XADM: Error Message: Error 123: The Filename, Directory Name, or Volume Label Syntax Is Incorrect (318746)

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

When you (as an administrator) try to start a service in the Services tool in Control Panel, you may receive the following error message:

Could not start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service on Local Computer.

Error 123: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

The following error message may be logged in the System log:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Computer: SERVER
Description:
The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service failed to start due to the following error:
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.

NOTE: These error messages come from the Services Control Manager and can occur for any service, not just the Exchange Server services.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, in the registry, make sure that the ImagePath value for the service that returned the error message does not contain any extra characters or spaces. To do so, you have to use Registry Editor.

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 make sure that the ImagePath value for the service that returned the error message does not contain any extra characters or spaces:

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
Locate the ImagePath string value under the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS
NOTE: This step applies to any service under the Services key in the registry.
Open the ImagePath value on the right, and then make sure that it does not contain any extra colons (:), spaces, or characters.

The following is an example of correct string value for the Exchange Information Store service:
C:\Exchsrvr\Bin\Store.exe
Quit Registry Editor.

MORE INFORMATION

You can use tools such as Regmon to track the service, program, or process that is adding the extra characters or spaces to the ImagePath value for that service. For additional information about Regmon, visit the following Sysinternals Web site:

http://www.sysinternals.com

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