SQL SERVER 2000 Service does not start after upgrading VMware Tools to version 4.x.x

[anh2lua]

I recently ran into an issue with SQL 2000 services not starting after the VMware Tools version 4 upgrade on Windows Server 2003 VMs. (in conjunction with the vSphere 4).

After some digging, here is what I found:

SQL 2000 Server uses a file name MSVCP71.DLL which should be located under C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32. For whatever reason, the VMware Tools version 4 upgrade would remove that file from C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 and placed it under the Tools install directory.

All you need to do is to find the MSVCP71.DLL file and place it under C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 and restart the server. SQL 2000 Server Services would start normally after that.

[xymox9]

Thank you SO MUCH for finding this solution and posting it! I was pulling my hair out for 2 hours trying to figure out why in the world SQL Server 2000 stopped working after upgrading VMTools to the 4.0 version. All I knew is that it worked fine before, then after the upgrade, blamo, it wouldn't start anymore. I don't think I would have ever discovered that this file was "relocated' by the VMWare Tools installer.

I hope this is a bug that is fixed quickly so other folks don't run into this same problem.

Thanks again for posting your solution to this community! I'm sure it has saved a lot of people a lot of time...

[mtoetz]

Thanks so much for this solution...saved me a load of time.

[srysewyk]

Thanks for this tip, as it saved me potentially alot of time trying to find what exactly changed.

Interesting to note if you are running windows server 2000 and you upgrade to version 4.x of vmware tools it does NOT move that dll. At least on the tests i've done here. On server 2003 std or ent it does. Do not know about 2008, nor am I going to test that.

thanks again

[jasonbeebe]

This tip has been a lifesaver for me several times. Thanks!