Why should we apply hotfixes?
Some IT Administrators take the approach that if they are not experiencing the issues/symptoms referred to in the knowledge base article; they shouldn’t be deploying the hotfix. However, from experience we understand that the vendor doesn’t always document all issues addressed, so there also needs to be an understanding of previous releases of the same drivers, etc, in other hotfixes.
The Windows StorPort mini driver (storport.sys) is an interesting case, and makes for a good example of this theory. Functions within it are used by most disk subsystem drivers, such as the LSI SAS and QLogic HBA drivers, just to name two. When referring to Windows 2003 SP2, this has been updated in the following hotfixes:
- KB932755 contains driver version 5.2.3790.4021
- KB939315 contains driver version 5.2.3790.4121
- KB940467 contains driver version 5.2.3790.4133
- KB941276 contains driver version 5.2.3790.4156
- KB943295 contains driver version 5.2.3790.4163
- KB943545 contains driver version 5.2.3790.4173
Furthermore, there have also been quite a few forum posts on the HP and QLogic support forums. So if you just looked at knowledge base article KB943545 and read it at face value, you wouldn’t understand the history behind version 5.2.3790.4173. When you correlate all the information at hand, the actual issues addressed can assist with…
- Disk subsystem performance
- Random blue screens
- Server stops responding
- Server doesn’t shutdown properly
- Network freezes
The important point made here is that whilst an environment may not be experiencing any “instability” issues, it certainly addresses underlying performance issues that more often than not you don’t even realise you are experiencing.
How does the package installer manage file versions between hotfixes?
For an understanding on how the package installer manages the file versions, please review a Technet article titled “The Package Installer (Formerly Called Update.exe) for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems and Windows Components.”
“…The package installer identifies which files to install and examines the currently installed versions of those files. If the current version is the same as or newer than the version being installed, the package installer does not update the file. In rare cases where the version numbers are identical, but the file hashes are different, the package installer updates the file.”
Which Microsoft hotfixes to apply?
The following Microsoft Windows 2003 Post SP2 Hotfixes should be deployed to all Servers:
|
A (All) C (Citrix) |
Knowledgebase Reference |
Description |
Files Updated |
|
C |
KB936655 | A Citrix process uses 4 gigabytes (GB) of nonpaged pool memory on a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer | Afd.sys |
|
A |
KB925919 | Stop error message when a client computer logs off from a Terminal Services session on a server that is running Windows Server 2003 with SP1 or with SP2: “Stop 0x000000AB (SESSION_HAS_VALID_POOL_ON_EXIT)”. Some files from this hotfix are updated by hotfix KB943326. | Gdi32.dll
Win32k.sys Wgdi32.dll |
|
A |
KB932039 | Two taskbars are displayed, or the Language bar is displayed two or more times on the taskbar, on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP. This hotfix improves the user experience when using a Desktop session. | Explorer.exe |
|
A |
KB943545 | Error returned by the IOCTL_SCSI_GET_INQUIRY_DATA operation on a Windows Server 2003-based computer: “STATUS_INVALID_DEVICE_REQUEST”. This is an updated Windows StorPort mini driver that addresses issues such as:
|
Diskdump.sys
Storport.sys |
|
A |
KB930045 | A Windows Server 2003-based computer stops responding when you shut down the computer in a remote console session | Termsrv.dll |
|
A |
KB935926 | A Windows Server 2003-based computer stops responding when the registry is in heavy use. This hotfix updates some files from KB931308. | Ntkrnlmp.exe
Ntkrnlpa.exe Ntkrpamp.exe Ntoskrnl.exe |
|
C |
KB934330 | The Csrss.exe process in a terminal-server session continuously consumes more than 50 percent of CPU resources on a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server | Winsrv.dll |
|
A |
KB933061 | An update is available that improves the stability of the Windows Management Instrumentation repository in Windows Server 2003 | Repdrvfs.dll |
|
A |
KB915377 | You experience slow performance when you try to access shared resources by using Windows Explorer on a client computer that is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 | Ntlanman.dll |
|
A |
KB943326 | Overlapping layered windows are not displayed in the correct order in Windows Server 2003. This hotfix updates some files from KB943326. And in turn, some files from this hotfix are updated by hotfix KB946068. | Gdi32.dll
Win32k.sys |
|
A |
KB946068 | Stop error message on a terminal server that is running Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2: “Stop 0x000000AB (SESSION_HAS_VALID_POOL_ON_EXIT)”. This hotfix updates some files from KB943326. | Win32k.sys |
|
A |
KB931308 | You may experience increased paging to the hard disk when you run an SAP R/3 program on a Windows Server 2003-based computer. This hotfix can substantially reduce excessive paging operations for certain applications that behave in a similar way to SAP R/3. An important point to note is that this hotfix supersedes KB927182 (When a user logs off a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2-based terminal server, the terminal server may stop responding for several seconds). Also, some files from this hotfix are updated by hotfix KB935926. | Ntkrnlmp.exe
Ntkrnlpa.exe Ntkrpamp.exe Ntoskrnl.exe Ntkrnlmp.exe Ntkrnlpa.exe Ntkrpamp.exe Ntoskrnl.exe |
|
A |
KB940925 | A Windows Server 2003-based domain controller restarts unexpectedly after you install hotfix 918442 or Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2. On a Citrix server, this hotfix resolved an issue where the server gets a Stop Error 0x805000f when using Kerberos Pass-Through Authentication with the Mac Client. | Kerberos.dll |
|
A |
KB947775 | On a Windows Server 2003-based computer that has a TCP Chimney Offload network adapter, the TCP data stream may be corrupted when the network adapter indicates an MDL chain whose starting MDL has a nonzero offset. This hotfix is cumulative for issues related to the TCP Chimney Offload feature. | Tcpip.sys |
|
A |
NetFx20SP1 | Apply the full Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 1. If you have the Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework installed, you should also apply the full SP1 (NetFx20SP1_x86.exe / NetFx20SP1_x64.exe) or greater. Amongst many known issues, this is primarily installed to prevent Event Log errors such as “.NET 2.0 Error: unable to open shim database version registry key” as per Citrix KB article CTX111856 and Microsoft Technet article KB918642. | Mscoree.dll |
|
C |
Description of the 2007 Office hotfix package: February 26, 2008. This hotfix fixes a known issue where a server that is running Windows Server 2003 experiences high CPU usage, and Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 runs very slowly. This issue occurs when many users run Outlook 2007 in Terminal Server client sessions that are connected to the Windows Server 2003-based server. |
|
An update as of 9th July 2008…
KB946633 – The “Font smoothing” feature has no effect in Windows Server 2003 terminal sessions
Licdll.dll to 5.2.3790.4277
Win32k.sys to 5.2.3790.4277
Winlogon.exe to 5.2.3790.4277
This means that we can now remove KB946068 from the list above.
Jeremy Saunders