You receive event ID 7000 even though Network Load Balancing is not installed

On a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer, you may receive the following event ID in the system event log during startup:

Event ID: 7000
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Description:
The Network Load Balancing service failed to start due to the following error: The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. Network Load Balancing is not installed on the system.

You receive this event ID even though the Network Load Balancing service is not installed on the computer.

This issue may occur if the Network Load Balancing service is referenced as a component in the startup group of a third-party service.

To prevent this event ID from appearing in the system event log, modify the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WLBS\Group registry value (if it exists). To do so, follow these steps.Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Start Registry Editor. To do so, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WLBS
3. Back up this registry subkey. To do so, follow these steps:
   1. On the File menu, click Export.
   2. Select a location to save the file to, type a descriptive name for the registry subkey (for example, "WLBS"), and then click Save.
   Important note If you want to install Network Load Balancing in the future, remember to do one of the following before you bind Network Load Balancing to any adapter:
   • Restore the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WLBS registry subkey from the saved backup.
   • Change the value of the Group registry entry back to PNP_TDI.
4. In the right pane, right-click the Group registry entry, and then click Modify.
5. By default, the Group string value is set to PNP_TDI. To prevent the occurrence of event ID 7000, set the value of the Group entry to an empty string. To do so, delete the PNP_TDI value in the Value data box, and then click OK.
6. Quit Registry Editor.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section of this article.