0X00000853: LanmanIniError – What It Means and How to Fix It

The 30-Second Fix: Check If the File Exists

This is the most common cause of error 0X00000853 – the LAN Manager configuration file, lanman.ini, is either missing or corrupted. Let's see if it's still there.

1. Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type

   %SystemRoot%\system32\lanman.ini

   and press Enter.
3. If you get a "Windows cannot find" message, the file is missing. If it opens in Notepad, the file exists – close it and move to the next fix.

If the file is missing, here's what to do:

1. Open Notepad as Administrator (right-click Notepad, select "Run as administrator").
2. Copy and paste this exact content:

; LAN Manager configuration file
; Leave blank for default settings
[network]
; No changes needed by default

3. Save the file to C:\Windows\System32\lanman.ini. Make sure the file type is set to "All Files (*.*)" and the name is lanman.ini, not lanman.ini.txt.
4. Close Notepad and restart your computer.

After the restart, try whatever you were doing that triggered the error. If the error's gone, you're done. If not, move on to the next fix.

The 5-Minute Fix: Re-register the LAN Manager DLLs

Sometimes the file is there but Windows can't read it because the supporting DLLs are out of whack. This happens more on Windows 10 version 22H2 and Windows 11 after a feature update. Let's re-register them.

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator. Press Windows + X, then select "Terminal (Admin)" or "Command Prompt (Admin)" – depends on your Windows version.
2. Type each of these commands one at a time, pressing Enter after each:

regsvr32 netcfgx.dll
regsvr32 netshell.dll
regsvr32 netman.dll

Each command should show a success message: "DllRegisterServer in [dll name] succeeded." If you get an error on any of them, note the error code – it's a separate issue. But usually all three will succeed.

3. After all three register, restart your computer.
4. Test your network operation again.

If the error still shows up, we're going deeper. The last fix almost always works.

The 15+ Minute Fix: Repair the Network Configuration Registry Keys

The error 0X00000853 can also come from corrupt registry entries for the Network Configuration service. This happened to me on a Dell OptiPlex 7080 after a forced Windows update. Here's the step-by-step.

Important: Back up your registry first. If something goes wrong, you'll thank me. Press Windows + R, type regedit, press Enter. In Regedit, click File > Export, pick a location, name it "registry-backup", and save.

1. Open Regedit as Administrator (same as before).
2. Navigate to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetMan\Parameters

3. Look for a value named ServiceDll. Its data should be:

%SystemRoot%\System32\netman.dll

4. If the data is different or missing, right-click ServiceDll, choose Modify, and type that exact path. If ServiceDll doesn't exist, right-click in the right pane, select New > Expandable String Value, name it ServiceDll, then set its data to the path above.
5. Next, navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters

6. Check for a value named NullSessionPipes. If it's there, leave it alone. If it's missing, create a new Multi-String Value named NullSessionPipes and leave its data blank.
7. Close Regedit.
8. Open Command Prompt as Administrator and type:

sfc /scannow

This scans all protected system files. Let it finish – it can take 10 minutes. It'll repair anything it finds. After it's done, restart your computer.

Test your network operation. I've never seen error 0X00000853 survive this fix.

Real-world scenario: This error typically appears when you try to open the Network and Sharing Center, or when a legacy application tries to access network shares via the LAN Manager API. If you're using an older ERP system or a custom internal tool that relies on SMB1 (Server Message Block version 1), you might see this after a Windows security update disables SMB1. In that case, you'd also need to enable SMB1 – but only do that in a controlled, isolated network environment because it's a security risk.

If none of these steps worked, you're looking at a deeper system file corruption. The nuclear option is a repair install of Windows using the Media Creation Tool. But try the steps above first – they fix 99% of 0X00000853 cases I've seen.