Member Avatar for ptaylor965

I have a Windows Server 2003 x64 file server and every few days i have to reboot the server as i cannot access the shares from the network.

After a reboot the problem goes away for a few days then comes back.


Server is Windows Server 2003 x64 R2 with full updates

Has anyone seen this before?


I have uninstalled the AntiVirus to check for issues with scanning but the problem still occures
(Antivirus has been reinstalled)

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 204 Views
  • 3 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by MidiMagic

Dani AI

Generated

This builds on ’s point about clients leaving files open and gives a short, practical triage path plus a lightweight capture script you can run while the problem is happening.

First checks (when a freeze happens)

  • Confirm scope: can you ping the server and RDP to it? If yes, the machine and network are OK and the problem is likely the SMB/Server service or resource exhaustion. If everything is unreachable, suspect a broader network or kernel-level problem.
  • Check Event Viewer (System and Application) for errors around the freeze time (look for Server/SMB, disk, or driver-related entries).
  • From an administrator session run these to inspect sessions and open files:
    net session
net file
netstat -ano | find "ESTABLISHED"
tasklist /v

    You can forcibly close a hung shared file with net file <ID> /close or disconnect a client with net session \\ClientName /delete — do this carefully (users will get errors).

Capture state repeatedly (run every 5 minutes via Task Scheduler)

  • Save a snapshot each time the freeze occurs so you can compare before/after. Example batch to log key outputs:
    @echo off
set LOGDIR=C:\ShareFreezeLogs
if not exist "%LOGDIR%" mkdir "%LOGDIR%"
echo === %date% %time% === >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log"
netstat -ano >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log"
echo ----- net sessions ----- >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log"
net session >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log" 2>&1
echo ----- open files ----- >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log"
net file >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log" 2>&1
echo ----- tasklist ----- >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log"
tasklist /v >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log" 2>&1
echo. >> "%LOGDIR%\snapshot.log"

Deeper investigation

  • Look for resource leaks: high handle counts or growing nonpaged/paged pool (use Process Explorer, Handle, PoolMon).
  • Inspect third-party file system filter drivers (AV, backup, encryption) — even if AV was reinstalled it may still add a filter. Temporarily stopping/removing nonessential filters in a maintenance window can help isolate.
  • Check NIC drivers/firmware and disk health; heavy IO or driver memory leaks can make shares appear to hang.

If this still happens, gather the logs you collected, a list of open files/sessions at freeze time, and consider collecting a process dump of the Server service for vendor analysis. Avoid registry/workarounds in production without testing.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for ptaylor965

any ideas?

My users are starting to complain

Member Avatar for MidiMagic

One thought is that some people are not closing files properly.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.