citrix technology has always been a major theme in his professional career, resulting in becoming a true technical expert in the matter. In the last few years, he has also become an expert in virtualization technology, with a special interest in a real challenger in this business: Citrix XenServer. Bart has founded his own company BJ IT back in 2007 and is mainly working as a (Citrix) consultant now. In 2019, Bart received his Citrix CTA award.

    View all posts by Bart Jacobs

    No comments yet.

    Leave a Reply