JSI Tip 8588. When you attempt to open the IPSec MMC policy on Windows Server 2003, you receive 'The IPSec Policy storage container could not be opened. The following error occurred: The system cannot find the file specified. (80070002).'?

When you attempt open the IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) MMC (Microsoft Management Console) on Windows Server 2003, you receive:

The IPSec Policy storage container could not be opened. The following error occurred: The system cannot find the file specified. (80070002).

This behavior is caused by a corrupted file in the policy store, possibly caused by an improper shutdown while the policy was being written to disk.

To fix this problem:

1. Copy / Paste the following into Notepad.exe:

@echo off
(
@echo REGEDIT4
@echo.
@echo \[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\windows\IPSec\Policy\Local\]
@echo.
@echo.
)>"%TEMP%\IPSec.tmp"
regedit /s "%TEMP%\IPSec.tmp"
regsvr32 polstore.dll /s
del /q "%TEMP%\IPSec.tmp"

2. Save the file as IPSecFix.txt.

3. Rename the file as IPSecFix.bat.

4. Run or double-click the IPSecFix.bat file.

NOTE: See How to use IPSec Monitor in Windows Server 2003.