Win 9x Clients Hang When RC Agent is Installed Fix

By ServerWatch Staff (Send Email)
Dec 16, 2001

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by Dana Daugherty

This Problem was first reported prior to SP-2. It was listed on the list of bug fixes for SMS SP-2 and SP-3. Microsoft admits the issue still wasn't solved in SP-3. There is a hotfix provided by Microsoft that may help. I have had success with one particular registry edit that Microsoft isn't publishing.

In his latest article, Dana Daugherty discusses an issue with some Windows 9x-based clients where installing the Remote Control agent may cause the computer to stop responding. Since the issue persists even in SP-2 and SP-3 installations of SMS 2.0, Daugherty offers a workaround fix that will correct the issue.

This issue really didn't become a problem for me until I was preparing to upgrade an implementation from SP-2 to SP-3. One hardware platform, Dell GX110, constantly had "Out of memory" errors. It took as many as 3 reboots to clear the problem up.

There are several indications that this problem is occurring:

1. Remctrl.log may contain the following text at the bottom of the log:

Performing a INSTALL type installation
Starting install.log
Successfully notified SMS that installation has not completed.
Remote Control Installation starting.
Looking for conflicting products on a Windows 9X system
Installing SMS Remote Control on Windows Windows 95.
Installing Windows 95 Remote Control Files.
Checking the client machine type.

2. Perform CTL - ALT - Del. A task named Winoldap will be running.

3. The machine will seem to lockup or\and display "Out of memory" or "Out of resources" errors.