Unable to open shim database version registry key – v2.0.50727.00000

When running a Windows 2003 server with .NET Framework 2 installed, you might find the following error in the event log:

Event Type:   Error
Event Source:         .NET Runtime
Event Category:       None
Event ID:      0
Date:           <date>
Time:           <time>
User:            N/A
Computer:     <computer name>
Description:
The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( .NET Runtime ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: Unable to open shim database version registry key – v2.0.50727.00000.

Two possible solutions are available for this problem:

• Apply the hotfix from Microsoft. To obtain the hotfix and more information, go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918642
• Edit the permission rights on a registry key.
  To edit the permissions, do the following:

1. Click Start, click Run, type “regedit” and press Enter
2. Navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\.NETFramework\Policy\AppPatch\
3. Right-click v2.0.50727.00000 and click Permissions
4. Grant Authenticated Users Full Permissions rights (fill the checkbox)
5. Click OK