IIS Admin Service Fails to Start When the Metabase Is Too Large (308439)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
This article was previously published under Q308439

SYMPTOMS

If the metabase is too large to complete the initialization in the Service Control Manager timeout window, you cannot start the IIS Admin Service.

CAUSE

When you start the service, the Service Control Manager is notified that the service is going to start in a certain number of seconds or less. This time is hard-coded in the IIS Admin Service to 10,000 milliseconds, which may not be enough time if the metabase is large.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

NameSizeDateTimeVersionPlatform
Aqueue.dll321,296Nov-13-200100:375.00.0984x86
Asp.dll333,072Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Fscfg.dll299,792Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Ftpctrs2.dll8,464Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Ftpmib.dll6,416Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Httpmib.dll9,488Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Iisadmin.dll16,656Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Infoadmn.dll13,584Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Infocomm.dll246,032Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Isatq.dll62,736Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Mailmsg.dll66,832Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Ntfsdrv.dll38,160Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
Smtpsvc.dll435,984Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86
W3ctrs.dll7,440Nov-13-200100:495.00.0984x86

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, reduce the size of the metabase.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.

MORE INFORMATION

This fix is implemented by adding two registry values. One allows you to modify the time for the service to start, and one allows you to modify the time for the service to stop.
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the following key in the registry:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Iisadmin\Parameters

  3. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:

    Value Name: WaitHintStart
    Data Type: REG_DWORD
    Value: Time to wait for service to start (in milliseconds)

    Value Name: WaitHintStop
    Data Type: REG_DWORD
    Value: Time to wait for service to stop (in milliseconds)

  4. Quit Registry Editor.
To estimate the numbers that you should enter for the value, follow these steps:
  1. Add the previous registry values, then change the value to a large number.
  2. Start the service and note how long it takes to start.
  3. Modify the numbers according to the amount of time that you think the service will take to start. Overestimate the time, because if the service ever takes longer than the allotted time to start, the W3SVC service and any other dependent services will not start.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:9/23/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbfix kbWin2000sp3fix KB308439
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