DDE Registration Server

[Dennis C. Jr., Virginia Beach, VA]

(sometimes I do not follow my own best troubleshooting recommendations)

Since I did not write down the full text of the error message I completely
understand if there isn't much advice anyone can offer, but here is the part
of the story I have:

End user described errors occuring whenever Cut & Paste operations were
performed on the WinXP SP2 laptop issued just four months ago. These error
either occurred when "File" > "Save" was attempted on an attachment opened
directly from e-mail, when an actual Cut & Paste task was attempted, or as in
the case of what I observed today, simply while browsing through folders on
the hard drive. It seems like if either the user or I clicked folder to
fast, "explorer.exe" version 6.0.2900.3156 would error out with a fault in
module "unknown" at 0x02F84680 (Event Viewer "Application" event ID = 1000
with a corresponding "Shell stopped and was restarted" event ID = 1002).

One of the errors mentioned something about a DDE Server being (becoming)
unregistered and no longer available... and the other was with "explorer.exe"
as described above. I did manage to find the following Microsoft Support
Knowledge Base article by searching keywords "dde server"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892850/en-us

There were 6 total articles but this seems to be the one most closely
related to what the user experienced.

Is there way to determine which DDE server Windows is referring to? Is this
an actual server machine or a virtual server?

The user in question is working at another office and so even something
small I can do to delay having to re-image her entire computer would be
appreciated!

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

I would first send them to a troubleshooter for IE, and listen to their
report. Saving an attachment can get into security issues, so first I would
think eliminating some software corruption is the first step.
Internet Explorer stops responding, stops working, or restarts:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/pc_ie_intro

There is a 'current issue' with IE where the 'permissions' are trashed, and
I would then have them try that.

Aaron Stebner's WebLog Solving setup errors by using the SubInACL tool to
repair file and registry permissions:
http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2006/09/04/739820.aspx

Another possibility is that the %TEMP% folder is corrupt

start/run, type:
cleanmgr

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

I forgot to mention that DDE is a part of "file associations' Perhaps there
is some error in the association for the files in question

start/run, type:
control folders

Filetypes tab, highlight filetype, advanced button, see DDE entry. (compare
to another system)

 

[Dennis C. Jr., Virginia Beach, VA]

Mark,

Thanks for this information. For File Types "File Folder" or "Folder" it
does not look as though there is an "Application:" list in the "Advanced"
area, so I am presuming browsing with "explorer.exe" is completely dependent
upon the Operating System [core] functions and DLLs.

For File Types "CLP" (or "Clipboard Clip") the "Advanced" > "Edit..." area
does show a "Use DDE" checkbox on my system so perhaps that will be of some
use when examining the end user's system.

What Windows XP really needs, or now Vista since it is the first string
player, is an internal self-diagnostic "Advanced Control Panel" that could
exercise various sub-modules or sub-routines and show status indicators of
the results! This way if some key system components related to Time and
Date, basic File functions (like Copying), printing, user authentication and
others had failed or were performing poorly, a "red flag" colud be thrown
before they actually quit working. Of course there would have to be
suggested "fix" procedures for such things also, so I guess I am really
asking for a lot.

It just seems a desktop File explorer that stops and restarts and stops and
restarts is as good as broken cince there is no clear indication of WHAT
system component is failing (has failed, or is about to fail).

I suppose DDE is the successor to OLE and it may be bigger and better, but
it still has room for even more improvement from this hack/technicians point
of view.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

DDE (dynamic data exchange) is the relic, in this case. OLE (object linking
and embedding) was a step beyond that, and "activeX" (.ocx and .dll objects)
still more complications (regsvr32 declarations to register the activex
object in the registry)

My guess wouyld be the DDE error is really some failure to register some
activeX object. Take a look at the IE, tools menu, "Manage Add Ons" to see
what you find relative to some activeX activity, like cut and paste, or
whatever.

There are also some security settings to look over. IE, tools, options,
security tab, 'custom level' button
--
Was this helpful? Then click the "Yes" button below. Voting helps the web
interface. http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm#RateAPost

Mark L. Ferguson

Mark,

Thanks for this information. For File Types "File Folder" or "Folder" it
does not look as though there is an "Application:" list in the "Advanced"
area, so I am presuming browsing with "explorer.exe" is completely dependent
upon the Operating System [core] functions and DLLs.

For File Types "CLP" (or "Clipboard Clip") the "Advanced" > "Edit..." area
does show a "Use DDE" checkbox on my system so perhaps that will be of some
use when examining the end user's system.

What Windows XP really needs, or now Vista since it is the first string
player, is an internal self-diagnostic "Advanced Control Panel" that could
exercise various sub-modules or sub-routines and show status indicators of
the results! This way if some key system components related to Time and
Date, basic File functions (like Copying), printing, user authentication and
others had failed or were performing poorly, a "red flag" colud be thrown
before they actually quit working. Of course there would have to be
suggested "fix" procedures for such things also, so I guess I am really
asking for a lot.

It just seems a desktop File explorer that stops and restarts and stops and
restarts is as good as broken cince there is no clear indication of WHAT
system component is failing (has failed, or is about to fail).

I suppose DDE is the successor to OLE and it may be bigger and better, but
it still has room for even more improvement from this hack/technicians point
of view.

I forgot to mention that DDE is a part of "file associations' Perhaps there
is some error in the association for the files in question

start/run, type:
control folders

Filetypes tab, highlight filetype, advanced button, see DDE entry. (compare
to another system)
--
Was this helpful? Then click the "Yes" button below. Voting helps the web
interface. http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm#RateAPost

Mark L. Ferguson