NS_E_CANNOT_REMOVE_PUBLISHING_POINT (0XC00D1450) Fix

When This Error Hits

You're managing a Windows Media Services (WMS) box — maybe Windows Server 2008 R2 or Server 2012. Someone set up a cache or proxy publishing point ages ago, and now you need to clean house. You right-click that publishing point in the WMS console, hit Delete, and bam — you get the NS_E_CANNOT_REMOVE_PUBLISHING_POINT error with code 0XC00D1450. The message says something like "It is not possible to remove a cache or proxy publishing point." I've seen this on a client's media server for a school district — they had a proxy point for live sports streams that wouldn't budge.

Root Cause — Plain English

Windows Media Services is a bit protective. A cache or proxy publishing point has special jobs: it stores content locally (cache) or relays it from another server (proxy). When you try to delete one while WMS is still using it — maybe it's streaming to clients or holding cached data — the service says "nope, I'm not done yet." The error isn't a bug; it's a safety lock. The service won't let you yank out something that's in use. The real cause is that the publishing point has active connections or cached content that WMS thinks needs to finish.

The Fix — Step by Step

Don't waste time restarting the whole server. Here's what actually works.

Step 1: Stop the Publishing Point

1. Open the Windows Media Services console (Start > Administrative Tools > Windows Media Services).
2. Find your server in the left panel, expand it.
3. Click on "Publishing Points" to see the list.
4. Right-click the publishing point giving you the error and choose Stop.
5. Wait a few seconds — check the Status column shows "Stopped".

If it won't stop, you might have to kill the process. Open Task Manager, find wmsserver.exe, and end it. Then restart the service later.

Step 2: Delete It

1. With the publishing point stopped, right-click it again.
2. Select Delete from the menu.
3. Confirm the deletion when prompted.

Most times, this is all you need. I had a client last month whose entire print queue died because of this — well, okay, not the print queue, but the streaming point was locked. Stopping it first cleared it right up.

Step 3: If It Still Fails — Use the Command Line

Sometimes the GUI is stubborn. Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run these commands:

net stop wmserver
sc delete WMServer

That stops the WMS service completely and removes it. Then you can clean up the publishing point files manually from the cache folder (usually C:\WMSys\ or wherever you set it). After that, restart the service:

net start wmserver

What to Check If It Still Fails

If you're still seeing 0XC00D1450 after stopping and trying the command line, check these three things:

• Active Streams: Make sure no client is still connected. You can see that in the WMS console under the publishing point's properties, in the "Monitoring" tab.
• File Permissions: The WMS service account might not have write access to the cache folder. Check the folder's Security tab — give the NETWORK SERVICE account Full Control if it's missing.
• Registry Holds: Sometimes a stale registry entry blocks deletion. Open regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media\WMServer\PublishingPoints\. Find your publishing point key and delete it. Back up the registry first — I've seen this fix a stuck point on Windows Server 2008 R2 for a small law firm's streaming archive.

One more thing — if you're on Windows Server 2012 or later, WMS is deprecated but still there. You might need to enable it via Server Manager under Features. If the console isn't showing up, that's a different issue entirely.