BUG: "Cannot Start Service" Error Starting OLAP Services

• Microsoft SQL Server OLAP Services version 7.0
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0

SYMPTOMS

Starting Microsoft OLAP Services may generate the following error:

Cannot start service. Access denied.

CAUSE

There is a bug in Windows NT that denies access to folders that have spaces in their names if there is also another folder with an identical name up to the first space located on the same drive.

For example, the default installation location for OLAP Services is c:\Program Files\OLAP Services. If the server already has a folder called c:\Program, the preceding error message may appear when OLAP Services tries to start.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, delete or rename the duplicate folder (in the preceding example, the c:\Program folder) on the server or install OLAP Services to a location other than the default folder that does not conflict with existing folder names.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server OLAP Services version 7.0.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about the Windows NT problem with duplicate folder names and spaces, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q179147 Access Denied Starting Program

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbSQLServ700bug
Version : winnt:4.0,7.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug