Article ID: 811320 - Last Review: March 22, 2007 - Revision: 4.6

"Aspnet_wp.exe could not be started" error message when you view an ASP.NET page

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SYMPTOMS

When you try to view a page in an ASP.NET application, you may receive the following error message:
Server Application Unavailable

The web application you are attempting to access on this web server is currently unavailable. Please hit the "Refresh" button in your web browser to retry your request.

Administrator Note: An error message detailing the cause of this specific request failure can be found in the system event log of the web server. Please review this log entry to discover what caused this error to occur.
The following error message also appears in the Application event log:
aspnet_wp.exe could not be started. HRESULT for the failure: 80070005
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CAUSE

This problem occurs because the process model user account (by default, ASPNET) does not have the correct user rights for the required system files and folders to run the ASP.NET worker process.
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WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, verify that the ASPNET account has the correct user rights as follows:
  • %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\Version\Temporary ASP.NET Files: Full Control
  • %windir%\Temp: Full Control
  • Application folder: Read
  • %installroot% hierarchy (for example, %windir%\Microsoft.Net\Framework\Version): Read
  • %windir%\Assembly: Read

    Note This is the global assembly cache. You cannot directly use Windows Explorer to edit ACLs for this folder. Instead, open a command window, and then run the following command:
    cacls %windir%\assembly /e /t /p domain\useraccount:R
    Alternatively, before you use Windows Explorer, run the following command to unregister Shfusion.dll:
    regsvr32–u shfusion.dll
    After you set user rights in Windows Explorer, run the following command to re-register Shfusion.dll:
    regsvr32 shfusion.dll
  • Web site root (for example, %root%\Inetpub\Wwwroot) or the path that the default Web site points to: Read
  • %windir%\System32: Read
    (Typically, the ASPNET account has already been granted user rights as a member of the Users group.)
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STATUS

Change the password of the ASPNET account periodically. The password will be reset for the ASPNET account every time that the product is installed. This behavior is by design.
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REFERENCES

For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
323292  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323292/ ) FIX: Cannot browse to ASP.NET pages if computer name contains certain words
315158   (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315158/ ) FIX: ASP.NET does not work with the default ASPNET account on a domain controller
317012  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317012/ ) Process and request identity in ASP.NET

For more information about security and ASP.NET, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa302415.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa302415.aspx)
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APPLIES TO
  • Microsoft ASP.NET 1.0
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Keywords: 
kbsecurity kbeventlog kbwebserver kbwebforms kberrmsg kbprb KB811320
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Retired KB ArticleRetired KB Content Disclaimer
This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.
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