Windows Server 2003-Based Computer Becomes Unresponsive During Periods of High Server Use

Your Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer becomes unresponsive during periods of high server use. This problem may be especially prevalent when you run Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 on a Windows Server 2003-based computer.

This problem may occur if auditing is enabled. During times of high server use, the load that auditing creates when the auditing process makes remote procedure calls (RPCs) to the event log may affect system performance and may cause the server to become unresponsive.

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. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

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, contact 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 English version of this hotfix 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. Windows Server 2003 x86
Windows Server 2003 IA-64

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

This hotfix allows the server to log audit events in batches. This capability minimizes the affect that auditing has on Windows Server 2003 performance because the total number of RPCs to the event log is greatly reduced.

For additional information about how to audit Active Directory directory service objects in Windows Server 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: