FIX: Reading Perflib Registry Values Terminates SQL Server Startup with Fatal Exception (294388)

SYMPTOMS

During SQL Server startup, a "fatal exception" may occur when SQL Server reads the following Perflib registry values:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\009\COUNTER

The SQL Server 7.0 SP1 Errorlog shows the following stack dump during startup:

Short Stack Dump
0x004fe58d Module(sqlservr+fe58d) (RegGetCntrList+1be)
0x004fe278 Module(sqlservr+fe278) (LoadObjects+38)
0x004fe18e Module(sqlservr+fe18e) (pm_InitializeSharedMemory+1a7)
0x004fcc8a Module(sqlservr+fcc8a) (sqlservr_main+40c)
0x77dd8c10 Module(ADVAPI32+18c10) (RegisterServiceCtrlHandlerA+532)
2000-06-22 16:52:07.54 server   CImageHelper::GetSym Error - The specified module could not be found.

RESOLUTION

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

290211 INF: How to Obtain the Latest SQL Server 2000 Service Pack

WORKAROUND

To avoid exceptions, you can use either of the following workarounds:

Start SQL Server with "-x" startup parameter in the registry. The registry location is as follows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft SQL Server\<Instance Name>\MSSQLServer\Parameters -or-
Unload the Performance Monitor counters and load them again.

NOTE: Back up the registry before making any changes to it. For information on the startup parameter, see "Using Startup Options" in SQL Server Books Online.

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 SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 1.