Error message when you try to add a user to the portal site in SharePoint Portal Server 2003: "Unable to validate data"

You connect to the portal site in Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003. Then, you try to add a user to the portal site on the Manage Users page. When you do this, you receive an error message that resembles the following error message:

This issue occurs if the following conditions are true:

• ASP.NET 2.x is installed on the computer.
• The SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Web application is configured to use ASP.NET 2.x.

We do not support configurations in which a SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Web application runs under ASP.NET 2.x.

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Use the ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool (Aspnet_regiis.exe) to install ASP.NET 1.1.x

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Switch to the following folder:
   Drive:\Windows\Microsoft .NET Framework\v1.1x
3. At the command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER:
   aspnet_regiis.exe -i

Method 2: Remove ASP.NET 2.x and Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 from the computer, and then use the ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool to install ASP.NET 1.1.x

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Remove ASP.NET 2.x and Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 from the computer. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.
   2. In the list of currently installed programs, click Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, and then click Change/Remove.
   3. Follow the instructions that are displayed on the screen.
2. Use the ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool (Aspnet_regiis.exe) tool to install ASP.NET 1.1x. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.
   2. Switch to the following folder:
      Drive:\Windows\Microsoft .NET Framework\v1.1x
   3. At the command prompt, type the following line, and then press ENTER:
      aspnet_regiis.exe -i
3. Configure the Web service extension in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
   2. Click Web Service Extensions, click ASP.NET v1.1x, and then click Allow.
4. Use the Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services Stsadm.exe command-line tool to update the settings in the Web.config file. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.
   2. Switch to the following folder:
      Drive:\Windows\Microsoft .NET Framework\v1.1x
   3. At the command prompt, type the following lines. Press ENTER after each line.
      cd /d %commonprogramfiles%\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\60\Bin
      stsadm -o upgrade -forceupgrade
   4. Type exit, and then press ENTER to exit Command Prompt.

For more information about SharePoint Portal Server 2003 and ASP.NET 1.1, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about the ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about how to use the Stsadm.exe command-line tool together with the -forceupgrade command to update the settings in the Web.config file, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: