You have a domain controller that is running Windows Server 2003.
The Ntds.dit file on the domain controller has a large size, for example 60 gigabytes (GB).
You restart the domain controller.
In this scenario, many services on the domain controller do not start successfully. Therefore, the domain controller cannot authenticate user requests.
Note You can manually start these services after this issue occurs.
This issue occurs because of a time-out in initializing the active directory database (Ntds.dit file) that is caused by the large file size and possibly a large amount of file fragmentation.
After you install the following hotfix package, the default time-out value is increased to align with increasing hardware capabilities. The package also enables administrators to manually set the time-out to wait indefinitely, in case the new default value also becomes insufficient in the future.
If SamWaitNoTimeout is not present, click Edit, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type SamWaitNoTimeout, press Enter, and then click Modify.
If SamWaitNoTimeout is present, Right-click SamWaitNoTimeout, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1.