FIX: Msxml2.dll Fails to Register on 32-Processor Computer During MDAC 2.6 Installation (276426)

SYMPTOMS

When installing Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.6 RTM (version 2.60.6526.3) on computers that have 32 processors, the following error may occur when Msxml2.dll is registered:

A dynamic link library (DLL) initialization routine failed

This error occurs with Msxml2.dll version 8.0.6518.2. It may be encountered when installing SQL Server 2000, which includes MDAC 2.6.

NOTE: This problem does not occur with the MSXML 3.0 parser (Msxml3.dll version 8.0.7820.0).

CAUSE

Like many of the MDAC components, Msxml2.dll allocates number-of-processors+1 heaps during initialization to avoid heap contention. On a 32-processor computer, this exceeds an internal memory limit of 300K.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Data Access Components 2.6. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

300635 INFO: How to Obtain the Latest MDAC 2.6 Service Pack

Hotfix

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

   Date          Version      Size             File name   
   --------------------------------------------------------
   28-SEP-2000   8.0.6728.0   687,888 bytes    Msxml2.dll	
   28-SEP-2000   8.0.6728.0    21,776 bytes    Msxml2a.dll	
   28-SEP-2000   8.0.6728.0    37,648 bytes    Msxml2r.dll	
   28-SEP-2000   8.0.6728.0    26,384 bytes    Xmlinst.exe

WORKAROUND

You can temporarily modify the computer's Boot.ini file to use the /NUMPROC switch, which will reduce the number of processors used by the operating system.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Data Access Components 2.6 Service Pack 1.