Can't kill processes in XP Home

[Campbell]

Hi,

Please help a very frustrated XP user...

I have XP Home (Build 2600 xpsp 2.030422-1633 : Service Pack 1) that I
run on a Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop. I have installed all applicable
Windows updates.

My frustration is that quite often applications can hang and I am
unable to terminate them. The most common one is Telnet, where when I
quit from the server I get a "Connection to host lost." message, then
it just sits there. I can still interact with the window (change
size, select options from the menu such as Minimize) and the window
appears in the Applications tab in Task Manager, but if I select 'Go
To Process', it switches to the Processes view and there is no
TELNET.EXE there! If I select 'End Task' it simply does nothing!

So I am left with an extra window open, and the only way I can resolve
this, is to shut down the computer, which invariably means I have to
power off because XP cannot shut down properly as it cannot terminate
all processes.

Another application that sometimes causes problems is VB6. This can
sometimes hang on startup, and doesn't time out, so my only resolution
is to try to kill it. Instead of terminating the application, Task
Manager itself hangs.

I can't understand what could be causing these problems. I assume
there would be no advantage in upgrading to XP Pro, as they would have
the same infrastructure underneath?

Thanks for any help you can give,
Campbell

 

[WinGuy]

Hi, Campbell
Not Enough Information

Is Event Viewer giving up any clues right after a failure, and does
everything look ok in Device Manager?

 

[Star Fleet Admiral Q]

P.S. Telnet is very insecure - if telneting into an *ix box, you
really should be using ssh - telnet send/receives everything in open
text, even passwords - and since it transmits character by character
it is very easy to intercept/packet sniff.

 

[Campbell]

Hi, Campbell
Not Enough Information

Is Event Viewer giving up any clues right after a failure, and does
everything look ok in Device Manager?

For the VB6 problem, I had this in Event Viewer, although I cannot be
certain that it was due to the hanging:

Faulting application vb6.exe, version 6.0.89.88, faulting module vb6.exe, version 6.0.89.88, fault address 0x0009b48e.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

I can't find anything in there referencing Telnet however.

P.S. Telnet is very insecure - if telneting into an *ix box, you
really should be using ssh - telnet send/receives everything in open
text, even passwords - and since it transmits character by character
it is very easy to intercept/packet sniff.

Yep, agreed. I just use it internally on my network.

Thanks,
Campbell

 

[WinGuy]

Well, Campbell, this one seems to have hair. The common point between the 2
different seeming problems is the task manager response, although I doubt
the task manager itself is at fault and I also doubt that telnet itself or
your vb app is at fault. I have a feeling that explorer or one of its
dependencies is at fault. Out of curiosity, after the telnet app dissapears
from task manager -- what happens if you right-click the desktop and select
refresh? Will it minimize? Also, does telnet do the same weirdness if you
boot into safe mode with networking? How about safe mode without networking,
telnet won't be able to connect but can you close it properly after it
tries? If so, maybe this is a core networking problem, especially if your VB
app is accessing network in some way at startup. I think you indicated
other apps hang too, further reason to suspect a core problem instead of an
app problem. Unfortunately, the core problem could be either software or
hardware at this point in diagnostics.

You've run things like up to date antivirus, got a firewall going, obtained
& updated & used spybot s&d (turn on its 2 resident programs from advanced
mode tools), adaware-6, spywareblaster & spywareguard?

Set a restore point. And did you try going back to an earlier restore time
when the problem did not occur?

Have you tried the standard routine from cmd prompt box:
sfc /purgecache
sfc /scannow (might require any CD of the exact same version of XP, & takes
a while to complete)
sfc /purgecache
exit

Got power supply monitoring available in your BIOS? Squeaky fans that might
be stopping when they get hot and the bearings expand? Reseated the cards &
memory, & the bios chip if it's socketed (don't take it out of socket, just
press firmly on it with the AC power cord disconnected in case the
motherboard were to flex and touch the bare metal behind it)? Ran a memory
test, or if you have more than 1 memory stick have you swapped them in their
sockets?

Tried a repair re-install with the exact same CD used to install XP with?
Don't try that with another CD or you might permanently get locked out and
have to go buy the full retail version of XP Pro to get out of that mess.

If that don't do it, get these things & learn how to set up their filtering:
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/listdlls.shtml
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/filemon.shtml
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/regmon.shtml

Give 'em a watch while you reproduce the error condition.