Event Message 3101: Unable to read IO control information from NBT device (257760)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q257760

SYMPTOMS

When you use a Windows 2000-based computer, the following error may be logged in the Application event log after every reboot:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: perfctrs
Event Category: None
Event ID: 3101
Date: boot_date
Time: boot_time
User: N/A
Computer: SYSTEM
Description: Unable to read IO control information from NBT device.
Another symptom is that the NBT Connections counter is not available in System Monitor, although other counters provided by Perfctrs.dll, such as TCP, are available.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur if the Windows 2000 Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) performance counters (Perfctrs.dll) are attempting to extract input/output (I/O) control information from a network device, but no network device (network adapter, modem, and so on) is present.

This problem can also occur if the performance counters attempt to extract I/O control information, but the network stack has not completed loading. This is a timing issue and does not necessarily indicate a problem.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to obtain the Latest Windows 2000 service pack

To work around this problem, disable the TCP/IP performance counters:
  1. Run the Exctrlst.exe utility from the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit.

    For information about the Windows 2000 Resource Kit, view the following Microsoft Web site:

    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/default.mspx?mfr=true

  2. Locate and click the following extensible performance counter entry in the list:

    TCPIP Perfctrs.dll

  3. Click to clear the Performance counters enabled check box only for that counter.
  4. Quit the utility, and then restart the computer.
After you restart the computer, the event should not appear. This resolution has no effect on computer performance or usability, even if networking is enabled in the future.

NOTE: You can also install the Microsoft Loopback adapter on the computer to try and resolve this behavior.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was first corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 2.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/16/2006
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbbug kbenv kberrmsg kbnetwork KB257760
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