Unable to Create a Large Number of DHCP Scopes

ID: Q216369

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When creating a large number of DHCP scopes with exclusions within each scope, the following error message is displayed when the computer is restarted twice:

Winnt\System32\Config\System is corrupted or missing

CAUSE

This problem may occur because exclusions added to the DHCP scopes generate large amounts of KEY data to the registry.

The SYSTEM hive is limited in size and must fit below 16 MB to start the system.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, create fewer than 1,500 DHCP scopes on a DHCP server.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5.

Additional query words: sp5

Keywords : kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00 nt4sp5fix
Version : winnt:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug