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Q228276: SMS: Foreground App Performance Degrades During SW Inventory

Article: Q228276
Product(s): Microsoft Systems Management Server
Version(s): winnt:2.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbsms200 kbsms200bug kbInventory
Last Modified: 06-AUG-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Systems Management Server version 2.0 
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IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you 
modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore 
the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the 
registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS
========

If an on-demand virus scanner is running when Systems Management Server software
inventory (SINV) executes, performance of the foreground applications may
degrade significantly for the duration of the inventory scan. To reduce the
severity of the problem consider the following suggestions:

- Carefully choose which files will be scanned on-the-fly by the on-demand
  virus scanner. Some types of files are less susceptible to virus infection
  than others, and it may be possible to scan those on a scheduled basis rather
  than on demand.

- Carefully choose which types of files SINV will scan for inventory. The more
  overlap between the files scanned for inventory and the files scanned for
  viruses, the more work the virus scanner will have to do.

- Review the scanning options for the virus scanner. It may allow for scanning
  on "run" separately from scanning on "open", and so on. It may also have
  options for fast scans versus full scans, or options for yield times.

When considering changes to your virus scanning implementation, always follow the
guidelines of your corporate virus/security policy and consult the vendor of
your virus scanning software for advice.

CAUSE
=====

This occurs because as SINV opens each file to read its header information, the
virus scanner scans it. Scanning a file for a virus signature is a
processor-intensive operation. Because SINV may open several hundred files in a
short period of time, the virus scanner may become CPU bound as it attempts to
scan them all.


STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Systems Management Server
version 2.0. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. service pack for
Systems Management Server version 2.0. For information on obtaining the service
pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the
spaces):

  S E R V P A C K

MORE INFORMATION
================

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems
that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot
guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor
incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To specify the sleep interval, create a DWORD value called "Reserved" in the
following registry key on each client computer:

  HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SMS\Client\Client Components\Software Inventory Agent\ 

Set this value to the desired time in milliseconds (ms). The default is 1 ms and
the maximum is 500 ms. You may need to adjust this value for your specific
environment. Start with a small value and work up until you get acceptable
foreground application performance.

Additional query words: prodsms mcafee vshield checker anti antivirus smsinv sw inv smsfaqtop

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Keywords          : kbsms200 kbsms200bug kbInventory 
Technology        : kbSMSSearch kbSMS200
Version           : winnt:2.0
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

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