Upgrading a member server to Windows Server 2008 R2 does not fully remove FRS

When you start a server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2, the File Replication Service (FRS) does not start and the following error is logged in the FRS event log:Note In this error, the placeholder Server_name represents the name of the server on which FRS did not start.

This problem occurs because of a code defect that occurs when you upgrade a server that was running Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) to Windows Server 2008 R2. The FRS component is not removed during server upgrades.

Windows Server 2008 R2 deprecates the legacy FRS component on member servers. When you upgrade servers to Windows Server 2008 R2, you find that the upgrade process does not completely remove the FRS component.

On servers that are upgraded from Windows Server 2003 SP2, the following events occur:

• The FRS service is removed.
• The FRS event log is not removed, but the event log is cleared.

On servers that are upgraded from Windows Server 2008 SP2, the following events occur:

• The FRS service is not removed or stopped.
• At every restart of the server, an error is logged in the FRS event log.

Note Although an in-place upgrade is supported, it�s recommended that a server is loaded with a clean install of the OS.

To work around this issue, use one of the following workarounds.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For servers upgraded from Windows Server 2003 SP2

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\File Replication Service
3. On the File menu, click Export.
4. In the File Name box, type FRSREG1.reg, and then click Save.
5. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
6. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Application\NTFRSPerf
7. On the File menu, click Export.
8. In the File Name box, type FRSREG2.reg, and then click Save.
9. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
10. Exit Registry Editor.
11. Restart the server.

For servers upgraded from Windows Server 2008 SP2

1. Start the Services snap-in (Services.msc).
2. Locate and stop the File Replication Service, and then exit the Services snap-in.
3. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
4. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Ntfrs
5. On the File menu, click Export.
6. In the File Name box, type FRSREG1.reg, and then click Save.
7. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
8. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog\File Replication Service
9. On the File menu, click Export.
10. In the File Name box, type FRSREG2.reg, and then click Save.
11. On the Edit menu, click Delete, and then click Yes.
12. Exit Registry Editor.
13. Start the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in (Wf.msc).
14. Open the Inbound Rules node.
15. Disable the following two rules:
    • File Replication (RPC)
    • File Replication (RPC-EPMAP
16. Exit the Windows Firewall with the Advanced Security snap-in.
17. Restart the server.

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