Random Dr. Watson Errors in Services.exe

After you add or modify one of the values in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services registry key on your computer running Windows NT 4.0, you may receive random or intermittent Dr. Watson error messages with the Services.exe file as the source.

This problem occurs because the DependOnService value type for one or more Windows NT services may be corrupt or incorrect. The registry may have become corrupt, or a service's value may have been improperly configured.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.


To resolve this problem, verify that the value type for the DependOnService value is set to REG_MULTI_SZ for all services that contain value entries. To do this, perform one of the following:

• Use Registry Editor to examine each DependOnService value for the correct value type. To do this:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the following key in the registry:

        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
     								

  3. Click each service to display to attendant DependOnService value for that key. If the value type is not listed as REG_MULTI_SZ, go to the How To Correct This Issue section.
• Export the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services key to an external file, and then use a standard text editor to check the individual DependOnService values for the correct value type:
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the following key in the registry:

        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
     								

  3. On the Registry menu, click Save Subtree As, type a unique name for the file, and then click Save.
  4. Quit Registry Editor.
  5. Use a standard text editor, such as Notepad, to review the file and confirm that the DependOnService value is associated with the correct value type. For each entry that is not listed as REG_MULTI_SZ, go to the How To Correct This Issue section.
• Use the Windows NT Diagnostics tool to identify incorrect value types for the DependOnService value.
  1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools (Common), and then click Windows NT Diagnostics.
  2. Click the Services tab, highlight each individual service, click Properties, and then click Dependencies.
  3. If you are experiencing this exact issue, the Service Dependency window may contain values that look like this:
     MSExchangeIS
     end||
     ee|e|e
     e|||
     
     NOTE:The Above characters "e" and "|" were substituted for the illegible symbols that may be displayed.
     
     
  4. Make a note of the service that contains these invalid entries and then proceed to the How To Correct This Issue section.

How To Correct This Issue:

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
2. Locate the following key in the registry:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
   							

3. Highlight the DependOnService value, make a note of the current value entries, and then press DELETE.
4. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:

      Value Name: DependOnService
      Data Type:  REG_MULTI_SZ
      Value:      <dependent on each unique service>
   						

5. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

The Dr. Watson log, located in the %SystemRoot% folder, may also show a call similar to the following in the stack trace below the faulted function: Windows NT reads the service dependencies for the service attempting to start, identifies any incorrect value types, and then generates a Dr. Wastson error message.

For additional information about the DependOnService value, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: