Major problem, please help!!! 1

[TechInNeed]

I am running Windows 2000 Small business Server on my server and this morning I noticed that my server is slow so I went to it physically to see if there was any strange behaviour. When I moved the mouse to activate the monitor to unlock the server with a password (I have a password protected screen saver afer 5 mins and monitor powers off after 20 mins), all I had was my mouse cursor and wallpaper. Nothing else. I was supposed to get the "click ctrl + alt + delete to unlock the computer" message, but I did not. The ctrl + alt + delete command would not function as well. So, I shut down the server by the main power button. After it booted back up, I am unable to access the administrator console. DNS is not working as well. None of the clients are able to access a network share or gain internet connectivity. Please Help!!!

 

[bulkmail]

Do you mean that you are not able to get in with the Administrator user? Is this on a KVM? Are all the periphial connections in place?

BM

 

[hewissa]

How quickly did you reboot the server after you shut it down?

Is TS installed administrativly on the server, enabling you to TS into the computer and possible fix it that way?

I take it this is your DNS server? Is the ip statically mapped on the server. Your clients could connect to shares using ip, provided the server is "all there". If it is that might bide you some time. Hewissa

MCSE, CCNA, CIW

 

[TechInNeed]

No, I am able to log in as the administrator no problem.
KVM?

When I say Administrator Console, I am referring to, clicking "Start" then "Small Business Server Administrator Console". After I click on "Small Business Server Administrator Console", I get the following message in a pop up window titled (Server Busy)..."This action cannot be completed because the other program is busy. Choose 'Switch To' to activate the busy program and correct the problem". And the only button available are "switch to" and "retry". Clicking "Switch To" closes the pop up window and the start menu automatically appears. "Retry" causes the same popup window to appear again.
Please help me !!!

 

[hewissa]

What does the event viewer say under applications. Does it specify what process it is conflicting with?

Before you try to execute the SBSAC, check the task manager to see if a thread is already running. Check to see if a service has been started also that may be conflicting.

Hewissa

MCSE, CCNA, CIW

 

[TechInNeed]

Before I execute the console, it appears that all usual processes are running. When I initiate the first instance of SBSAC, the mmc.exe thread runs in task manager. Then when I execute another instance of SBSAC, another thread appears, and so on and so on.

In application, here is a few of many messages.

WMI ADAP was unable to process the W3SVC performance library due to a time violation in the open function

The open procedure for service "W3SVC" in DLL "C:\WINNT\system32\w3ctrs.dll" has taken longer than the established wait time to complete. There may be a problem with this extensible counter or the service it is collecting data from or the system may have been very busy when this call was attempted.

The timeout waiting for the performance data collection function "NntpSvc" in the "C:\WINNT\system32\nntpctrs.DLL" Library to finish has expired. There may be a problem with this extensible counter or the service it is collecting data from or the system may have been very busy when this call was attempted.

The configuration information of the performance library "C:\WINNT\system32\w3ctrs.dll" for the "W3SVC" service does not match the trusted performance library information stored in the registry. The functions in this library will not be treated as trusted.

WMI ADAP was unable to load the winspool.drv performance library due to an unknown problem within the library: 0x0

 

[TechInNeed]

Sorry, I missed these

>How quickly did you reboot the server after you shut it >down?
I gave it a couple of seconds.

>Is TS installed administrativly on the server, enabling >you to TS into the computer and possible fix it that way?
No it is not.

>I take it this is your DNS server?
Yes it is.

>Is the ip statically mapped on the server.
Yes it is. A public and a private ip.

 

[TechInNeed]

This is in the DNS log.

warning
The DNS server was unable to open the Active Directory. This DNS server is configured to use directory service information and can not operate without access to the directory. The DNS server will wait for the directory to start. If the DNS server is started but the appropriate event has not been logged, then the DNS server is still waiting for the directory to start.

error
The DNS server was unable to open zone 0.168.192.in-addr.arpa in the Active Directory. This DNS Server is configured to obtain and use information from the directory for this zone and is unable to load the zone without it. Check that the Active Directory is functioning properly and reload the zone. The event data is the error code.

warning
The DNS server did not detect any zones of either primary or secondary type. It will run as a caching-only server but will not be authoritative for any zones. For more information, see the online Help.

warning
The DNS server encountered an invalid domain name in a packet from 0.0.0.0. The packet is rejected.

The DNS server encountered an invalid domain name in a packet from 192.168.0.254. The packet is rejected.

 

[hewissa]

Seems like the registry has problems. This behavior can occur because either there may be a problem in the counter, or there may be a false-positive return value in the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Performance Library dredger. If there is a false-positive return value in the WMI Performance Library dredger, in certain situations, the dredger may incorrectly determine that a library is invalid even though the counter works correctly.
WORKAROUND
WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Try to dredge the computer's performance libraries again by using the following commands:
winmgmt /clearadap

This command clears all WMI-related values from the service's performance registry key.
winmgmt /resyncperf "winmgmt service pid"

This command registers the computer's performance libraries with the WMI.

You can find the WMI service PID information on the Process tab of Windows Task Manager.

The performance registry keys for the involved services include the following registry keys:
WbemAdapFileSize
WbemAdapFileTime
WbemAdapStatus

NOTE: For more information about the command options that are available with WMI, type winmgmt/? at a command prompt.

Another possible cause for the events may be that the counters are slow to respond due to other activities during startup. You can tune this timeout by adding the value Collect Timeout REG_DWORD 10000 to the appropriate registry location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\[counterfile]\Performance

Where [counterfile] is the file name performance library listed in the error message from Event Viewer.

For example, if the message in Event Viewer is
WMI ADAP was unable to process the perfproc.dll performance library due to a time violation in the open function

then the registry key will be:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\PerfProc\Performance

Please note that this registry path does not include the file extension (.dll). If events continue to be logged after you make these changes, change the WbemAdapStatus value manually to REG_DWORD 0 under the service's performance registry key, and then increase the ADAPPerflibTimeout value to REG_DWORD 180 in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Wbem\CIMOM

NOTE: You must enter all registry changes as decimal values.

In addition, you can disable performance counters for a specific service with the Exctrlst.exe utility from the Windows 2000 Resource Kit. This utility disables the specific counter by adding a registry key similar to the example below. You can add these registry entries under the specific counter entry manually if Exctrlst.exe is not available or desirable.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler\Performance

Value name: Disable Performance Counters
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1

NOTE: To use these commands, click Start, Run, and then type cmd to access the command prompt.
MORE INFORMATION
The AutoDiscovery/AutoPurge (ADAP) process is responsible for collecting and maintaining performance counter objects in WMI that are registered on the computer.

The ADAP process starts when the WinMgmt service is started or when you install or uninstall the performance libraries, which contain the performance counters, by using either the Lodctr or Unlodctr utilities.

Although the events are logged, the counters are still available.

Quoted from:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;266416

Hewissa

MCSE, CCNA, CIW

 

[TechInNeed]

Thanks man. I will try this out. Appreciate it

 

[GarethT]

i know this is plainly obvious or not in some cases-- have you checked youve got enough disk space on the server MCSE NT&2K,CCNA/CCDA,CNA,ASE,NSP

 

[TechInNeed]

GarethT, Yes:
Local Disk 1 has over 11 Gigs free
Local Disk 2 has 16 Gigs free
There is 1.5 Gigs of RAM as well

Hewissa, Before I start editting the registry, I want to hit all avenues first
I will try your approach later today.

UPDATE: I can access "Start" then "Small Business Server Administrator Console" in safe mode but the program throws errors when trying to access some resources.

 

[hewissa]

Keep us posted Hewissa

MCSE, CCNA, CIW

 

[fuunstatic]

I get the same problem on a win2000 test server when i don't use it for a few days, blue wallpaper and the mouse cursor frozen

however if I wait 5 mins or so after hitting the keyboard keys a few times I get, the mouse back and control back, so i can only assume that something critical goes to sleep and takes awhile to wake up

"Work to live, don't live to work"

"The problem with troubleshooting is that sometimes it shoots back"

 

[TechInNeed]

hewissa
Applying the changes to the registry did not work. I basically re-installed Windows 2000 Small Business Server. This initiated a new Active Directory install, which resolved the problem obviously. I believe that this problem may have been caused by having F-Secure AntiVirus running in the background. I am suspicious of this because when I installed F-Secure and was performing a windows update on microsoft web site, the F-Secure process will cause the CPU to jump to 100%, seizing up the network. When I cancelled windows update to clear the iexplore.exe process (because taskmanager would not allow me to end the F-Secure process), windows update took a long time to exit setup and there was a warning message indicating not to restart unless windows update has exited setup because it will cause major system instability. This is what may have happened. I believe that maybe windows update was in the process of posting a windows critical update notification on the server and this may have caused the 100% therefore rendering the server useless for some time (as earlier indicated in my first post
"When I moved the mouse to activate the monitor to unlock the server with a password (I have a password protected screen saver afer 5 mins and monitor powers off after 20 mins), all I had was my mouse cursor and wallpaper. Nothing else. I was supposed to get the "click ctrl + alt + delete to unlock the computer" message, but I did not. The ctrl + alt + delete command would not function as well. So, I shut down the server by the main power button."
I think by forcing a cold boot to the system, it damaged Active Directory.

I would like to thank hewissa and EVERYONE for all your efforts. All is appreciated

 

[hewissa]

Thanks for the follow up. I will keep what you did in mind for future posts. Hewissa

MCSE, CCNA, CIW

 

[TechInNeed]

UPDATE:
Problem is re-occuring even after a fresh install.

OS: Small Business Server 2000

When I click on "Start" and then "Small Business Server Administrator Console" or "Small Business Server Personal Console", the following message appears:

Server Busy (Title of Message box)
This action cannot be completed because the other program is busy. Choose

'Switch To' to activate the busy program and correct the problem.
Note: The only enabled options are 'Switch To' and 'Retry'.
When I click 'Switch To', the "Start" menu taskbar appears (ie. the task bar that pops up when you click on "Start&quot. Nothing else happens. Or, if I click on 'Retry', the message box disappears and nothing happens as well. In both cases, when I open up task manager, there is an instance of
mmc.exe running even though it is not visually there. When I try to click on "Start" and then "Small Business Server Administrator Console" again, it will produce the same results and there will be another instance of mmc.exe running in task manager. This happens as many times as I try to open the console.

Please help me as I was unable to find much on this issue on the web.

Note: This is affecting my client's connectivity to the server and it resources (ie. internet connectivity and shared files).

Thanks in advance !!!

 

[MrFireStarter]

Dear Hewisa, could you help me on this matter. Thanking in advance.

I am a System Administrator currently using a Windows 2000
server which act as a file cum print server. I have installed Win2K Server patched with SP3. the actual problem is whenever i right click and then click on the properties on any of the folder within the server, the properties or either the sharing windows popup is not appearing at all, even though i have waited for a very long time. hmm this really makes me sick, i can even share any others folders for other staff and this is really prolonging.

i do really appreciate if any on of you reply to me soon. take care an have a nice day

 

[GarethT]

sounds ghey firestarter but bare with me--install the latest version of internet explorer on there over the top.
MCSE NT&2K,CCNA/CCDA,CNA,ASE,NSP

 

[LeonBar]

Check your service packs. Don't use any walpaper or screensavers on a server. Set your power savers to never go off on a server. After I changed these settings on my server it stopped a lot of strange problems. Especially 3d screensavers cause spikes in CPU usage that will cause problems. to save the monitor just turn it off.

Leon