SMS: Operating System Appears as "Windows 9x" at Parent Site

In a Systems Management Server (SMS) implementation where a child primary site reports to a primary site, the operating system that is shown in the discovery data for clients that are running one of the following operating systems may appear as "Microsoft Windows 9x" at the parent site:

• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows 95

However, the same client record at the child primary site shows a more accurate and complete description of the operating system, for example, "Microsoft Windows 98".

When network discovery defines a client's operating system as "Microsoft Windows 9x", it flags this as a "low confidence" value in the discovery data record so that a more accurate value (if it exists ) won't be overwritten in the database. This works very well in a single site hierarchy.

When discovery data is forwarded to another primary site (parent site), the Discovery Data Manager component combines the new discovery data with the data that already exists in the database and sends this combined data to the parent site.

When the data is combined, the Discovery Data Manager ignores the "low confidence" flag and sends the "Microsoft Windows 9x" value to the parent site. Because this discovery data record does not have the "low confidence" flag set, the more accurate operating system value is overwritten.

Service Pack Information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Systems Management Server 2.0. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Hotfix Information

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language. The SMS 2.0 post-Service Pack 3 version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:
NOTE: Due to file dependencies, the most recent hotfix or feature that contains the above files may also contain additional files.

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 Systems Management Server 2.0 Service Pack 5.

When network discovery is run in an environment where some SMS clients run one of the following operating systems, the network discovery record for each of these clients shows the operating system as "Microsoft Windows 9x":

• Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
• Microsoft Windows 98
• Microsoft Windows 95

This occurs because network discovery cannot access a computer that is running one of these operating systems to determine the specific operating system information unless file and print sharing is enabled.

In a single-tiered environment, this does not present a problem for computers that are SMS clients because the heartbeat discovery record (which is generated immediately upon client installation and at periodic intervals thereafter) does identify the more specific operating system version, and then reports it correctly to the database. Later, if network discovery again reports "Microsoft Windows 9x" as the operating system, the entry is ignored because more specific information is already present.

In a hierarchy with two or more tiers, when network discovery is run at a child primary site and that child site has Windows Me/98/95 clients installed, everything proceeds as previously described, except that the discovery records are then forwarded to the parent site. In this situation, the clients of the child site which appear in the parent site's database can have a more accurate operating system value such as "Microsoft Windows 98" overwritten with the less accurate value of "Microsoft Windows 9x".

An administrator can see the client's discovery data at the central site fluctuate between these two operating system values depending on which type of discovery data record was last processed for the client.


Because of a dependency between DLLs, this hotfix includes the hotfix for the problem that is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

Hotfix Installation Instructions

Apply the fix in this article to all primary sites in the SMS hierarchy by using one of the following methods.

How to Use the Hotfix Installer

NOTE: You can use this method only on Intel-based computers.

1. Copy the hotfix folder structure to a share on your network. Note that Q310127.exe is a Microsoft SMS Installer file that updates specific files on your site server.
2. Log on to the site server by using an account with administrative privileges.
3. On the site server, close the SMS Administrator console and the SMS Service Manager.
4. Run the Q310127.exe tool, and then follow the directions in the wizard. You can run the file in Quiet mode by using the /S switch.

How to Manually Install the Hotfix

1. On the site server, close the SMS Administrator console and the SMS Service Manager.
2. Stop the SMS Site Component Manager, SMS Executive, Windows Management, and SMS SQL Monitor services on the site server.
3. Replace the Basesvr.dll file in the Sms_root_folder\Bin\Platform folder with the version of the file that is included with the hotfix.
4. Replace the Cmprov.dll file in the Sms_root_folder\Bin\Platform folder with the version of the file that is included with the hotfix.
5. Replace the Compmgr.exe file in the Sms_root_folder\Bin\Platform folder with the version of the file that is included with the hotfix.
6. Restart the SMS Site Component Manager, SMS Executive, Windows Management, and SMS SQL Monitor services.