A hotfix is available that addresses a memory leak in the Virtual Disk Service on a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008

On a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, a memory leak may occur in the Virtual Disk Service. This problem may occur in the following scenarios.

Scenario 1

A memory leak occurs in the Virtual Disk Service when an application uses the Virtual Disk Service to enumerate disk resources. In this scenario, you notice that the memory consumption of the Virtual Disk Service (Vds.exe) increases continually.

Scenario 2

The computer uses a Virtual Disk Service hardware provider to connect to a disk array. When an application uses the Virtual Disk Service to enumerate disk resources, a memory leaks occurs in the Virtual Disk Service and in the Virtual Disk Service hardware provider. In this scenario, you notice that the memory consumption of both the Virtual Disk Service and the Virtual Disk Service hardware provider increases continually.

The severity of this problem depends on how frequently your application calls the Virtual Disk Service. Sometimes, this problem may not cause significant issues. However, when the memory consumption becomes significant, the system may crash, or jobs may fail. This situation typically occurs when your production environment does not let you periodically restart the Virtual Disk Service. To resolve this problem, you must apply the hotfix that is described in the "Resolution" section.

Hotfix information

Important Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 hotfixes are included in the same packages. However, only one of these products may be listed on the “Hotfix Request” page. To request the hotfix package that applies to both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, just select the product that is listed on the page.

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.

Prerequisites

To apply this hotfix on a Windows Vista-based computer, you must have Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) installed.

For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: No prerequisites are required for Windows Server 2008-based computers.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

Registry information

If this registry entry is set before any hotfix introduces it, the entry will be overwritten regardless of its value.

If an earlier hotfix applied this registry entry, the current hotfix changes or creates the entry as follows:The hotfix installation process changes or creates the registry value according to the following rules:

• If this registry entry already exists, and if it is set to the default value of 0, the hotfix installation will change the entry to a new default value.
• If this registry entry exists, and if it is set to a nondefault value, the hotfix installation will not change the entry.
• If this registry entry does not exist, the hotfix installation creates the entry and sets it to a new default value.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) 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 item in Control Panel.

Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 file information notes

• The files that apply to a specific product, milestone (RTM, SPn), and service branch (LDR, GDR) can be identified by examining the file version numbers as shown in the following table.
  Collapse this tableExpand this table

  Version	Product	Milestone	Service branch
  6.0.6001.22xxx	Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 SP1	SP1	LDR

• Service Pack 1 is integrated into Windows Server 2008.
• The MANIFEST (.manifest) and MUM files (.mum) that are installed for each environment are listed separately. MUM and MANIFEST files, and the associated security catalog (.cat) files, are critical to maintaining the state of the updated component. The security catalog files (attributes not listed) are signed with a Microsoft digital signature.

For all supported x86-based versions of Windows Server 2008 and of Windows Vista

For all supported x64-based versions of Windows Server 2008 and of Windows Vista

For all supported Itanium-based versions of Windows Server 2008

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

For more information about software update terminology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: