Microsoft KB Archive/838272

= You receive a &quot;PrepareEnvironmentBlock error! (rc=203)&quot; error message when you use the Su.exe command-line tool in Windows 2000 =

Article ID: 838272

Article Last Modified on 12/31/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server

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SYMPTOMS
The Su.exe command-line tool from the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit may not work as expected when you use the tool to run a command prompt as another user. When you type su  cmd, you receive the following error message:

PrepareEnvironmentBlock error! (rc=203)

The system could not find the environment option that was entered.

You can open a command prompt, but an incorrect %USERNAME% variable is used.



CAUSE
This problem occurs in situations when the Su.exe tool incorrectly processes environment variable strings.



Hotfix information
A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required

Restart requirement
You do not have to restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information
This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

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

Date        Time   Version        Size    File name

19-Apr-2004 13:57  5.0.2195.6920  74,000  Su.exe



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Su.exe tool..



MORE INFORMATION
For more information about the Windows 2000 Resource Kit, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/default.mspx?mfr=true

For additional information about how hotfix packages are named, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

816915 New naming schema for Microsoft Windows hotfix packages

a For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

Additional query words: su

Keywords: kbqfe kbhotfixserver kbbug kbfix KB838272

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