Error Attempting to Save System Policy File (167900)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q167900

SYMPTOMS

When you use System Policy Editor and attempt to save a policy file on a computer running Windows NT, you may receive the following error message:
An error occurred writing the registry. The file cannot be saved.

CAUSE

To save a policy file using System Policy Editor on a computer running Windows NT, you must be a member of the administrators group. The reason for this limitation is that, even when you are only saving a .pol file to the local system, you need to access registry settings to complete the operation.

MORE INFORMATION

The specified policy file will be saved to the system. The size of the file will be 0 KB. If you attempt to open this file you receive an error message similar to the following:
Unable to open c:\ntconfig.pol:
A required privilege is not held by the client.
When you try the same procedure using an administrator-equivalent account you will receive an error message similar to the following:
Unable to open c:\ntconfig.pol:
The configuration registry database is corrupt.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:12/13/2002
Keywords:kbenv kbnetwork kbother kbprb KB167900
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.