Support for ATA-100 (Mode 5) in Win2K. The Win2K disk driver manages all ATA-100 (Mode 5) IDE hard drives in ATA-66 (Mode 4). If you want to run IDE disks in ATA-100, you need to call PSS for a new version of the atapi.sys driver that supports Mode 5 hard drive operation. The Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q260/2/33.asp reports that the hotfix contains four files—atapi.sys, intelide.sys, pciide.sys, and pciidex.sys—and all four have a release date of April 27. The article states that after you apply the hotfix, you might notice a PIO value displayed on the Advanced Settings tab for an IDE device in Device Manager. This value doesn't mean that the device is functioning in programmed I/O mode—Win2K is displaying an incorrect value.
USB devices disappear after hibernation. When a computer resumes operation after hibernation, Device Manager might not recognize connected USB devices. After hibernation, Win2K issues a global reset and then a port reset to the USB controller. If the port reset isn't successful, the USB controller becomes unresponsive to commands. This behavior is most likely to occur if the motherboard uses the 440BX/443BX chipset with the PIIX4(E) chipset. The Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q26/6/43.asp implies that Microsoft has extended the functionality of uhcd.sys to accommodate the PIIX4(E) chipset. You can get an update of this module from PSS.
PS/2 keyboard not recognized when plugged into a running system. Is anybody out there installing PS/2-compatible keyboards on Win2K systems? To ensure Win2K recognizes these keyboards, you typically must plug them in before you boot the OS. The Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q262/7/98.asp says you can install a hotfix that will cause Win2K to recognize a PS/2 keyboard when you connect the keyboard to a running system, but only if the computer's BIOS supports this hot-plug feature. Be warned that some PS/2 controllers might not handle hot plugging a device, and some might short devices out. If you can't live without plugging keyboards into a running system, call PSS and ask for the new i8042prt.sys driver with a release date of May 18.
Memory Leak Hotfixes
Potential OHCI1394 driver memory leak. If you configure systems with an Open Host Controller Interface (OHCI) 1394 compatible controller, a specific set of conditions causes the OHCI driver to leak memory from the nonpaged pool. OHCI is an implementation of an IEEE standard that defines a high-performance (i.e., 100MB, 200MB, or 400MB) serial-bus technology for connecting digital camcorders and other high-speed video devices to a PC. The driver doesn't release memory during an asynchronous write operation when two arguments exceed a specific threshold. To eliminate this potential memory leak, call PSS and ask for the updated ohci1394.sys driver released on April 24. If you want to know the names and threshold of the arguments to the write operation, you can read the gory details in the Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q260/0/55.asp.
Potential Registry quota leak. In certain cases, a specific set of Registry operations causes Win2K to incorrectly compute the Registry's size. When a system has adequate expansion space for the Registry, the miscalculation doesn't pose a serious problem. However, the Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/
support/kb/articles/q260/2/41.asp explains that when the miscalculation returns a value equal to the maximum Registry size limit, Win2K can't expand the Registry, and this can wreak havoc with a running system. The article says you can call PSS for a bug fix that updates four kernel files: ntkrnlmp.exe, ntkrnlpa.exe, ntkrpamp.exe, and ntoskrnl .exe. The files have a release date of April 21.
NT 4.0 Interoperability Hotfixes
NT 4.0 logon hour restrictions prevent NT 4.0 users from accessing Win2K resources. Here's the scenario: You have a legacy NT 4.0 network and an NT 4.0 PDC, and your users access shared resources on Win2K servers. In the NT 4.0 domain, you restrict logon hours for user accounts and enable the Forcibly disconnect remote users from server when logon hours expire option. But when you set both these features, nonadministrative users logged on to NT 4.0 systems during valid logon hours can't access shared resources on the Win2K systems. The Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q263/0/06.asp says PSS has a hotfix that corrects this problem. The hotfix contains an updated srv.sys file with a release date of May 18.
Win2K redirector bug prevents connection to NT 4.0 servers with Server Message Block signing enabled. When a Win2K client attempts a connection to an NT 4.0 server with Server Message Block (SMB) signing enabled, the client might experience connection problems. If the client uses an invalid password during its initial attempt to connect to the NT 4.0 server, the Win2K redirector incorrectly returns the error message Network name is no longer available, when it should respond with a prompt to enter the correct password.
The Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q259/6/98.asp advises you to call PSS for a hotfix that eliminates the redirection bug. The hotfix contains updates to two Win2K components, mrxsmb.sys and rdbss.sys; both files have a release date of August 4. To temporarily work around the problem, you can turn off NT 4.0 SMB signing (or warn Win2K users they must enter a valid password the first time they connect to the NT 4.0 server).
Networking Hotfixes
Netware File and Print Services update. The Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q264/5/10.asp describes an update that corrects the following problems in Microsoft File and Print Services for NetWare (FPNW) 5.0.
- When you configure a user account with an enabled NetWare-compatible logon option and include any characters from the double-byte character set (DBCS) in the home directory path, the home directory path isn't stored correctly.
- If the logon script contains DBCS characters and you try to click OK or Apply to close a user's properties in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, you might receive the error message Windows cannot update the login scripts file due to error: The data area passed to a system call is too small.
- When you use the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in or the MMC Local Users and Groups snap-in to create a new user in FPNW 4.0, Win2K creates a subfolder (named with the user's object ID) in the SysvolMail folder. In FPNW 5.0, Win2K doesn't create this subfolder until you edit the user's logon script.
- When you change an account that isn't Novell NetWare-enabled to
NetWare-enabled and simultaneously force password expiration, the account becomes NetWare-enabled but the password-expiration setting isn't saved.
- If you change the Grace Logins Remaining option in the NetWare Services properties dialog box to 0 and click OK, Win2K accepts the 0 value. If you click Accept, Win2K automatically changes the 0 value to 1.
To fix these bugs, call PSS for the FPNW 5.0 hotfix. The fix contains two files, dsprop.dll and localsec.dll, with the release date May 31.
Multiple Net Send commands expose Messenger service bug. Here's a Messenger service bug that applies to all Win2K versions. When you use the Net Send command to send several messages in quick succession to a target computer, the command might respond with the error message The message alias could not be found on the network. The Messenger service doesn't listen for 5 seconds after responding to a request; any message sent within the 5-second window causes the error message to be displayed. This problem occurs only when you send multiple messages to the same computer in quick succession and if the destination system has correctly registered the <03> NetBIOS name. The Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q259/7/50.asp documents this problem and states that you can call PSS for a Messenger service hotfix. The hotfix updates the msgsvc.dll file and has a release date of May 26.
AD hotfix eliminates maximum of 854 DHCP servers. AD supports a maximum of 854 DHCP servers. When you add the 855th server, AD responds with the message Administration limit for this request has been exceeded. Although it's hard to imagine managing a network with even 500 DHCP servers, if you think you need more than 854, you can call PSS for the hotfix that removes the limit. The Microsoft article at http://support.microsoft.com/ support/kb/articles/q264/6/31.asp states that this hotfix updates one file, dsauth.dll. The article doesn't specify a release date for the file.
A Word to the Wise
By the time this article appears in print, I'm sure Microsoft will have released many additional hotfixes for Win2K Pro. Before you finalize the set of hotfixes to install on your systems, go to Microsoft's Knowledge Base search page at http://search.support.microsoft.com/ kb/c.asp?fr=0&sd=tech, select Windows 2000 in the Product field, and enter the search string Win2000PostSP1fix. This sequence will produce a current list of hotfixes. You can also check out the Win2K download page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/downloads/default.asp. This page contains updates and hotfixes for security vulnerabilities you can download without calling PSS.