How to Fix C00002E2 Directory Services Could Not Start - Blue Screen

Submitted by ingram on Sat, 08/23/2014 - 1:48am

How to Fix C00002E2 Directory Services Could Not Start - Blue Screen

There are several reasons you may get get this error. The most common being a corrupt Active Directory database (NTDS.DIT). I know this sounds detrimental, but it's actually easy to fix this blue screen.

*** This is the Active Directory Database we're talking about here, so make sure you have a good backup of the server, in case this doesn't work***

This Stop code is only seen on a system with Active Directory on it. You notice it when the server is booting. You'll get a blue screen and an error code, like the following:

STOP: c00002e2 Directory Services could not start because of the following error:

A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Error Status: 0xc0000001.

Please shutdown this system and reboot into Directory Services Restore Mode, check the event log for more detailed information.

How to Fix C00002E2 Directory Services Could Not Start - Blue Screen 1

To begin, do as the message says, and boot into Directory Services Restore Mode. When the server powers on, press F8 before the OS begins to load. You should see a selection screen like this. Choose Directory Services Restore Mode:

How to Fix C00002E2 Directory Services Could Not Start - Blue Screen 2

Once in Directory Services Restore Mode, you can check if there is a problem with the database by running the following commands:

ntdsutil.exe

activate instance ntds

files

If there is a problem with it, you'll see something like this returned:

Could not initialize the Jet engine: Jet Error -501. Failed to open DIT for AD DS/LDS instance NTDS. Error -2147418113

How to Fix C00002E2 Directory Services Could Not Start - Blue Screen 3

To fix, just rename all of the .log files located in C:\windows\ntds\ to .log.old, or anything else, so they can be recreated.

How to Fix C00002E2 Directory Services Could Not Start - Blue Screen 4

Now reboot the server. For most people, this fixed the database, and the server booted up. For others, it still blue screened after this. If you continue to get a blue screen, run the following command in Directory Services Restore Mode, and then reboot:

esentutl /p "c:\windows\ntds\ntds.dit"

Bookmark/Search this post with

Add new comment
67 comments

Thanks for your post :)

Permalink Submitted by Remo (not verified) on Fri, 11/28/2014 - 4:24am.

Thanks for your post :)

Thanks a lot for this ^^

Permalink Submitted by R4mzy (not verified) on Mon, 12/08/2014 - 1:24am.

Thanks a lot for this ^^

seriously. thank you.

Permalink Submitted by joe (not verified) on Thu, 01/22/2015 - 10:56am.

seriously. thank you.

thank you!!!

Permalink Submitted by sagi van (not verified) on Mon, 02/02/2015 - 3:42am.

thank you!!!

Thank you !!!

Permalink Submitted by Rippa (not verified) on Sat, 02/07/2015 - 5:47pm.

Thank you !!!

still didn't work for me

Permalink Submitted by permalink (not verified) on Mon, 03/16/2015 - 2:23pm.

still didn't work for me

Worked like a charm!

Permalink Submitted by Daniel Wang (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2015 - 10:24pm.

Worked like a charm!

Many, many, thanks. Although,

Permalink Submitted by Fabio Cordeiro (not verified) on Sat, 04/11/2015 - 2:52pm.

Many, many, thanks. Although, in my case, I couldn't complete exactly like you did, your help was invaluable. Thanks again!

Thanks a million! Had to

Permalink Submitted by D. J. (not verified) on Fri, 04/17/2015 - 8:01am.

Thanks a million! Had to modify it a bit but the server is up!

hermano muchas gracias ,

Permalink Submitted by Julio González G. (not verified) on Fri, 07/10/2015 - 7:55pm.

hermano muchas gracias , tenia dias de tener este problema y lo solucione gracias a usted..un abrazo y gracias nuevamente!!

Muchas Gracias dias con este

Permalink Submitted by Julio González G. (not verified) on Fri, 07/10/2015 - 8:05pm.

Muchas Gracias dias con este problema. solucionado gracias a usted
saludos

Thank you very much, very

Permalink Submitted by jeff (not verified) on Sun, 07/26/2015 - 10:42am.

Thank you very much, very helpful got me out of a real tough situation.

Thanks alot it worked like

Permalink Submitted by asiehrahnama (not verified) on Tue, 08/18/2015 - 11:52pm.

Thanks alot it worked like charm for me

good luck

wonderful and good

Permalink Submitted by asiehrahnama (not verified) on Wed, 08/19/2015 - 12:39am.

wonderful and good

Dude you saved me so much

Permalink Submitted by Ken (not verified) on Wed, 08/26/2015 - 6:30pm.

Dude you saved me so much time. Seriously this was a life saver

Many thanks worked like a

Permalink Submitted by Martin Kvapil (not verified) on Thu, 09/24/2015 - 1:21pm.

Many thanks worked like a charm...

Very good! Saved me a lot of

Permalink Submitted by Ron (not verified) on Tue, 10/06/2015 - 7:34am.

Very good! Saved me a lot of efforts!

This worked perfectly for me,

Permalink Submitted by Paul Kochie (not verified) on Sun, 10/11/2015 - 11:57pm.

This worked perfectly for me, thank you very much. :)

Thank you very much!

Permalink Submitted by P Crown (not verified) on Thu, 10/15/2015 - 7:52pm.

Thank you very much!

Today is my day to say thank

Permalink Submitted by Silvio Mhula (not verified) on Sat, 10/17/2015 - 7:26am.

Today is my day to say thank you.
You did it to one more technician that was lost about this error.

BIG THANKS TO YOU and Keep sharing and spreading the knowledge.
Peace!

Thanks for this. Helped when

Permalink Submitted by Ken (not verified) on Sun, 12/06/2015 - 5:55am.

Thanks for this. Helped when I storing an old SBS server in MAC Parallels.

Thanks!! I had to do both

Permalink Submitted by Nik (not verified) on Sun, 12/06/2015 - 5:30pm.

Thanks!! I had to do both steps but finally got it to work!

works !!!, thank you sir

Permalink Submitted by joe (not verified) on Wed, 12/16/2015 - 8:43am.

works !!!, thank you sir

Brilliant, I was ready to

Permalink Submitted by John (not verified) on Sun, 01/31/2016 - 6:28pm.

Brilliant, I was ready to throw the server out the window, this helpful advice from you saved the server AND my sanity. Thanks :-)

Boooom fixed it nice 1

Permalink Submitted by MJB (not verified) on Tue, 02/23/2016 - 4:41pm.

Boooom fixed it nice 1

thank you for this post

Permalink Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 03/09/2016 - 4:24am.

thank you for this post

It is perfect. Thank You

Permalink Submitted by SirfH@ (not verified) on Fri, 03/18/2016 - 11:26am.

It is perfect.
Thank You

thanx, you bring me out of a

Permalink Submitted by John (not verified) on Mon, 03/28/2016 - 8:45am.

thanx, you bring me out of a infernal trouble

I've been doing monthly test

Permalink Submitted by Bill Allen (not verified) on Mon, 04/18/2016 - 1:58pm.

I've been doing monthly test restorations using Shadow Protect for years on all member servers but always ran into the issue of not being able to logon other than through DSRM on DC's. I found this site, followed the instructions and BOOM! Sure boosted my confidence in restoring a domain controller, when that restoration is on the only DC in the domain. Good job!

Thanks man! this work for me

Permalink Submitted by Thiago (not verified) on Thu, 05/05/2016 - 9:36am.

Thanks man! this work for me

Thank you!!!!!

Permalink Submitted by Augusto (not verified) on Mon, 06/20/2016 - 4:45pm.

Thank you!!!!!

Thank you sooo MUCH!!!!

Permalink Submitted by nick_damas (not verified) on Wed, 08/10/2016 - 9:21am.

Thank you sooo MUCH!!!!
In my case the first NTDS fix didn't work and it blue screened again.
But the second command fixed the issue and the DC came right abck up.

Again, thank you very much.
Nick