What does Windows error code 1208 (ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR) mean?

ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR

Meaning and context of ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR

The WNet functions return error codes for compatibility with Windows for Workgroups. Each WNet function also sets the error code value returned by GetLastError.

    #include <windows.h>
    #include <stdio.h>
    
    #pragma comment(lib, "mpr.lib")
    #pragma comment(lib, "user32.lib")
    
    BOOL WINAPI NetErrorHandler(HWND hwnd, 
                                DWORD dwErrorCode, 
                                LPSTR lpszFunction) 
    { 
        DWORD dwWNetResult, dwLastError; 
        CHAR szError[256]; 
        CHAR szCaption[256]; 
        CHAR szDescription[256]; 
        CHAR szProvider[256]; 
     
        // The following code performs standard error-handling. 
     
        if (dwErrorCode != ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR) 
        { 
            sprintf_s(
              (LPSTR)szError
              , sizeof(szError)
              , "%s failed; \\nResult is %ld"
              , lpszFunction
              , dwErrorCode
            ); 
            sprintf_s((LPSTR) szCaption, sizeof(szCaption), "%s error", lpszFunction); 
            MessageBox(hwnd, (LPSTR) szError, (LPSTR) szCaption, MB_OK); 
            return TRUE; 
        } 
     
        // The following code performs error-handling when the 
        //  ERROR_EXTENDED_ERROR return value indicates that the 
        //  WNetGetLastError function can retrieve additional information.
     
        else 
        { 
            dwWNetResult = WNetGetLastError(&dwLastError, // error code
                (LPSTR) szDescription,  // buffer for error description 
                sizeof(szDescription),  // size of error buffer
                (LPSTR) szProvider,     // buffer for provider name 
                sizeof(szProvider));    // size of name buffer
     
            //
            // Process errors.
            //
            if(dwWNetResult != NO_ERROR) { 
                sprintf_s((LPSTR) szError, sizeof(szError), 
                    "WNetGetLastError failed; error %ld", dwWNetResult); 
                MessageBox(hwnd, (LPSTR) szError, "WNetGetLastError", MB_OK); 
                return FALSE; 
            } 
     
            //
            // Otherwise, print the additional error information.
            //
            sprintf_s((LPSTR) szError, sizeof(szError), 
                "%s failed with code %ld;\\n%s", 
                (LPSTR) szProvider, dwLastError, (LPSTR) szDescription); 
            sprintf_s((LPSTR) szCaption, sizeof(szCaption), "%s error", lpszFunction); 
            MessageBox(hwnd, (LPSTR) szError, (LPSTR) szCaption, MB_OK); 
            return TRUE; 
        } 
    }
  

Where the result is returned

This result is Win32 system error 1208 (0x000004B8) from winerror.h. AllStat describes it as “An extended error has occurred.”. The code is useful only together with the API that failed, because multiple Windows components can reuse system-error values while imposing different retry and cleanup rules.

Diagnostic sequence

• Call GetLastError immediately after the failing API and save this result, the function name, all relevant flags, and the target path, handle, service, device, account, or policy object.
• Capture the component log that owns the extended operation and retain the original numeric value before a framework converts it to an HRESULT or exception.
• compare preconditions with the API documentation and reproduce with a minimal request before changing system-wide configuration.

Retry this result only after the resource or state named in “An extended error has occurred.” has changed. For invalid parameters, unsupported formats, missing objects, policy restrictions, and access failures, correct the input or configuration instead of immediately repeating the same call.

Official references

• Microsoft: System Error Codes
• Microsoft: Retrieving the last-error code

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