Missing HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\LDAP\Clsid Registry Key Causes Numerous Errors

You may experience any of the following symptoms:

• You receive the following error message when you try to create a new user in the Windows 2000 Computer Management console:
  Invalid Syntax
• You receive the following error message when you delete a user:
  The following error occurred while attempting to delete the user:
  An invalid Active Directory pathname was passed
• The Computer Management console generates an access violation when you add any user to a group.
• Other programs report the following error code in one form or another:
  0x8002802b (TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND).
• If you browse users to change the identity in the Component Services snap-in, access violation occurs.

Additionally, the Active Directory snap-ins (including Active Directory Users and Computers, Active Directory Sites and Services, and other snap ins) do not function as expected. When you try to start a snap-in, an hourglass appears and then nothing happens. If you view the Dr Watson log, a Dr Watson error occurs in the MMC.

If the computer is an Exchange server, Exchange Services do not start. When the System Attendant tries to start , one of the following event ID error messages may be logged:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MSExchangeSA
Event Category: (1)
Event ID: 1005
Description: Unexpected error Class not registered ID no: 80040154 Microsoft Exchange System Attendant occurred. For more information, click http://search.support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1

Event Type: Error Event
Source: MSExchangeSA
Event Category: (1)
Event ID: 1005
Description: Unexpected error Invalid syntax ID no: 800401e4 Microsoft Exchange System Attendant occurred. For more information, click http://search.support.microsoft.com/search/?adv=1.

This behavior can occur if an old version of Activeds.tlb exists.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Internet Explorer 5.5. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 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.

Verify the following information:

• Verify that the version of the Activeds.tlb file is correct for the version of Windows 2000 you are using. The version number should be at least 5.0.2143.1. The Activeds.tlb and Activeds.dll version numbers may not necessarily match.
• View the following key in the registry:
  HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{080d0d78-f421-11d0-a36e-00c04fb950dc}
  This key should be the Active Directory's Pathname object. It should contain a key named TypeLib that should have the a value of {97d25db0-0363-11cf-abc4-02608c9e7553}.
• View the following key in the registry:
  HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{97d25db0-0363-11cf-abc4-02608c9e7553}
  This key should contain a key named 1.0 that has three more keys:
  • 0
  • Flags
  • HelpDir
  The 0 key should have a subkey named win32 that should have a value that points to %SystemRoot%\System32\Activeds.tlb.

Verify that the following registry key exists:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\LDAP\Clsid

If this key does not exist , follow these steps:

1. Run Notepad.exe.
2. Cut and paste the following text into Notepad:

   Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
   
   [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\LDAP\Clsid]
   @="{228D9A81-C302-11cf-9AA4-00AA004A5691}"
   						

3. Save the file as Ldap.reg.
4. Double-click on the file to import the registry setting in to the registry.
5. Verify HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\LDAP\Clsid exists, and that it has a CLSID of 228D9A81-C302-11cf-9AA4-00AA004A5691.

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 Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 2. However, Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 may not address the issue in all cases and you may still need to add the LDAP registry manually.

For additional information about these symptoms with Windows2000, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: