The DFS service takes longer than expected to start on a Windows Server 2003-based server that belongs to a Windows NT 4.0-based domain (891596)

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

The Distributed File System service (DFSSVC) may take longer than expected to start on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based server that belongs to a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0-based domain. When you restart the service, you may notice a delay of up to 30 minutes before the service starts.

CAUSE

This issue occurs because of the Distributed File System (DFS) site-awareness feature in Windows Server 2003. The Windows Server 2003-based computer uses the DFS site-awareness feature to search for resources that are closer on the network to a DFS client computer and that let the DFS client computer access these resources on request.

RESOLUTION

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.To resolve this issue, set the value of the DfsDisableSiteAwareness registry entry to 1. When you set the value of the DfsDisableSiteAwareness registry entry to 1, the DFS site-awareness feature in Windows Server 2003 is disabled. Therefore, Windows Server 2003 does not use the DFS site-awareness feature to search for resources that are closer to the DFS client computer.

To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then press OK.
In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters
On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type DfsDisableSiteAwareness, and then press ENTER.
Double-click the DfsDisableSiteAwareness value, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.

Note You can set the value of the DfsDisableSiteAwareness registry entry to 0 (zero) to make Windows use the DFS site-awareness feature again.
Exit Registry Editor.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to disable the site-awareness feature in Windows 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

810418 Disabling site awareness for Windows Server 2003 or for Windows 2000 DFS in a Windows NT 4.0 domain