When running ICA Client version 10.200 and later on Windows XP, any service pack, a user logon does not load the cached profile but creates a new one instead.

The result is that Windows ends up caching several profiles for the same user.

CTX118226 – User Client Computer Profile is not Loaded Properly when Single Sign-on is Enabled – Citrix Knowledge Center

An old article from last year about an initiative to help with graphically intensive
applications. I have seen some forum posts that suggest this may be part of the longhorn-version
release of Citrix.

Excerpt:

As you may have heard, we have a project code-named Pictor. This project is derived
from work done with Boeing to improve the responsiveness of OpenGL three dimensional
drawing programs (CATIA). The Boeing/Citrix project (codenamed K2) was a large success
and proved not only that it was possible to greatly improve the performance, it actually
made sense to progress this software to a much wider audience.

I have my own history with what I would call graphics intensive applications. When
I was first working as a systems engineer reseller in Brisbane in 1997, our little
company was approached by a local engineering company. I believe they make custom
car parts and it was very interesting how they went about it. They were a fairly big
operation and very professional. Our salesman (as expected) over-promised what WinFrame
could do. The thoughts were that it should be possible to remote CAD images over ICA.
Somehow, I was supposed to get this working. It became pretty obvious that with no
amount of tweaking would it be possible to run decent CAD across ICA.

So, that was the common conclusion of most people between 1995 and now that it just
was not possible to do intensive graphics remoting. The exception being programs being
designed this way from ground up (like 3D games).

Now, a group a Citrix has proven it possible to remote existing applications without
change. It is not just a demo, it is a working system being used at Boeing. In this
case, the hype actually understates the possible reality.

The reason I’m writing this is to drum up some interest in Pictor. First, I want you
to know it exists. Second, I want you to tell everyone that you want it (if you want
it). If you stay silent, there is a good chance that Citrix will focus on other items
on the agenda.

If you prefer, leave me a comment and I’ll forward it to the relevant people.

If the project goes ahead in the near term, it will most likely be based out of Sydney,
Australia. I know one of the core developers and I’m sure he’d love to hear what you
have to say.

Project
Pictor at Jeff Muir

Excerpt:

Introduction

An effective design of user profiles can make a significant
difference in the performance and manageability of a MetaFrame Presentation Server
environment. Many of the issues commonly seen in large or complex MetaFrame Presentation
Server environments—including slow logon, loss of user settings, profile corruption,
and excessive administration effort–are often the result of sub-optimal user profile
designs. A solid design and implementation of user profiles can maintain the integrity
of user settings, eliminate issues requiring administrator intervention, and ensure
high-performance user logon.

This white paper will present Citrix’s best practices
for the design of user profiles in a MetaFrame Presentation Server environment.

Read
the full article at the Citrix Website

What exactly is a slow logon? It depends on your environment. Some companies have
logon processes that complete in a few seconds, while others take a few minutes. Unfortunately,
there are some environments in which the logon process takes several minutes; even
20-30 minutes is not unheard of. This article will take you through the steps that
I follow when someone says to me, “my logons are too slow.”

Source: Troubleshooting
Slow Citrix and Terminal Server Logons

Citrix support released hotfix PSE400R01W2K3074
for Citrix Presentation Server 4.0
with Hotfix Rollup Pack PSE400W2K3R01, Citrix Presentation Server 3.0 with Service
Pack 2005.4 with Hotfix Rollup Pack PSE400W2K3R01, and Citrix Access Essentials 1.0
with Hotfix Rollup Pack PSE400W2K3R01. It addresses the following issues:

Source: Citrix Support Releases
Hotfix PSE400R01W2K3074 for Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 running on Windows Server
2003 – DABCC

What exactly is a slow logon? It depends on your environment. Some companies
have logon processes that complete in a few seconds, while others take a few minutes.
Unfortunately, there are some environments in which the logon process takes several
minutes; even 20-30 minutes is not unheard of. This article will take you through
the steps that I follow when someone says to me, “my logons are too slow.”

Source: Troubleshooting
Slow Citrix and Terminal Server Logons

Ran into a problem with the Citrix Print Manager service the other day where logins
where hanging, and this helped me through it.

The Citrix SMA Service and the Citrix Print Manager service are configured to be started
by a local user created during the install of Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 called
Ctx_SmaUser. If this user account is deleted, printer auto creation may fail. SMA
alerts will not be sent and/or client printing will not function properly. The Citrix
SMA Service and/or the Citrix Print Manager service cannot be started.

Cause
The Ctx_SmaUser account has been deleted, corrupted, or denied permissions required
to start these services.

CTX106393
- How to Recreate the Ctx_SmaUser Account.

In this article I will try to explain how logon time might increase, and how to tackle
and improve logon time where possible. Users are easily annoyed with long logon/logoff
times making it harder to accept an SBC solution

Optimising
and Troubleshooting Logon Time to the Server.

Known issues running Citrix
Presentation Server on Windows 2003 R2

CTX109680
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Known Issues.

Citrix Logon Chart
at Brian Madden’s Site