A hotfix is available that improves the stability of the Windows Management Instrumentation repository in Windows Server 2003

A hotfix is available for Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) in Microsoft Windows Server 2003. This hotfix improves the stability of the WMI repository. The hotfix includes many of the improvements that are available in WMI in Windows Vista.

Overview

Windows Vista includes many improvements to WMI. These improvements help prevent corruption of the WMI repository. The repository is used for storing WMI information. You may experience corruption of the repository because of a software problem, because of a hardware problem, because of a power outage, or for other reasons.

Generally, corruption issues can be defined as cases in which the following conditions are true:

• Data that is expected in the repository is missing.
• The missing data cannot be retrieved or added back to the repository.

In these situations, the Windows Management Instrumentation service may detect a problem with the repository files. Or, a troubleshooting tool such as the WMI Diagnosis Utility (WMIDiag.vbs) may detect the problem. The Windows Management Instrumentation service may then automatically roll back to a backup copy of the repository information to try to work around this problem. This action may not resolve the problem.

Note You may experience symptoms that are related to provider load failures or to permissions issues, such as "Access denied" errors. These symptoms do not necessarily indicate that the WMI repository is corrupted. In these situations, we recommend that you use troubleshooting tools and documentation to help determine the cause of the problem. To obtain the WMIDiag.vbs script, visit the following Microsoft Web site:The WMI improvements that Windows Vista includes have been ported to Windows XP and to Microsoft Windows Server 2003. You can use the hotfix that is mentioned in this article to improve the stability of the repository on computers that are running Windows Server 2003. This hotfix helps increase the probability that the repository remains stable if you experience an unexpected problem in Windows.

Note The hotfix that is mentioned in this article is not designed to recover or to repair the repository on computers that have already experienced a corruption issue. It is designed only to reduce the probability that the repository could be corrupted by a problem on the computer.

For more information about a version of this hotfix for 32-bit versions of Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Hotfix information

To update the repository in Windows Server 2003, install the hotfix according to the version of Windows that is installed. To determine the version of Windows that is installed, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the General tab. The version of Windows appears under System.

After you download the hotfix, double-click the hotfix package to install it.

Note To install the hotfix, you may have to apply the latest service pack for the version of Windows that you are running. For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must have one of the following operating systems installed:

• Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)
• Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Windows Server 2003, x86-based versions

Windows Server 2003, x64-based versions, and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Windows Server 2003, Itanium-based versions

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

For more information about the terms that are used to describe software updates, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: