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Q229613: Dtcxatm.log File Grows Unexpectedly Large

Article: Q229613
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): winnt:4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbWinNT400sp5fix
Last Modified: 17-NOV-2000

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 
- Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When Microsoft SQL Server is used with an XA-compliant resource manager (for
example, Oracle, IMB DB2, or Informix), the Dtcxatm.log file can grow quite
large. For example, it is possible for files to reach several hundred MB in
size. Therfore, when recovery is performed, Microsoft Distributed Transaction
Coordinator (DTC) reads through the entire log file. This can lead to extremely
long recovery times.

CAUSE
=====

This problem occurs because of an error in the way that space is reclaimed in
the log file.

RESOLUTION
==========

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0. For
additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:

  Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack


The following files were modified in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5 to fix this
problem:

+-------------------------------------------+
| Name         | Date    | Time   | Size    | 
+-------------------------------------------+
| Dtccm.dll    | 4/22/99 | 12:04p | 110,864 | 
+-------------------------------------------+
| Dtcxatm.dll  | 4/22/99 | 12:04p | 162,064 | 
+-------------------------------------------+
| Logmgr.dll   | 4/22/99 | 12:04p | 59,664  | 
+-------------------------------------------+
| Msdtcprx.dll | 4/22/99 | 12:04p | 189,712 | 
+-------------------------------------------+
| Msdtctm.dll  | 4/22/99 | 12:04p | 456,976 | 
+-------------------------------------------+
| Mtxoci.dll   | 4/22/99 | 12:04p | 69,904  | 
+-------------------------------------------+

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT 4.0. This problem was
first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 5.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbWinNT400sp5fix 
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNT400xsearch kbWinNTSsearch kbWinNTSEntSearch kbWinNTSEnt400 kbWinNTS400xsearch kbWinNTS400
Version           : winnt:4.0
Hardware          : ALPHA x86
Issue type        : kbbug
Solution Type     : kbfix

=============================================================================

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