Microsoft KB Archive/182593

= "Unable to Initialize NetBIOS Protocol" error on Win95 Client =

Article ID: 182593

Article Last Modified on 10/27/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Systems Management Server 1.2 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q182593



IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.



SYMPTOMS
When starting the Remote Control Agent (Wuser.exe), a Windows 95 client may receive the following error message:

Unable to initialize NetBIOS protocol.



WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, try the following (each option is described in more detail in the MORE INFORMATION section of this article):


 * Make sure a default protocol is selected.
 * Reinstall the client protocol.
 * If the client is coming in over RAS, remove TCP/IP or IPX.
 * If the Windows 95 client is using RAS (Dial-Up Adapter), obtain an updated Rasapi32.dll file.
 * If the client computer running Windows 95 is being validated by a Novell NetWare server, modify the registry.



Ensuring That a Default Protocol Is Selected
From the client computer running Windows 95, perform the following steps:


 * 1) In Control Panel, double-click Network.
 * 2) On the Configuration tab, select the protocol from the list of installed network components (for example, select TCP/IP) and then click Properties.
 * 3) On the Advanced tab, select the "Set this protocol to be the default protocol" check box and then click OK to close all dialog boxes.
 * 4) Restart the client computer.

Reinstalling the Client Protocol
Only the IPX/SPX protocol does not have a NetBIOS interface by default. If NetBEUI or TCP/IP is installed, the NetBIOS interface should be installed correctly. If the client computer is receiving the error message described above, reinstall NetBEUI and/or TCP/IP.

Removing TCP/IP or IPX
On client computers coming in over RAS, the Remote Control Agent will load correctly the first time. However, after closing the Remote Control Agent and remaining in the same RAS session, if the user at the client computer running Windows 95 attempts to reload the Remote Control Agent again, it fails, displaying the "Unable to initialize NetBIOS protocol" error message.

This failure will continue until the client computer running Windows 95 is restarted. This behavior occurs on client computers with TCP/IP and IPX loaded, with NetBIOS enabled over IPX.

In this case, the problem is that Remote Control is not supported over RAS. However, if either TCP/IP or IPX is removed, you may be able to prevent the error message from occurring, without having to restart the computer.

Obtaining an Updated Rasapi32.dll File
Windows 95 RAS clients should obtain the updated Rasapi32.dll file. The problem in this case is that the TCP/IP protocol (specifically, Vnbt.386) does not completely bind to the redirector (Vredir). For more information on the updated Rasapi32.dll file and how to obtain it, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

154434 You receive a "No domain server was available to validate your logon" error message when you use Dial-Up Networking in Windows 95 to dial into a remote network

Modifying the Registry If the Client Is Being Validated by a NetWare Server
If the client computers running Windows 95 are being validated by NetWare servers, the Domain.ini file will be configured to use IPX for the Remote Control protocol. In this case, you should modify the registry of the Systems Management Server site server. To do this, perform the steps below.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

 Start RegEdt32.exe.  Navigate to the following key:      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\SMS\SITES\\DOMAINS \\Default RC Protocol NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.  Set the Default RC Protocol to one of the following:

 IP</li> IPX</li> NetBIOS</li></ul>

Use IP to set TCP/IP as the default Remote Control protocol.

NOTE: If you set the Default RC Protocol to NetBIOS, it will default to LANA0. To specify a different LANA number, proceed to step 4 below.</li>  You can also specify a default LANA number by changing the following registry key (you can set this value to any integer from 0 to 9, inclusive): <pre class="fixed_text">     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\SMS\SITES\<Site_code>\DOMAINS \<Domain_name>\RC Lana Number NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability. </li></ol>

Additional query words: prodsms reboot rebooted Novel

Keywords: kbprb kbremoteprog kbsmsutil kbtshoot KB182593

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