[opensuse] DCOP server error

Hi All... I'm running OpenSuse on Virtual PC 2007 for Windows and Parallels Workstation for Mac OS. On both systems, whenever I make a change to the /etc/profile file, I can no longer long in. I receive an error stating that I cannot log in due to a DCOP server error. I am told to ensure that a DCOP server is running. I have reinstalled (from scratch) OpenSuse 10 times between the two virtual machine environments and the same thing happens each time. Does anyone have any ideas on what causes this? Is there some specific way in which I should modify the /etc/profile file? I've tried using vi and even OpenOffice. Each time I modify the file, I am sudo'ed or logged in directly as root. Thanks in advance.