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I have just updated the password against an application pool identity for my user in IIS to bring it up to date, as per:

HTTP Error 503, the service is unavailable

However now when I run IIS Manager it freezes when I try to list the application pools, list the sites, or do a restart. This means I can't go back and double check I entered the correct password against the application pool.

The windows event logs show no errors or warnings. I have also tried restarting the PC but this does not help.

Has anyone encountered this before or have any idea what may be causing it?

I am running Windows 10 and IIS version 10.0.10586.0

PRS
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  • "I have just updated the password against an application pool identity" What exactly are the steps you do? The linked thread has so many answers and you shouldn't attempt to confuse whoever reads this. – Lex Li May 25 '17 at 14:11
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    I followed the steps in the top answer to the linked question: "In IIS, go to the Application Pools under the Server, then find the correct Application Pool for your web site, and click on it. On the Advanced Settings menu to the right, select Identity and change it and enter new user and password." – PRS May 25 '17 at 18:38
  • you probably don't need to reinstall. By manually removing the encrypted password you might be able to get it back. Anyway, you found a way out. – Lex Li May 25 '17 at 22:04
  • @LexLi: "By manually removing the encrypted password you might be able to get it back. Anyway, you found a way out." - could you elaborate on what you are referring to here? The only info I see in this question and the (at this time, only) answer is to reinstall. – O. R. Mapper Dec 06 '21 at 08:55
  • @O.R.Mapper the author of this question claimed that the issue only happened after a password change. If we assume that was true (people might sometimes forget what they actually did), then it makes some sense to revert that change. That's why I suggest removing the encrypted password (usually deleting the exact snippet in `applicationHost.config`). – Lex Li Dec 06 '21 at 15:06
  • @LexLi: Oh. I didn't think of that course of action, because for me, the issue occurred after a password change, as well - namely after a password change of the forced kind, as my employer requires me to switch my password every 6 months. As far as I'm remember, the system will prevent me from picking any password that was in use in the past year, so reverting the password change didn't come to my mind. – O. R. Mapper Dec 06 '21 at 15:09

2 Answers2

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I fixed this by reinstalling IIS:

  • Go to Windows Features, and Uncheck Internet Information Services (making sure you take a note of the sub-features you have switched on)
  • Restart PC
  • Go to Windows Features, and Check Internet Information Services (making sure you also include the relevant sub-features you previously had switched on before)

After this it worked fine again.

PRS
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  • Warning: IIS did not retain the Binding details for each web site. They had to be reentered manually after the reinstall. So it's a good idea to make a note of these as well before uninstalling. – PRS May 26 '17 at 08:15
  • I had to remove c:\windows\system32\inetsrv before reinstalling – Preben Huybrechts Jul 31 '18 at 09:24
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I fixed this on Windows 10 with IIS 10.0.19041.1288 without reinstalling as follows:

  • First, I noticed that IIS Manager won't let me terminate/restart the web server, either (ends with a timeout).
  • Then, I checked my Services in Task Manager, where the WWW Publishing Service (W3SVC) was hanging in "Being terminated" state.
  • Then, I went to the Services section in my Control Panel to find the executable behind the service - it's svchost, with command line C:\Windows\system32\svchost.exe -k iissvcs.

Thus, I could go back to Task Manager to kill the process with that command line. You may have to add the command line column on the Details tab if it is not shown yet.

After terminating that services, IIS Manager would behave normally again, start/restart the server without any problematic delay, and display the list of application pools.

O. R. Mapper
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