Including Network Drive Letters in the PATH Statement May Cause Excessive Traffic

• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

SYMPTOMS

On a computer that does not have Remote Access Service (RAS) installed, including a network drive letter in the System Path variable may cause an SMB search request for Rasadhlp.dll. This only happens when GetHostByName() is invoked from a sockets application such as ping. On a computer that does have RAS installed, you may see a search request for Rtutils.dll.

CAUSE

WinSock2 tries to load the RAS auto dial helper dll without checking if RAS is running or not.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.

Keywords          : NT4SP4Fix kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00.sp4 
Version           : WinNT:4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbbug 

Last Reviewed: April 10, 1999