How to fix Windows error 0x00002AFF
By Sai Kiran Pandrala · reviewed by Sai Kiran Pandrala, Editor Last verified: 2026-05-25
| Error code | 0x00002AFF |
|---|---|
| Decimal | Not assigned |
| Symbolic name | WSA_QOS_NO_SENDERS |
| Platform | Windows |
| Subsystem | Winsock QoS (Quality of Service) |
| Official message | There are no senders. |
| Source | Microsoft MS-ERREF (HRESULT) (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/winsock/about-quality-of-service-2) |
What is 0x00002AFF?
0x00002AFF (commonly seen as WSA_QOS_NO_SENDERS) is a status code returned by the Winsock QoS (Quality of Service) on Windows. This code is raised by the Winsock QoS extension (rsvp.exe, Traffic Control API) when a QoS reservation, flowspec, or filterspec cannot be honoured by the network or by the local policy engine. In practical terms, the system is reporting that there are no senders. If you see this in a log, it almost always means the calling component hit a precondition that the OS could not satisfy, rather than a hardware fault.
When does 0x00002AFF appear?
The most common real-world triggers for WSA_QOS_NO_SENDERS are the ones the subsystem itself reports most often:
- Policy-based QoS (qWAVE) policy that conflicts with a local flow
- Network adapter without DSCP marking support
- RSVP signaling failing because intermediate routers strip the option
- Application reserving more bandwidth than the adapter advertises
- Group Policy QoS rule pushed without restarting the policy engine
- Generic Filterspec mismatched between sender and receiver
If your situation does not match any of the bullets above, capture the failing call with Process Monitor (filter by the failing PID and the last non-success Result) before you start guessing. The exact preceding operation almost always pins the root cause.
How to fix 0x00002AFF
Work through the steps in order. The PowerShell block triages the issue, the second block applies the most common fix, and the verify section at the bottom confirms the failure cleared.
Detect (PowerShell, run as Administrator)
# Show effective QoS policies on the host.
Get-NetQosPolicy
Get-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -Name * |
Where-Object DisplayName -match 'QoS|Priority'
# Trace the QoS path with logman.
logman create trace QosTrace -p 'Microsoft-Windows-QoS-Pacer' -o C:\Temp\qos.etl
logman start QosTrace
Apply the fix (PowerShell, run as Administrator)
# 1. Re-create the policy with a smaller bandwidth request.
Get-NetQosPolicy | Remove-NetQosPolicy -Confirm:$false
New-NetQosPolicy -Name 'VoIP' -AppPathNameMatchCondition 'voip.exe' -DSCPAction 46 -ThrottleRateActionBitsPerSecond 256000
# 2. Restart the QoS Packet Scheduler service.
Restart-Service -Name Psched -Force
# 3. Confirm the adapter advertises DSCP support.
Get-NetAdapter | Select-Object Name, MediaType, LinkSpeed
Companion cmd commands
rem Show QoS counters via netsh.
netsh int tcp show global
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal
If you cannot fix it immediately
If you cannot resolve it immediately, restart the affected service, log the error context, and capture the call stack with a debugger or Process Monitor so the root cause survives a reboot. Treat the code as a signal, not a root cause.
How to verify the fix worked
Run the verification block below in the same elevated PowerShell session, then re-run the operation that originally raised the error. If both the verification commands and the original operation come back clean, the fix held.
# Confirm the policy is now active.
Get-NetQosPolicy
# Stop the trace and inspect the QoS events.
logman stop QosTrace
tracerpt C:\Temp\qos.etl -o C:\Temp\qos.xml -of XML
Also re-check the relevant Windows event log for the next 24 hours. Codes from this subsystem sometimes return after a scheduled job, a policy refresh, or a service restart fires.
Frequently asked questions
What does 0x00002AFF mean exactly?
It is the Winsock QoS (Quality of Service) reporting a specific precondition failure. The symbolic name WSA_QOS_NO_SENDERS describes the precondition in compiler-style abbreviated form; the at-a-glance table shows the official one-line description.
Is 0x00002AFF dangerous?
On its face the message is informational, not destructive. The code is a status, not a fault. The deeper problem is whatever upstream call passed in bad inputs or hit a stale piece of state. Treat the code as a signpost.
Will reinstalling Windows fix 0x00002AFF?
Almost never, and reinstalling is the wrong first move. The fix is almost always a config repair, a permission grant, or a service restart. Reserve a reinstall for the rare case where SFC and DISM both fail to repair the component store.
How is 0x00002AFF different from neighbouring codes in the same range?
Codes in the same numeric range come from the same subsystem and the same source file, so they share the surrounding context. The specific failure mode is what changes from code to code. Inspect the symbol name to spot the exact precondition.
Does Microsoft have a public reference for WSA_QOS_NO_SENDERS?
Yes. The canonical reference is https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/winsock/about-quality-of-service-2. The MS-ERREF spec (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-erref/) lists every HRESULT, NTSTATUS, and Win32 system error code with its numeric value and symbolic name.
Related error codes
Codes near this one in the numeric range usually come from the same source file in the Windows tree, so the same fix often resolves them:
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002AFD
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002AFE
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002B00
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002B01
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002B02
If a neighbouring page has not been published yet, the link will 404 - re-check after the next batch.
Related fixes
Related guides worth a look while you sort this one out:
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002AF9
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002AFA
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002AFB
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002AFC
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002AFD
- How to fix Windows error 0x00002AFE
References
- Microsoft Learn — Winsock QoS (Quality of Service): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/winsock/about-quality-of-service-2
- Microsoft MS-ERREF (full Windows error code reference): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-erref/
- Win32 system error codes: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/debug/system-error-codes
- Subsystem deep dive: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/technologies/qos/quality-of-service-overview
- This article's underlying data row: code=
0x00002AFF, symbol=WSA_QOS_NO_SENDERS, source=Microsoft MS-ERREF (HRESULT).
This guide was assembled from the official Microsoft MS-ERREF reference and the Winsock QoS (Quality of Service) documentation on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor reference before applying changes in production.
Field notes from real Windows incidents
When I work on the 0x00002AFF symptom the rhythm I lean on is the one I have built over years of these tickets, not a stack of generic advice. Windows error codes come in a handful of families; once you recognise the family, the doc page is one search away. Reliability Monitor is the single most underused triage surface in Windows — it gives 30 days of crash history without writing a query.
STOP codes look terrifying but the first DWORD almost always points directly at the responsible driver. DISM RestoreHealth needs network or a known-good source image; the most common cause of a failed RestoreHealth is a blocked Windows Update endpoint.
Tools I actually reach for
For the 0x00002AFF symptom on Windows the cheapest signal I can land usually comes from Windows Performance Recorder, then Process Monitor (procmon), Windows Error Lookup Tool (err.exe) when Windows Performance Recorder cannot see the layer the fault sits in, and WinDbg for STOP code analysis for the cases where neither of those answers cleanly. That ordering is not academic. It matches the layers the failure tends to surface through, so the cheap signal lands first and the heavier tooling only comes out when the simpler answer does not hold up under scrutiny.
Verification I run before I close the ticket
Before I mark the 0x00002AFF symptom resolved on a Windows unit, the verification loop below is what I actually run. Each step proves a different layer is green, and the order matters - the cheap checks gate the more expensive ones.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealthIf that one comes back clean, move to the next check. If it does not, stop and dig in there before layering more verification on top of a red signal.
wevtutil epl System system.evtx # export for offline reviewIf that one comes back clean, move to the next check. If it does not, stop and dig in there before layering more verification on top of a red signal.
err.exe 0xXXXXXXXX # symbolic decodeIf that one comes back clean, move to the next check. If it does not, stop and dig in there before layering more verification on top of a red signal.
sfc /scannowOnly when every line above runs clean do I close the ticket and update the runbook with the timestamps.
Where I check first when the docs disagree
When two sources contradict each other on a Windows detail, the disambiguation order I lean on is stable. I usually start at techcommunity.microsoft.com/category/windows for the ground-truth view on Windows. I usually start at support.microsoft.com for the ground-truth view on Windows. I usually start at github.com/microsoft/Windows-Driver-Frameworks for the ground-truth view on Windows. I usually start at learn.microsoft.com/windows/win32/debug/system-error-codes for the ground-truth view on Windows. Random blog posts and reseller wikis are signal, not ground truth, and I treat them as such until the references above either confirm or contradict the claim.
Pitfalls I have walked into on this exact path
The shortcuts that look smart on the 0x00002AFF symptom have a habit of biting back. The pitfalls below are the ones I have personally walked into on a Windows unit, not things I read about. STOP codes look terrifying but the first DWORD almost always points directly at the responsible driver. Windows error codes come in a handful of families; once you recognise the family, the doc page is one search away. DISM RestoreHealth needs network or a known-good source image; the most common cause of a failed RestoreHealth is a blocked Windows Update endpoint. When in doubt I revert to the slower path that the manual prescribes - the time I save by skipping it is always smaller than the time I spend cleaning up afterwards.
What I tell the next on-call
When I hand the 0x00002AFF symptom off to the next person on rotation, the three lines I leave in the runbook are these. First, the symptom signature for Windows on the Windows family - not a paraphrase, the exact string that surfaces. Second, the diagnostic that gave the highest signal in the least time. Third, the exact verification command whose green output justified closing the ticket. That trio is what turns a one-off fix into a runbook entry the next engineer can use without paging me at three in the morning.
I also add a one-line note on the cost of getting this wrong. For the 0x00002AFF symptom on a Windows unit, the cost is rarely the replacement part. It is the downtime, the second site visit, and the trust deficit you spend with whoever owns the asset when the fix does not hold. That framing keeps the next on-call from choosing the cheap-looking shortcut that ends up costing the most in elapsed hours and goodwill.