XP Stability since the last round of 'patches'

[Guest]

May be coincidence...or not...

Since the last round of security patches, my home PC installation of XP
(Home) has shown signs of reversion to an earlier life form (like Me, or 98
SE). At least twice when the machine has "burped" (I don't know what it's
called 'offficially', but it's when this computer suddenly decides seemingly
randomly to refreshes the desktop on its own, usually in Windows Explorer,
for no apparent good/justifiable/desired reason), things in the System Tray
have been disappearing just like they did in the old daze of earlier 9x
Windows.

Now this installation of XP (clean install about 21 months ago) has ALWAYS
done this "burping" thing (so unlike my XP Pro installation on a newer
machine), virtually from the first bootup session after completing the XP
install, which I've always attributed to some quirk in the hardware/firmware
of this crusty old Dell. It usually does it with EVERY session within
Windows, any time WinExploder is called and used. What it's never done
until now is this disappearing system tray items act, though again, it's
only done this act twice (to my knowledge).

But unlike earlier 9x OSs, these things zapped from the system tray that
still continue to run normally running in the background AREN'T anymore in
XP. Invoke Task Manager, and suddenly normal processes like my HP printer
'stuff', anti-popupware, printer hub switcher or my card reader are plain
gone. Usually the important stuff like ZA Pro (still using 4.5, after the
stability debacle of early 5 versions) and Norton Systemworks 04 continue to
run or at least restart themselves--this nastier version of the 'burp'
almost appears to be a partial reboot, since I endure the Creative Audigy
splash screen again, which normally only occurs on actual bootup, and who
knows what else. All remaining processes listed in Task Manager appear to
be legit.

I've found no virii, worms or trojans. All processes listed in TM (when the
machine is 'normal') are things that should be there. The only thing
different is now I have four svchost sessions instead of the one I used to
have, though in searching the web I gather this is suppose to be normal.
Reseaching all the .exe process names, especially those cryptic ones listed
under SYSTEM, brings back nothing out of the ordinary and raises no real red
flags other than leaving me wondering whether I really NEED all of these and
whether I can shut some of these down.

So, this long-winded description leads me to my question(s):

Is anyone else also experiencing this?

Is anyone else wishing he/she gave up the ghost on this sort of nonsense FAR
earlier and was running Linux now? Or is it only me?

 

[Michael Stevens]

May be coincidence...or not...

Since the last round of security patches, my home PC installation of
XP (Home) has shown signs of reversion to an earlier life form (like
Me, or 98 SE). At least twice when the machine has "burped" (I don't
know what it's called 'offficially', but it's when this computer
suddenly decides seemingly randomly to refreshes the desktop on its
own, usually in Windows Explorer, for no apparent
good/justifiable/desired reason), things in the System Tray have been
disappearing just like they did in the old daze of earlier 9x Windows.

Now this installation of XP (clean install about 21 months ago) has
ALWAYS done this "burping" thing (so unlike my XP Pro installation on
a newer machine), virtually from the first bootup session after
completing the XP install, which I've always attributed to some quirk
in the hardware/firmware of this crusty old Dell. It usually does it
with EVERY session within Windows, any time WinExploder is called and
used. What it's never done until now is this disappearing system
tray items act, though again, it's only done this act twice (to my
knowledge).

But unlike earlier 9x OSs, these things zapped from the system tray
that still continue to run normally running in the background AREN'T
anymore in XP. Invoke Task Manager, and suddenly normal processes
like my HP printer 'stuff', anti-popupware, printer hub switcher or
my card reader are plain gone. Usually the important stuff like ZA
Pro (still using 4.5, after the stability debacle of early 5
versions) and Norton Systemworks 04 continue to run or at least
restart themselves--this nastier version of the 'burp' almost appears
to be a partial reboot, since I endure the Creative Audigy splash
screen again, which normally only occurs on actual bootup, and who
knows what else. All remaining processes listed in Task Manager
appear to be legit.

I've found no virii, worms or trojans. All processes listed in TM
(when the machine is 'normal') are things that should be there. The
only thing different is now I have four svchost sessions instead of
the one I used to have, though in searching the web I gather this is
suppose to be normal. Reseaching all the .exe process names,
especially those cryptic ones listed under SYSTEM, brings back
nothing out of the ordinary and raises no real red flags other than
leaving me wondering whether I really NEED all of these and whether I
can shut some of these down.

So, this long-winded description leads me to my question(s):

Is anyone else also experiencing this?

Is anyone else wishing he/she gave up the ghost on this sort of
nonsense FAR earlier and was running Linux now? Or is it only me?

The System tray will still llose certain icons if they ar not closed out
properly, but not as prevelent as with 98/Me. Sounds like a hardware issue
to me, possibly marginal ram or a hard drive. Could be a power supply
problem also. If you have less than 400 watts and you have maxed out your
IDE drives, and have multiple USB and/or Firewire devices, that could also
be contributer.
--
--

Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Guest]

I hope it's not RAM, since this old system is maxed out (512MB). 'Sides, I
rather not buy another stick of RAMBUS ever again (WHY Dell decided to put
RIMMs with a P3 is still beyond me). The boot drive partition is 45% empty
(13+MB out of 30). There is a second 80GB HD, and while it could be taxing
the power supply to an extreme, it wasn't a problem when this machine was
running Me. Or the PS might be going (I suppose), though Dells from this
era weren't really known for boffo PS output ratings, either. Neither drive
has shown any signs of pending failure; this 'belching' has been going on
for 21 months and since the XP install, so at least for now I think I can
rule out the HDs. If there is a hardware issue, I'd guess "meager power
supply" at this point.

As for USB and FireWire devices...guilty on both fronts, and most of it (at
least on the USB 2.0 side) was added after the XP install. Since this Dell
uses a proprietary PS (which I believe it's rated at 200w), and the only
aftermarket unit I've found that will work is rated to 350w, it sounds like
a justifiable excuse for a new computer. (actually, there's one currently
under construction, albeit slowly--damn budgetary constrants...)

 

[Steve Nielsen]

The System tray will still llose certain icons if they ar not closed out
properly, but not as prevelent as with 98/Me. Sounds like a hardware issue
to me, possibly marginal ram or a hard drive. Could be a power supply
problem also. If you have less than 400 watts and you have maxed out your
IDE drives, and have multiple USB and/or Firewire devices, that could also
be contributer.

Yeah, it could be hardware but in my experience more likely a software
conflict or a flakey hardware driver causing Explorer.exe to crash and
reload. Since it apparently started after Windows updates I'd suspect
one of the updates causing a problem with other software running, and
especially if any hardware driver updates were installed from Microsoft.

If it was true hardware problem it probably would have been happening
before the recent updates were applied. If one reads details on critical
updates there have been a few that have had known issues with certain
systems and software and others that don't even apply to some systems
and applications used. It's always best to review all updates and read
detailed information before applying them. Blindly applying even
"critical" Windows updates is really not best practice, although I
understand the average user is niether likely to take the time to
investigate them all, nor understand the information if they did.

To the OP:
I'd start removing the recent updates one by one until you find the
culprit (if there is one), then do the Windows updates again but this
time review them all before installing and de-select the suspect one.
Also make certain not to install any hardware driver updates from
Microsoft, they are mininimal and outdated compared to drivers from
hardware manufacturers, and known to often cause problems with some
hardware, especially when applied over the top of manufacturer's drivers.

I've also seen in a few cases memory resident things like a/v active
protection and anti-spyware active protection (SpywareGaurd in
particular) cause the shell (explorer.exe) to crash and reload but
that's pretty rare. First suspect is one of the updates you applied.

Steve

 

[PA Bear]

Check your system for "hijackware":

Help with Hijackware
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/Darnit.htm

CoolWebSearch Chronicles
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/cwschronicles.html

Run these tools in the following order with nothing else running in
background:

1. CWShredder (fix all found)

2. Ad-Aware (fix all found)

3. Spybot (RTFM but generally fix everything in red)

Important: You *must* seek updates for Ad-Aware, Spybot, etc., before each
and every use, even "right out of the box". But even they can't catch
everything, 24/7. When all else fails, HijackThis
(http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe) is the preferred
tool to use. It will help you to both identify and remove any
hijackware/spyware. **Post your files to http://forums.spywareinfo.com/ or
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not here.**

[Alternate download pages for many of the above tools may be found at
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.]

Also:

1. Download and run Stinger (http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/); then...

2. Update your virus definitions, enable Show Hidden Files
(http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2002092715262339)
and then run a full system scan in Safe Mode
(http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001052409420406)
with nothing else running in background. Note the files identified and
removed then find the corresponding page for the file at your AV maker's
online support pages (e.g.,
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/adware.winfavorites.html)
and follow all Removal steps.

WinXP Only (WinME similar): If this scan finds anything, create a new
Restore Point then Disk Cleanup > More options > Delete all but the most
recent Restore Point.

3. Check in at Windows Update.

So How Did I Get Infected Anyway?
http://boards.cexx.org/viewtopic.php?t=957
--
HTH - Please Reply to This Thread

~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE), AH-VSOP

AumHa Forums
http://forum.aumha.org

What You Should Know About Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/privacy/spyware.mspx

 

[davetest]

I hope it's not RAM,

<big snip>
I've been using tmpgenc to encode avi > mpg for a
long time, but I've never tried it with avi DV
before until yesterday.
I'm not sure if it places higher demands on the system,
but tmpgenc had problems and was ending prematurely
right in the middle of encoding (no error message,
it just wasn't there anymore)
I lowered the memory timing from cas 2 to cas 3
and the problem cleared up completely.
(which irks me a little because I paid extra for
cl2 memory!)
I'm also suspecting a build up of dust causing
increased temperatures in the box.

Dave