Service does not start and an event ID 3 message is logged (268009)

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

One or more services may not start, and the following event message may be reported in Event Viewer:

Event ID: 3
Source: Winsock Proxy Client
Type: Warning
Description: Application [router.exe]. The application was started while the Service Manager was locked and NTLMSSP was not running. If the application will try to remote via winsock proxy it can cause a deadlock with the Service Manager. For this reason the remoting is disabled. If the application is a service, and you want it to be able to remote, make it dependant upon NTLMSSP.

NOTE: The Source field indicates the name of the actual service that did not load and the Type field indicates the .exe file.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur when a service that requires the NTLM Security Service Provider (NTMLSSP) service to operate is loaded before NTLMSSP has started. To prevent the Service Control Manager from locking, the service is temporarily unable to make remote calls. The service can be manually started without error after the NTLMSSP has loaded.

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 behavior, follow these steps:

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
Locate and click the key for the service name indicated in the Event Viewer error messages:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\FailedServiceName
NOTE: Match the .exe file listed in the Type field of the Event Viewer message to the ImagePath value of the registry key.
Add the following value:
Value Name: DependOnService
Data Type: REG_MULTI_SZ
Value: NtLmSsp
Click OK to save the values.

When you add this value, the service waits until the NTLMSSP service starts. If the NTLMSSP service has not started, this configuration starts the NTLMSSP service before it starts the other services.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

193888 How to delay loading of specific services

174922 Proxy Server 2.0 Release Notes

249230 SMTP and other services on Windows 2000 do not bind to Proxy server