The Distributed File System (DFS) service stops unexpectedly or stops responding in a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based cluster environment

The Distributed File System (DFS) service stops unexpectedly or stops responding in a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based cluster environment. This problem occurs if the following conditions are true:

• You have set the DfsDnsConfig registry entry to 1 to enable fully qualified domain name (FQDN) referrals.
• Any of the following hotfixes are applied on the server that is running the DFS service:
  • 900622 DFS referral queries do not return the fully qualified domain name of the DFS root in a Windows Server 2003 cluster environment
  • 908129 Group Policy objects are not applied on client computers when those client computers connect to a Windows Server 2003-based domain controller that runs the DFS service
  • 910319 The Distributed File System service stops unexpectedly during system startup on a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based domain controller
  • 910929 When you run the DFS Consolidation Root Wizard on a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based Cluster service computer, event 1055 is logged on the cluster nodes
  • 917417 The DFS root server cannot do the site costing correctly and local DFS client computers are referred to remote DFS share location after you install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 on the domain controller
  • 927291 The "Dfsutil /import" command takes a long time to finish when you run this command to import DFS links to a stand-alone DFS root on a Windows Server 2003-based computer

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix, you must have Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 or an x64-based version of Windows Server 2003 installed. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Restart requirement

You must restart the DFS service after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix replaces the hotfixes that are described in the following Knowledge Base articles:

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 with Service Pack 1, 32-bit (x86-based) versions

Windows Server 2003, x64-based versions

Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1, 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 DfsDnsConfig registry entry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 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: