Interoperability, Memory Leaks, and Hardware Issues

Win2K/NT 4.0 Interoperability
Windows NT 4.0 logon restrictions prevent users from accessing Windows 2000 resources. Here’s the scenario: You have a legacy NT 4.0 network, 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 option "Forcibly disconnect remote users from server when logon hours expire." However, when you set these features, nonadministrative users who log on to NT 4.0 systems during valid logon hours can't access shared resources on the Win2K systems. According to Microsoft article Q263006, Microsoft Support has a hotfix that corrects this problem. The hotfix contains one file, an updated srv.sys released May 18.

Win2K redirector bug prevents connection to NT 4.0 servers. If a Win2K client uses an invalid password when it attempts to connect to an NT 4.0 server with Server Message Block (SMB) signing enabled, the Win2K redirector incorrectly returns the error message "Network name is no longer available" instead of prompting for the correct password.

According to Microsoft article Q259698, you can call Microsoft Support for a hotfix that eliminates the redirector bug. The hotfix contains updates to two Win2K files, mrxsmb.sys and rdbss.sys, released August 4. To temporarily work around the problem, you can either turn off NT 4.0 SMB signing or ensure that the Win2K client sends a valid password the first time it connects to the NT 4.0 server.

Potential Win2K Memory Leaks
Potential OHCI1394 driver memory leak. If you configure systems with an Open Host Controller Interface (OHCI) 1394-compatible controller, the OHCI driver might leak nonpaged pool memory under a specific set of conditions. (OHCI is an implementation of an IEEE standard that defines a high-performance—100Mbps, 200Mbps, and 400Mbps—serial bus technology for connecting digital camcorders and other high-speed video devices to a PC.) The problem is that 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 Microsoft Support and ask for the updated ohci1394.sys driver released April 24. If you really want to know the write operation argument's name and threshold, you can read the gory details in Microsoft article Q260055.

Potential Registry quota leak. In certain cases, a specific set of Registry operations causes Win2K to incorrectly compute the Registry size. When a system has adequate expansion space for the Registry, the miscalculation doesn't pose a serious problem. However, Microsoft article Q260241 explains that when the miscalculation returns a value equal to the maximum Registry size limit, the Registry can't grow, which can wreak havoc on a running system. The article indicates that you can call Microsoft Support for a bug fix that updates four kernel files—ntkrnlmp.exe, ntkrnlpa.exe, ntkrpamp.exe, and ntoskrnl.exe—released April 21.

Win2K Hardware IssuesModems misbehave with the Modem Sharing service.When you use the Win2K Modem Sharing service to connect to a modem pool, the modem might not respond or might respond incorrectly by failing to dial or dialing only in pulse mode. The problem is that an incompatibility between the standard Unimodem driver and the Modem Sharing client causes the client to send a corrupted modem initialization string. Microsoft article Q263643 documents the problem and indicates that you can call Microsoft Product Support Services for the hotfix, a new version of modem.sys released May 17.

Toshiba PC card controller might power 3.3-volt R2 PC card at 5 volts. If you use Toshiba notebook computers, be aware that the Win2K PC Card bus driver pcmcia.sys uses too high a voltage for R2 PC cards. Win2K supplies 5 volts of power to an R2 PC card designed for 3.3 volts. To avoid frying your R2 card, call Microsoft Product Support services for a hotfix that corrects the problem. The hotfix updates pcmcia.sys with a June 21 version. Microsoft article Q265296 documents this problem.

Win2K support for ATA 100 Mode 5. The Win2K hard disk driver manages all ATA-100 IDE hard drives in ATA-66 (Mode 4). If you want to run IDE disks in ATA-100 Mode 5, you must call Microsoft Support for a new version of the atapi.sys driver that supports Mode 4 hard disk driver operation. Microsoft article Q260233 indicates that the hotfix contains four files—atapi.sys, intelide.sys, pciide.sys, and pciidex.sys—each with a release date of April 27. According to the article, after you apply the hotfix, you might notice an incorrect PIO value on the Advanced Settings tab for an IDE device in Device Manager. The incorrect PIO value doesn't mean that the device is functioning in PIO mode; Win2K is displaying an incorrect value.

System doesn't recognize PS/2 keyboards. Are you installing PS/2-compatible keyboards on your Win2K systems? To ensure that Win2K recognizes a PS/2 keyboard, you must plug the keyboard in before you boot the OS. According to Microsoft article Q262798, you can install a hotfix so that your system recognizes the keyboard when you connect it—as long as the computer’s BIOS supports this hotplug feature. Some PS/2 controllers might not handle device hotplugging correctly, and some might short out devices. If you can’t live without the ability to plug keyboards into your running systems, call Microsoft Product Support Services and ask for the new I8042prt.sys driver, released May 18.