FIX: Unhandled Exception When Running DBCC Checkdb

• Microsoft SQL Server, version 6.0

SYMPTOMS

When running DBCC CHECKDB or CHECKTABLE, SQL Server may encounter an unhandled exception.

The last message in the errorlog prior to the exception will be the following:

   96/01/25 15:34:31.63 kernel
   upinit: warning, unable to raise priority of dbcc-worker thread

   96/01/25 15:34:31.72 kernel
   upinit(dbcc-worker) failed:  error code: 0x5
   (5(Access is denied.))

CAUSE

This problem will only occur if SQL Server is running in Per Seat licensing mode and is configured to use standard security, and even under these conditions, it is rare.

WORKAROUND

You can work around this problem by doing one of the following:

• Switch the SQL Server security mode to mixed or integrated security.
• Use SQL Server trace flag 2508 to disable parallel non-clustered index checking for DBCC CHECKTABLE. This has little performance impact on most servers, because to benefit from parallel checktable you must have buffer cache larger than the size of the table being checked.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft SQL Server version 6.0. This problem has been corrected in U.S. Service Pack 3 for Microsoft SQL Server version 6.0. For more information, contact your primary support provider.