Code Error 80041001 - Call Failed

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Troubleshooting Code Error 80041001 - Call Failed

Introduction to Code 80041001

I will be frank with you, I do not know much about this error.  What little that I do know is thanks to Mark P, Shane and Ramesh.  Here is a wild guess, you are using WMI to connect to an object like DNS or Performance Monitor.

The Symptoms you get

When you run the Windows Management Instrumentation Tester (WBEMTEST), connect to one of the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) namespaces (ROOT\CIMV2\xxxxxxxx), where xxxxxxx = perfmon or DNS.

The Cause of Code 80041001

It's probably no consolation that this is a poorly documented error.  Again, thanks to Mark he said that it was intermittent, and the same script worked fine on another server.  Makes me suspect that Active Directory synchronisation is at the heart of this Code 80041001 problem.

The Solutions

Try running your VBScript on another machine?  If this works, then your code is probably fine, it's more of a logical problem, or something up with the OS / Active Directory.  I hate it when people say 'reboot the server', so try simply restarting the services that you are investigating.

One possibility is that your winmgmts service is corrupted if so, you have the following options.  To be honest, I believe that there is only a 20% chance that these procedures will cure your 80041001 problem.  A bonus is that you will learn or have a refresher on restarting services and registering services in the registry.

Start and Stop the winmgmts service

Navigate to the command prompt.

net stop winmgmt

Using Windows Explorer, navigate to %systemroot%\system32\wbem directory and delete the Repository directory. By default, the repository folder is located in the C:\Windows\system32\wbem directory.
Switch to Command Prompt window, and type:
net start winmgmt

Re-Register the DLLs

The .DLL and .EXE files which WMI uses are located in %windir%\system32\wbem.  This is how you re-register all the .DLL and .EXE files in the WBEM directory. To re-register the WMI components, run the following commands at the command prompt:

cd /d %windir%\system32\wbem
for %i in (*.dll) do RegSvr32 -s %i
for %i in (*.exe) do %i /RegServer

Re-Install WMI files

If you suspect that the WMI files are damaged, then you could re-install them from the Windows Server 2003 or XP CD.  Here is the nifty command:

rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection WBEM 132 %windir%\inf\wbemoc.inf

I thank Shane and Ramesh for supplying this extra information on WMI Errors in general and 80041001 in particular.

Example of Error Code 80041001 Script

To date this is the only example that I have.

Real Life DNS Problem

Scenario: Script to create DNS entries. Kindly sent in by Martin Jeppesen

Problem: 'A' Host records already exist.

Solution: Delete the existing 'A' Host records.

Lesson for all of us, the script may be trying to create something that already exists.  If so, one solution is to add:
On Error Resume Next.

Guy Thomas recommends Computer Training Software.  Their topics and material are ideal for getting you started with VBScript.  The videos are easy to follow and you can control the pace.  Try their free demo material and then see if you want to buy the full package. See more about VB Script Training CD.

Do you have a good example of this error?  If so, then email me I will publish it with a credit to you:

Do you need extra help?

For interpreting the WSH messages check Diagnose 800 errors.

For general advice try my 7 Troubleshooting techniques

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