IIS Informant: Running IIS Applications on a Win2K Server

We installed IIS on a Windows 2000 Server system but haven't been able to run applications on it. We can deliver HTML but not Active Server Pages (ASP). The most common error we receive is The server failed to load application 'LM/W3SVC/1/Root'. We've reapplied service packs and registered asp.dll but can't identify the problem. Can you help?

This problem can have several causes. Often, this message accompanies another error message about a failed logon for the IWAM_servername account. This account launches instances of dllhost.exe that run Out of Process Web applications (the default for IIS 5.0). If the password for this account isn't the same in the metabase and the registry, Out of Process applications fail. Try running synciwam.vbs from the InetpubAdminScripts scripts folder to solve the problem. Be sure to back up your metabase and registry first.

During installation, IIS might have had problems creating the necessary COM+ components. Look for a file with the unusual name ~clbcatq.dll in your %windir%system32 folder. IIS creates this file during Component Services installation and should delete it if the installation proceeds according to plan. If you find the file, a problem likely occurred. You can also inspect the %windir%setuperr.log, comsetup.log, and iis5.log files for errors.

This problem has an easy fix. First, delete the ~clbcatq.dll file and the contents of the %systemroot%registration folder. Then click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, and Add/Remove Windows Component. Without making any changes, click Next. The system will now go through what appears to be an installation process. Why?

The Add/Remove Windows Components program launches sysocmgr.exe to configure the OS. On systems running Service Pack 1 (SP1) or SP2, sysocmgr.exe determines whether the COM+ installation ran into any problems. If it finds problems, the program rebuilds the objects, regardless of whether you chose to install or remove any Windows components.

Restart IIS and determine whether your applications run. If they don't, you can use a more aggressive technique. Open the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Component Services Manager snap-in from Administrative Tools, and delete the IIS In Process Applications, IIS Out of Process Pooled Applications, and IIS Utilities packages. At a command prompt, type

%windir%system32inetsrv rundll32 wamreg.dll, CreateIISPackage

Reboot the server and retry your applications. Ensure that the IWAM_servername account is assigned to the Out of Process and Out of Process Pooled packages, which will confirm that the changes were made.