System Error Codes

This section is intended for developers who are debugging system errors. If you reached this page while searching for other errors, here are some links that might help:

• Windows Update errors — For help resolving issues with Windows Update.
• Windows activation errors — For help verifying your copy of Windows.
• Troubleshooting blue screen errors — For help discovering what caused a stop error.
• Microsoft Support — For support with a Microsoft product.

More ways to find an error code

We’ve listed the system error codes in this section, organized by number. If you need more help tracking down a specific error, here are some more recommendations:

• Use the Microsoft Error Lookup Tool.
• Install the Debugging Tools for Windows, load a memory dump file, and then run the !err command.
• Search the Microsoft Protocols site for the raw text or error code. For more information, see [MS-ERREF]: Windows Error Codes.

Third party error codes

Other error codes may be generated by third party services or apps (for example, Error Code: -118 may be displayed by the Steam game service) and in those situations you would contact the third party’s support line.

System Error Codes

System Error Codes are very broad: each one can occur in one of many hundreds of locations in the system. Consequently, the descriptions of these codes cannot be very specific. Use of these codes requires some amount of investigation and analysis. You need to note both the programmatic and the runtime context in which these errors occur.

Because these codes are defined in WinError.h for anyone to use, sometimes the codes are returned by non-system software. And sometimes the code is returned by a function deep in the stack and far removed from code that is handling the error.

The following topics provide lists of system error codes. These values are defined in the WinError.h header file.

System Error Codes (9000-11999)

This information is intended for developers debugging system errors. For other errors, such as issues with Windows Update, there is a list of resources on the Error codes page.

The following list describes system error codes (errors 9000 to 11999). They are returned by the GetLastError function when many functions fail. To retrieve the description text for the error in your application, use the FormatMessage function with the FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM flag.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_FORMAT_ERROR

DNS server unable to interpret format.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_SERVER_FAILURE

DNS server failure.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_NAME_ERROR

DNS name does not exist.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_NOT_IMPLEMENTED

DNS request not supported by name server.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_REFUSED

DNS operation refused.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_YXDOMAIN

DNS name that ought not exist, does exist.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_YXRRSET

DNS RR set that ought not exist, does exist.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_NXRRSET

DNS RR set that ought to exist, does not exist.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_NOTAUTH

DNS server not authoritative for zone.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_NOTZONE

DNS name in update or prereq is not in zone.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_BADSIG

DNS signature failed to verify.

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_BADKEY

DNS_ERROR_RCODE_BADTIME

DNS signature validity expired.

DNS_ERROR_KEYMASTER_REQUIRED

Only the DNS server acting as the key master for the zone may perform this operation.

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ALLOWED_ON_SIGNED_ZONE

This operation is not allowed on a zone that is signed or has signing keys.

DNS_ERROR_NSEC3_INCOMPATIBLE_WITH_RSA_SHA1

NSEC3 is not compatible with the RSA-SHA-1 algorithm. Choose a different algorithm or use NSEC.

This value was also named DNS_ERROR_INVALID_NSEC3_PARAMETERS

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_SIGNING_KEY_DESCRIPTORS

The zone does not have enough signing keys. There must be at least one key signing key (KSK) and at least one zone signing key (ZSK).

DNS_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_ALGORITHM

The specified algorithm is not supported.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_KEY_SIZE

The specified key size is not supported.

DNS_ERROR_SIGNING_KEY_NOT_ACCESSIBLE

One or more of the signing keys for a zone are not accessible to the DNS server. Zone signing will not be operational until this error is resolved.

DNS_ERROR_KSP_DOES_NOT_SUPPORT_PROTECTION

The specified key storage provider does not support DPAPI++ data protection. Zone signing will not be operational until this error is resolved.

DNS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED_DATA_PROTECTION_ERROR

An unexpected DPAPI++ error was encountered. Zone signing will not be operational until this error is resolved.

DNS_ERROR_UNEXPECTED_CNG_ERROR

An unexpected crypto error was encountered. Zone signing may not be operational until this error is resolved.

DNS_ERROR_UNKNOWN_SIGNING_PARAMETER_VERSION

The DNS server encountered a signing key with an unknown version. Zone signing will not be operational until this error is resolved.

DNS_ERROR_KSP_NOT_ACCESSIBLE

The specified key service provider cannot be opened by the DNS server.

DNS_ERROR_TOO_MANY_SKDS

The DNS server cannot accept any more signing keys with the specified algorithm and KSK flag value for this zone.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_ROLLOVER_PERIOD

The specified rollover period is invalid.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_INITIAL_ROLLOVER_OFFSET

The specified initial rollover offset is invalid.

DNS_ERROR_ROLLOVER_IN_PROGRESS

The specified signing key is already in process of rolling over keys.

DNS_ERROR_STANDBY_KEY_NOT_PRESENT

The specified signing key does not have a standby key to revoke.

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ALLOWED_ON_ZSK

This operation is not allowed on a zone signing key (ZSK).

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ALLOWED_ON_ACTIVE_SKD

This operation is not allowed on an active signing key.

DNS_ERROR_ROLLOVER_ALREADY_QUEUED

The specified signing key is already queued for rollover.

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ALLOWED_ON_UNSIGNED_ZONE

This operation is not allowed on an unsigned zone.

DNS_ERROR_BAD_KEYMASTER

This operation could not be completed because the DNS server listed as the current key master for this zone is down or misconfigured. Resolve the problem on the current key master for this zone or use another DNS server to seize the key master role.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_SIGNATURE_VALIDITY_PERIOD

The specified signature validity period is invalid.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_NSEC3_ITERATION_COUNT

The specified NSEC3 iteration count is higher than allowed by the minimum key length used in the zone.

DNS_ERROR_DNSSEC_IS_DISABLED

This operation could not be completed because the DNS server has been configured with DNSSEC features disabled. Enable DNSSEC on the DNS server.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_XML

This operation could not be completed because the XML stream received is empty or syntactically invalid.

DNS_ERROR_NO_VALID_TRUST_ANCHORS

This operation completed, but no trust anchors were added because all of the trust anchors received were either invalid, unsupported, expired, or would not become valid in less than 30 days.

DNS_ERROR_ROLLOVER_NOT_POKEABLE

The specified signing key is not waiting for parental DS update.

DNS_ERROR_NSEC3_NAME_COLLISION

Hash collision detected during NSEC3 signing. Specify a different user-provided salt, or use a randomly generated salt, and attempt to sign the zone again.

DNS_ERROR_NSEC_INCOMPATIBLE_WITH_NSEC3_RSA_SHA1

NSEC is not compatible with the NSEC3-RSA-SHA-1 algorithm. Choose a different algorithm or use NSEC3.

DNS_INFO_NO_RECORDS

No records found for given DNS query.

DNS_ERROR_BAD_PACKET

DNS_ERROR_NO_PACKET

DNS_ERROR_RCODE

DNS error, check rcode.

DNS_ERROR_UNSECURE_PACKET

Unsecured DNS packet.

DNS_REQUEST_PENDING

DNS query request is pending.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_TYPE

Invalid DNS type.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_IP_ADDRESS

Invalid IP address.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_PROPERTY

DNS_ERROR_TRY_AGAIN_LATER

Try DNS operation again later.

DNS_ERROR_NOT_UNIQUE

Record for given name and type is not unique.

DNS_ERROR_NON_RFC_NAME

DNS name does not comply with RFC specifications.

DNS_STATUS_FQDN

DNS name is a fully-qualified DNS name.

DNS_STATUS_DOTTED_NAME

DNS name is dotted (multi-label).

DNS_STATUS_SINGLE_PART_NAME

DNS name is a single-part name.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_NAME_CHAR

DNS name contains an invalid character.

DNS_ERROR_NUMERIC_NAME

DNS name is entirely numeric.

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ALLOWED_ON_ROOT_SERVER

The operation requested is not permitted on a DNS root server.

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ALLOWED_UNDER_DELEGATION

The record could not be created because this part of the DNS namespace has been delegated to another server.

DNS_ERROR_CANNOT_FIND_ROOT_HINTS

The DNS server could not find a set of root hints.

DNS_ERROR_INCONSISTENT_ROOT_HINTS

The DNS server found root hints but they were not consistent across all adapters.

DNS_ERROR_DWORD_VALUE_TOO_SMALL

The specified value is too small for this parameter.

DNS_ERROR_DWORD_VALUE_TOO_LARGE

The specified value is too large for this parameter.

DNS_ERROR_BACKGROUND_LOADING

This operation is not allowed while the DNS server is loading zones in the background. Please try again later.

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ALLOWED_ON_RODC

The operation requested is not permitted on against a DNS server running on a read-only DC.

DNS_ERROR_NOT_ALLOWED_UNDER_DNAME

No data is allowed to exist underneath a DNAME record.

DNS_ERROR_DELEGATION_REQUIRED

This operation requires credentials delegation.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_POLICY_TABLE

Name resolution policy table has been corrupted. DNS resolution will fail until it is fixed. Contact your network administrator.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_DOES_NOT_EXIST

DNS zone does not exist.

DNS_ERROR_NO_ZONE_INFO

DNS zone information not available.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_ZONE_OPERATION

Invalid operation for DNS zone.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_CONFIGURATION_ERROR

Invalid DNS zone configuration.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_HAS_NO_SOA_RECORD

DNS zone has no start of authority (SOA) record.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_HAS_NO_NS_RECORDS

DNS zone has no Name Server (NS) record.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_LOCKED

DNS zone is locked.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_CREATION_FAILED

DNS zone creation failed.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_ALREADY_EXISTS

DNS zone already exists.

DNS_ERROR_AUTOZONE_ALREADY_EXISTS

DNS automatic zone already exists.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_ZONE_TYPE

Invalid DNS zone type.

DNS_ERROR_SECONDARY_REQUIRES_MASTER_IP

Secondary DNS zone requires master IP address.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_NOT_SECONDARY

DNS zone not secondary.

DNS_ERROR_NEED_SECONDARY_ADDRESSES

Need secondary IP address.

DNS_ERROR_WINS_INIT_FAILED

WINS initialization failed.

DNS_ERROR_NEED_WINS_SERVERS

Need WINS servers.

DNS_ERROR_NBSTAT_INIT_FAILED

NBTSTAT initialization call failed.

DNS_ERROR_SOA_DELETE_INVALID

Invalid delete of start of authority (SOA).

DNS_ERROR_FORWARDER_ALREADY_EXISTS

A conditional forwarding zone already exists for that name.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_REQUIRES_MASTER_IP

This zone must be configured with one or more master DNS server IP addresses.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_IS_SHUTDOWN

The operation cannot be performed because this zone is shut down.

DNS_ERROR_ZONE_LOCKED_FOR_SIGNING

This operation cannot be performed because the zone is currently being signed. Please try again later.

DNS_ERROR_PRIMARY_REQUIRES_DATAFILE

Primary DNS zone requires datafile.

DNS_ERROR_INVALID_DATAFILE_NAME

Invalid datafile name for DNS zone.

DNS_ERROR_DATAFILE_OPEN_FAILURE

Failed to open datafile for DNS zone.

DNS_ERROR_FILE_WRITEBACK_FAILED

Failed to write datafile for DNS zone.

DNS_ERROR_DATAFILE_PARSING

Failure while reading datafile for DNS zone.

DNS_ERROR_RECORD_DOES_NOT_EXIST

DNS record does not exist.

DNS_ERROR_RECORD_FORMAT

DNS record format error.

DNS_ERROR_NODE_CREATION_FAILED

Node creation failure in DNS.

DNS_ERROR_UNKNOWN_RECORD_TYPE

Unknown DNS record type.

DNS_ERROR_RECORD_TIMED_OUT

DNS record timed out.

DNS_ERROR_NAME_NOT_IN_ZONE

Name not in DNS zone.

DNS_ERROR_CNAME_LOOP

CNAME loop detected.

DNS_ERROR_NODE_IS_CNAME

Node is a CNAME DNS record.

DNS_ERROR_CNAME_COLLISION

A CNAME record already exists for given name.

DNS_ERROR_RECORD_ONLY_AT_ZONE_ROOT

Record only at DNS zone root.

DNS_ERROR_RECORD_ALREADY_EXISTS

DNS record already exists.

DNS_ERROR_SECONDARY_DATA

Secondary DNS zone data error.

DNS_ERROR_NO_CREATE_CACHE_DATA

Could not create DNS cache data.

DNS_ERROR_NAME_DOES_NOT_EXIST

DNS name does not exist.

DNS_WARNING_PTR_CREATE_FAILED

Could not create pointer (PTR) record.

DNS_WARNING_DOMAIN_UNDELETED

DNS domain was undeleted.

DNS_ERROR_DS_UNAVAILABLE

The directory service is unavailable.

DNS_ERROR_DS_ZONE_ALREADY_EXISTS

DNS zone already exists in the directory service.

DNS_ERROR_NO_BOOTFILE_IF_DS_ZONE

DNS server not creating or reading the boot file for the directory service integrated DNS zone.

DNS_ERROR_NODE_IS_DNAME

Node is a DNAME DNS record.

DNS_ERROR_DNAME_COLLISION

A DNAME record already exists for given name.

DNS_ERROR_ALIAS_LOOP

An alias loop has been detected with either CNAME or DNAME records.

DNS_INFO_AXFR_COMPLETE

DNS AXFR (zone transfer) complete.

DNS_ERROR_AXFR

DNS zone transfer failed.

DNS_INFO_ADDED_LOCAL_WINS

Added local WINS server.

DNS_STATUS_CONTINUE_NEEDED

Secure update call needs to continue update request.

DNS_ERROR_NO_TCPIP

TCP/IP network protocol not installed.

DNS_ERROR_NO_DNS_SERVERS

No DNS servers configured for local system.

DNS_ERROR_DP_DOES_NOT_EXIST

The specified directory partition does not exist.

DNS_ERROR_DP_ALREADY_EXISTS

The specified directory partition already exists.

DNS_ERROR_DP_NOT_ENLISTED

This DNS server is not enlisted in the specified directory partition.

DNS_ERROR_DP_ALREADY_ENLISTED

This DNS server is already enlisted in the specified directory partition.

DNS_ERROR_DP_NOT_AVAILABLE

The directory partition is not available at this time. Please wait a few minutes and try again.

DNS_ERROR_DP_FSMO_ERROR

The operation failed because the domain naming master FSMO role could not be reached. The domain controller holding the domain naming master FSMO role is down or unable to service the request or is not running Windows Server 2003 or later.

WSAEINTR

A blocking operation was interrupted by a call to WSACancelBlockingCall.

WSAEBADF

The file handle supplied is not valid.

WSAEACCES

An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its access permissions.

WSAEFAULT

The system detected an invalid pointer address in attempting to use a pointer argument in a call.

WSAEINVAL

An invalid argument was supplied.

WSAEMFILE

Too many open sockets.

WSAEWOULDBLOCK

A non-blocking socket operation could not be completed immediately.

WSAEINPROGRESS

A blocking operation is currently executing.

WSAEALREADY

An operation was attempted on a non-blocking socket that already had an operation in progress.

WSAENOTSOCK

An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

WSAEDESTADDRREQ

A required address was omitted from an operation on a socket.

WSAEMSGSIZE

A message sent on a datagram socket was larger than the internal message buffer or some other network limit, or the buffer used to receive a datagram into was smaller than the datagram itself.

WSAEPROTOTYPE

A protocol was specified in the socket function call that does not support the semantics of the socket type requested.

WSAENOPROTOOPT

An unknown, invalid, or unsupported option or level was specified in a getsockopt or setsockopt call.

WSAEPROTONOSUPPORT

The requested protocol has not been configured into the system, or no implementation for it exists.

WSAESOCKTNOSUPPORT

The support for the specified socket type does not exist in this address family.

WSAEOPNOTSUPP

The attempted operation is not supported for the type of object referenced.

WSAEPFNOSUPPORT

The protocol family has not been configured into the system or no implementation for it exists.

WSAEAFNOSUPPORT

An address incompatible with the requested protocol was used.

WSAEADDRINUSE

Only one usage of each socket address (protocol/network address/port) is normally permitted.

WSAEADDRNOTAVAIL

The requested address is not valid in its context.

WSAENETDOWN

A socket operation encountered a dead network.

WSAENETUNREACH

A socket operation was attempted to an unreachable network.

WSAENETRESET

The connection has been broken due to keep-alive activity detecting a failure while the operation was in progress.

WSAECONNABORTED

An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine.

WSAECONNRESET

An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host.

WSAENOBUFS

An operation on a socket could not be performed because the system lacked sufficient buffer space or because a queue was full.

WSAEISCONN

A connect request was made on an already connected socket.

WSAENOTCONN

A request to send or receive data was disallowed because the socket is not connected and (when sending on a datagram socket using a sendto call) no address was supplied.

WSAESHUTDOWN

A request to send or receive data was disallowed because the socket had already been shut down in that direction with a previous shutdown call.

WSAETOOMANYREFS

Too many references to some kernel object.

WSAETIMEDOUT

A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond.

WSAECONNREFUSED

No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

WSAELOOP

Cannot translate name.

WSAENAMETOOLONG

Name component or name was too long.

WSAEHOSTDOWN

A socket operation failed because the destination host was down.

WSAEHOSTUNREACH

A socket operation was attempted to an unreachable host.

WSAENOTEMPTY

Cannot remove a directory that is not empty.

WSAEPROCLIM

A Windows Sockets implementation may have a limit on the number of applications that may use it simultaneously.

WSAEUSERS

Ran out of quota.

WSAEDQUOT

Ran out of disk quota.

WSAESTALE

File handle reference is no longer available.

WSAEREMOTE

Item is not available locally.

WSASYSNOTREADY

WSAStartup cannot function at this time because the underlying system it uses to provide network services is currently unavailable.

WSAVERNOTSUPPORTED

The Windows Sockets version requested is not supported.

WSANOTINITIALISED

Either the application has not called WSAStartup, or WSAStartup failed.

WSAEDISCON

Returned by WSARecv or WSARecvFrom to indicate the remote party has initiated a graceful shutdown sequence.

WSAENOMORE

No more results can be returned by WSALookupServiceNext.

WSAECANCELLED

A call to WSALookupServiceEnd was made while this call was still processing. The call has been canceled.

WSAEINVALIDPROCTABLE

The procedure call table is invalid.

WSAEINVALIDPROVIDER

The requested service provider is invalid.

WSAEPROVIDERFAILEDINIT

The requested service provider could not be loaded or initialized.

WSASYSCALLFAILURE

A system call has failed.

WSASERVICE_NOT_FOUND

No such service is known. The service cannot be found in the specified name space.

WSATYPE_NOT_FOUND

The specified class was not found.

WSA_E_NO_MORE

No more results can be returned by WSALookupServiceNext.

WSA_E_CANCELLED

A call to WSALookupServiceEnd was made while this call was still processing. The call has been canceled.

WSAEREFUSED

A database query failed because it was actively refused.

WSAHOST_NOT_FOUND

No such host is known.

WSATRY_AGAIN

This is usually a temporary error during hostname resolution and means that the local server did not receive a response from an authoritative server.

WSANO_RECOVERY

A non-recoverable error occurred during a database lookup.

WSANO_DATA

The requested name is valid, but no data of the requested type was found.

WSA_QOS_RECEIVERS

At least one reserve has arrived.

WSA_QOS_SENDERS

At least one path has arrived.

WSA_QOS_NO_SENDERS

There are no senders.

WSA_QOS_NO_RECEIVERS

There are no receivers.

WSA_QOS_REQUEST_CONFIRMED

Reserve has been confirmed.

WSA_QOS_ADMISSION_FAILURE

Error due to lack of resources.

WSA_QOS_POLICY_FAILURE

Rejected for administrative reasons — bad credentials.

WSA_QOS_BAD_STYLE

Unknown or conflicting style.

WSA_QOS_BAD_OBJECT

Problem with some part of the filterspec or providerspecific buffer in general.

WSA_QOS_TRAFFIC_CTRL_ERROR

Problem with some part of the flowspec.

WSA_QOS_GENERIC_ERROR

General QOS error.

WSA_QOS_ESERVICETYPE

An invalid or unrecognized service type was found in the flowspec.

WSA_QOS_EFLOWSPEC

An invalid or inconsistent flowspec was found in the QOS structure.

WSA_QOS_EPROVSPECBUF

Invalid QOS provider-specific buffer.

WSA_QOS_EFILTERSTYLE

An invalid QOS filter style was used.

WSA_QOS_EFILTERTYPE

An invalid QOS filter type was used.

WSA_QOS_EFILTERCOUNT

An incorrect number of QOS FILTERSPECs were specified in the FLOWDESCRIPTOR.

WSA_QOS_EOBJLENGTH

An object with an invalid ObjectLength field was specified in the QOS provider-specific buffer.

WSA_QOS_EFLOWCOUNT

An incorrect number of flow descriptors was specified in the QOS structure.

WSA_QOS_EUNKOWNPSOBJ

An unrecognized object was found in the QOS provider-specific buffer.

WSA_QOS_EPOLICYOBJ

An invalid policy object was found in the QOS provider-specific buffer.

WSA_QOS_EFLOWDESC

An invalid QOS flow descriptor was found in the flow descriptor list.

WSA_QOS_EPSFLOWSPEC

An invalid or inconsistent flowspec was found in the QOS provider specific buffer.

WSA_QOS_EPSFILTERSPEC

An invalid FILTERSPEC was found in the QOS provider-specific buffer.

WSA_QOS_ESDMODEOBJ

An invalid shape discard mode object was found in the QOS provider specific buffer.

WSA_QOS_ESHAPERATEOBJ

An invalid shaping rate object was found in the QOS provider-specific buffer.

WSA_QOS_RESERVED_PETYPE

A reserved policy element was found in the QOS provider-specific buffer.

WSA_SECURE_HOST_NOT_FOUND

No such host is known securely.

WSA_IPSEC_NAME_POLICY_ERROR

Name based IPSEC policy could not be added.