SVCHOST crashes on a Windows 2000 SP4 wireless client (833865)

SYMPTOMS

When you try to authenticate a wireless client, you may receive the following error message:

Svchost.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows. You will need to restart the program. An error log is being generated.

You may experience the following symptoms:

The wireless connection status balloon does not appear when you hold the pointer over the connection icon in the notification area.
You cannot open Network Connections in Control Panel.
When you try to shut down or to restart the computer, you receive a message that states that Connections Tray is busy or is not responding.
802.1X authentication may occasionally succeed. Frequently the authentication is never completed, and the status balloon for the wireless network displays the following message: Attempting to Authenticate

For additional information about a similar issue that has a different cause, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

823050 "Access Violation" error message in Svchost.exe when a wireless client is being authenticated

Note The hotfix that is described in article 823050 does not resolve the problem that is described in this article.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when all the following conditions are true:

You use an 802.11b standard Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).
You click to select the Use my windows username and password when I login check box in the Wireless network properties dialog box.

When an access violation error occurs in the SVCHOST service, a notification message may not appear, but several services that depend on the SVCHOST service may also fail. When the SVCHOST service fails, the Wireless Configuration service fails and causes the problems listed in the "Symptoms" section of this article.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement

You must restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   13-Jan-2004  01:13  5.0.2195.6889     100,624  Rastls.dll

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, click to clear the Use my windows username and password when I login check box. To do this, follow these steps:

Open the Network Connections folder, right-click the connection that you want to use with 802.1X, and then click Properties.
Click the Wireless Networks tab, and then select the WLAN connection that you want to use with 802.1X. Click Configure.
In the Wireless network properties dialog box, click the Authentication tab.
Click Properties, click to select your authentication method in the Select Authentication Method check box, and then click Configure.
Click to clear the Use my windows username and password when I login check box, and then click OK.

MORE INFORMATION

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

816915 New file naming schema for Microsoft Windows software update packages

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates