Active Directory Administrative Center must close due to an unknown error
I have a 2008 r2 box and I found out about this tool and wanted to try it out. But it has never successfully launched for me. i always get Active Directory Administrative Center must close due to an unknown error on startup of the tool. I cannot seem to find any logs for this but they must exist some where. I have tried to run as admin also that did not fix anything. Any ideas how to fix this issue?
July 16th, 2010 5:29am

Hello, is that the only mmc that isn't working? Is that server fully patched? If you use another account, same result?Best regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.
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July 16th, 2010 12:08pm

as far as i know its the only mmc that does not work all the others i have tried work fine. the server on windows update says there are no patches, they have been patched via wsus the night or week before. i tried with local admin and it was the same results.
July 16th, 2010 12:10pm

Hi, This kind of problem may be caused by software conflicts of corrupt files. Let’s try to narrow down the cause. Try to disable all third party software and services, including anti-virus software and Firewall to test. Is there any progress? If the problem still occurs, let’s use Process Monitor to trace the process: Process Monitor http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx Download and run it. Click File menu, check Capture Events, try to reproduce this error, when the error occurs, uncheck Capture Events again. Exported events to Logfile.PML and upload the file to Windows Live SkyDrive (http://www.skydrive.live.com/). If you would like other community member to analyze the report, you can paste the link here, if not, you can send the link to tfwst@microsoft.com. Thanks.This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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July 19th, 2010 7:58am

Sent to your email as i cannot seem to access skydrive. Epolicy does not appear to be able to be disabled it runs even in safemode. the ad tool also fails in safemode with the same error. Thanks
July 19th, 2010 10:05am

Thank you for updating. After studying the log file and comparing with a working log, I suspect it was caused by corrupt font. Click Start, type fonts, press Enter to open Fonts folder, find Tahoma, double-click it and check its Bold and Regular font, could it display properly? Do you have other Windows Server 2008 R2 system? If so, please try to replace Tahoma font with the working system to test. Also, could ADAC work on other R2 system? Is any non-english language installed? If so, please try to remove it and change your location to En-US to test. Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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July 20th, 2010 6:42am

the Fonts displays fine the version and signature match other 2008 r2 boxes. ADAC however does not appear to work on any of our boxes. But we only have 3 boxes so that's not a size able test. I checked for other languages installed and only English is installed. we have 1 physical server 2008 standard r2 instead of datacenter and it does not work either. I also uninstalled and reinstalled the ad remote tools and still the same error. /r Don Glover
July 20th, 2010 9:12am

It’s strange ADAC cannot work on three R2 systems. If all of them have Epolicy installed, please try to remove Epolicy on one system to test. I’m trying to analyze the log file again. Thanks.This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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July 20th, 2010 9:29am

I will try to uninstall it and report back. but in the time being what are the requirements to run the tool? Does power shell need to be installed? what admin privileges do i need? what security settings (gpo) might cause an issue? Is there a way to get logs for the tool? Would UAC cause any issues? is the tool supposed to work in safemode with network support? /r Don Glover
July 20th, 2010 2:04pm

Can you open AD powershell and verify if it opens successfully? or Open windows powershell with administrative privilages, run following: import-module activedirectory do you get any errors? Ketan.
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July 21st, 2010 4:40pm

When i launched AD module for PS i get an error at the command prompt saying Warning: Error initializing default drive: 'Unable to find a default server with Active Directory Web Services Running.' I cannot find that service under Services. The Active Directory module for windows PS and it is installed. I have uninstalled Most of Mcafee and still the same issue. I am having to figure out how to uninstall Mcafee HIPS. Is there any services that need to be installed on a domain (2003) server to use this tool? /r Don Glover
July 22nd, 2010 5:16am

To function correctly, Active Directory Administrative Center relies on the Active Directory Web Service (ADWS) service, which requires TCP port 9389 to be open on the domain controller where ADWS is running. If your Windows Server 2008 R2 is not a DC with ADWS, please download and install: Active Directory Management Gateway Service (Active Directory Web Service for Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=008940C6-0296-4597-BE3E-1D24C1CF0DDA&displaylang=pl&displaylang=en And check if port 9389 is opened. Thanks.This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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July 22nd, 2010 5:24am

I got the software the version for windows 6.0 x64. It does not install on windows 2008 r2 x64 i get the error "the update is not applicable to your computer." Both as domain admin and local admin. the server is not a dc its currently a box to test out new software and features of windows 2008 r2.
July 23rd, 2010 9:12am

If it’s Windows Server 2008 R2 system, we can just install the ADDS role (this will not setup a DC), ADWS service will install with ADDS. Open Sever Manager, click Roles, click Add Roles, choose ADDS and follow the wizard to complete. Restart the server to test. Is there any progress? Thanks. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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July 23rd, 2010 10:16am

Hi, Have you tried the suggestions? Any update is welcomed. If there is any problem, please let us know the detailed error message. Thanks.This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Please remember to click "Mark as Answer" on the post that helps you, and to click "Unmark as Answer" if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
July 28th, 2010 4:26am

I installed ADDS but i do not see that adws is installed. Where might i look to verify? the ADAC still fails with the same error. Thanks for keeping on this. Don Glover
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July 28th, 2010 10:43am

Hello Don, My apologies - I thought this had posted last week. In Server Manager, you should see Web Server as an installed Role. If not, can you add it via Add Roles wizard? Best, Patfi
August 5th, 2010 6:25pm

as far as i know its the only mmc that does not work all the others i have tried work fine. the server on windows update says there are no patches, they have been patched via wsus the night or week before. i tried with local admin and it was the same results. Please note that DSAC.exe is not an MMC snap-in. It is a stand-alone WPF application. You may also benefit from verifying that you have .NET 3.51 properly installed.
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December 2nd, 2010 12:05pm

Doesn't appear as if this thred is closed, so I will add my own experience with this issue. I was also getting the same message on lauching the console. " Active Directory Administrative Center must close due to an unknown error" This happened on three different servers for me as well, just like warzer in the above posts. What appears to have resolved the issue (on all three), was this: Remove the AD administration roles completely. After the reboot and confirmation of the removal, right click the shortcut in Administrative Tools in the start menu and ran Server Manager as an Administrator. Followed the usual wizard to add the required roles and rebooted as requested. All working as expected now!
March 29th, 2011 10:21pm

This has probably been resolved for the OP. However, for anyone else... I was successful at eliminating this error by disabling FIPS. I hope this helps someone.
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September 26th, 2011 8:00pm

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