'Error in intialization'

[ambrosia13]

Hi everyone,

I have recently been experiencing a problem with my seldom-use
Averatec 6200 which is running SP2. This machine is mainly used fo
some light word processing, browsing, and occasional DVD playback.

About four days ago, I began to experience the following:

During the course of normal use (e.g. running IE and/or MS Offic
Word), a small window will open which reads 'Error in initialization -
parameter is not valid.' The window contains an 'Okay' button at th
bottom. This button is not clickable, and hitting the 'Enter' key seem
to be the only way of clearing the window.

After clearing this window, the screen goes entirely black, and then
new window opens which reads 'Index was out of range. Must b
non-negative and less than the collection size. Parameter name: index.
As with the first window, there is an unclickable 'Okay' button. Hittin
the 'Enter' key 2-3 times clears this window and restores the compute
to the state it was in prior to blackscreening.

The frequency of this error varies. Sometimes, it will occur every fiv
minutes. At other times, it may only happen once during a given session



I have been unable to isolate the cause of the error. I originall
suspected IE was the culprit, but I have since seen the error occu
while IE was not running. Through extensive scans with AVG, Ad-Adware
and Spybot, I have ruled out the possibility that some malware coul
have infected my computer and caused settings to change.

I have searched for errors similar to mine, and while I have foun
reports of very similar error messages (the exact same text even), al
of the errors like this I have seen on other forums have occurred whil
using Visual Basic .NET, Windows Forms Designer, ASP DataGrid, and th
like. I use none of these, so I am confused as to why I would b
receiving this error.

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks in advance! :

 

[Leonard Grey]

In my opinion, your computer is likely infected. However, here are some
steps to take that might be helpful:

Is the error message explained in more detail in Event Viewer?

Can you open Task Manager when the message appears? If so, find out
which application or process is displaying the message.

 

[ambrosia13]

Thanks for your help. It turns out my computer was plagued by an
infection of sorts: buggy screensaver software. While the error message
wasn't detailed any further in Event Viewer, I thought a bit about what
software, if any, I had installed recently. The only thing I could
think of was some screensaver designer freeware I had installed about a
month ago.

After doing some research on a couple mysterious tasks that were
running, I decided that this software could be the culprit, especially
considering the frequnecy of the error. I am knocking on wood as I type
this, but I have uninstalled the buggy screensaver software and all
seems well.

;3185366']In my opinion, your computer is likely infected. However, here
are some
steps to take that might be helpful:

Is the error message explained in more detail in Event Viewer?

Can you open Task Manager when the message appears? If so, find out
which application or process is displaying the message.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

ambrosia13 wrote:-
Hi everyone,

I have recently been experiencing a problem with my seldom-used
Averatec 6200 which is running SP2. This machine is mainly used for
some light word processing, browsing, and occasional DVD playback.

About four days ago, I began to experience the following:

During the course of normal use (e.g. running IE and/or MS Office
Word), a small window will open which reads 'Error in initialization
--
parameter is not valid.' The window contains an 'Okay' button at the
bottom. This button is not clickable, and hitting the 'Enter' key
seems
to be the only way of clearing the window.

After clearing this window, the screen goes entirely black, and then
a
new window opens which reads 'Index was out of range. Must be
non-negative and less than the collection size. Parameter name:
index.'
As with the first window, there is an unclickable 'Okay' button.
Hitting
the 'Enter' key 2-3 times clears this window and restores the
computer
to the state it was in prior to blackscreening.

The frequency of this error varies. Sometimes, it will occur every
five
minutes. At other times, it may only happen once during a given
session.



I have been unable to isolate the cause of the error. I originally
suspected IE was the culprit, but I have since seen the error occur
while IE was not running. Through extensive scans with AVG,
Ad-Adware,
and Spybot, I have ruled out the possibility that some malware could
have infected my computer and caused settings to change.

I have searched for errors similar to mine, and while I have found
reports of very similar error messages (the exact same text even),
all
of the errors like this I have seen on other forums have occurred
while
using Visual Basic .NET, Windows Forms Designer, ASP DataGrid, and
the
like. I use none of these, so I am confused as to why I would be
receiving this error.

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks in advance!



-

 

[nass]

I hope you done a thorough/complete scan for both malware and viruese on
your machine!

1... First, try to clean up your caches, Internet files and delete cookies
by doing this:
Click Start >> Control Panel >> Double click Network and Internet
Connections >> Double click Internet Options.
On the IE properties windows you will see these Tabs:
General | Security | Privacy | Content | Connections | Programs |
Advanced
Under General Tab clear your History, Internet Files and Cookies.
Then click on Advanced tab and scroll down to under the Browsing Option:
[&] Browsing
[ ] Enable Third-Party browser extensions (Req Rest) uncheck this box.
Then click on Programs Tab and click Manage Add-Ons and Disable all non
Verified Add-Ons (You should Renable them later one-by-one and see the
culprit and update it or remove it.
How to manage Add-Ons:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/883256
Scan for malware from here:
SuperAntispyware - Free
http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-gb/default.htm?s_cid=sah
http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-gb/default.htm
Run a scan from here on-line:
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx
Download Avast Cleaner (offline scanner) from here:
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cleaner.html
Comodo BOClean : Anti-Malware Version 4.27
http://www.comodo.com/boclean/boclean.html

Run disk clean up on your Drive.
You can download this tool o run clean up:
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds/downloading-slim

HTH,
nass
---
http://www.nasstec.co.uk

Thanks for your help. It turns out my computer was plagued by an
infection of sorts: buggy screensaver software. While the error message
wasn't detailed any further in Event Viewer, I thought a bit about what
software, if any, I had installed recently. The only thing I could
think of was some screensaver designer freeware I had installed about a
month ago.

After doing some research on a couple mysterious tasks that were
running, I decided that this software could be the culprit, especially
considering the frequnecy of the error. I am knocking on wood as I type
this, but I have uninstalled the buggy screensaver software and all
seems well.

;3185366']In my opinion, your computer is likely infected. However, here
are some
steps to take that might be helpful:

Is the error message explained in more detail in Event Viewer?

Can you open Task Manager when the message appears? If so, find out
which application or process is displaying the message.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

ambrosia13 wrote:-
Hi everyone,

I have recently been experiencing a problem with my seldom-used
Averatec 6200 which is running SP2. This machine is mainly used for
some light word processing, browsing, and occasional DVD playback.

About four days ago, I began to experience the following:

During the course of normal use (e.g. running IE and/or MS Office
Word), a small window will open which reads 'Error in initialization
--
parameter is not valid.' The window contains an 'Okay' button at the
bottom. This button is not clickable, and hitting the 'Enter' key
seems
to be the only way of clearing the window.

After clearing this window, the screen goes entirely black, and then
a
new window opens which reads 'Index was out of range. Must be
non-negative and less than the collection size. Parameter name:
index.'
As with the first window, there is an unclickable 'Okay' button.
Hitting
the 'Enter' key 2-3 times clears this window and restores the
computer
to the state it was in prior to blackscreening.

The frequency of this error varies. Sometimes, it will occur every
five
minutes. At other times, it may only happen once during a given
session.



I have been unable to isolate the cause of the error. I originally
suspected IE was the culprit, but I have since seen the error occur
while IE was not running. Through extensive scans with AVG,
Ad-Adware,
and Spybot, I have ruled out the possibility that some malware could
have infected my computer and caused settings to change.

I have searched for errors similar to mine, and while I have found
reports of very similar error messages (the exact same text even),
all
of the errors like this I have seen on other forums have occurred
while
using Visual Basic .NET, Windows Forms Designer, ASP DataGrid, and
the
like. I use none of these, so I am confused as to why I would be
receiving this error.

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks in advance!



-

 

[Leonard Grey]

Screen savers downloaded from the internet frequently contain malware.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Thanks for your help. It turns out my computer was plagued by an
infection of sorts: buggy screensaver software. While the error message
wasn't detailed any further in Event Viewer, I thought a bit about what
software, if any, I had installed recently. The only thing I could
think of was some screensaver designer freeware I had installed about a
month ago.

After doing some research on a couple mysterious tasks that were
running, I decided that this software could be the culprit, especially
considering the frequnecy of the error. I am knocking on wood as I type
this, but I have uninstalled the buggy screensaver software and all
seems well.

;3185366']In my opinion, your computer is likely infected. However, here
are some
steps to take that might be helpful:

Is the error message explained in more detail in Event Viewer?

Can you open Task Manager when the message appears? If so, find out
which application or process is displaying the message.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

ambrosia13 wrote:-
Hi everyone,

I have recently been experiencing a problem with my seldom-used
Averatec 6200 which is running SP2. This machine is mainly used for
some light word processing, browsing, and occasional DVD playback.

About four days ago, I began to experience the following:

During the course of normal use (e.g. running IE and/or MS Office
Word), a small window will open which reads 'Error in initialization
--
parameter is not valid.' The window contains an 'Okay' button at the
bottom. This button is not clickable, and hitting the 'Enter' key
seems
to be the only way of clearing the window.

After clearing this window, the screen goes entirely black, and then
a
new window opens which reads 'Index was out of range. Must be
non-negative and less than the collection size. Parameter name:
index.'
As with the first window, there is an unclickable 'Okay' button.
Hitting
the 'Enter' key 2-3 times clears this window and restores the
computer
to the state it was in prior to blackscreening.

The frequency of this error varies. Sometimes, it will occur every
five
minutes. At other times, it may only happen once during a given
session.



I have been unable to isolate the cause of the error. I originally
suspected IE was the culprit, but I have since seen the error occur
while IE was not running. Through extensive scans with AVG,
Ad-Adware,
and Spybot, I have ruled out the possibility that some malware could
have infected my computer and caused settings to change.

I have searched for errors similar to mine, and while I have found
reports of very similar error messages (the exact same text even),
all
of the errors like this I have seen on other forums have occurred
while
using Visual Basic .NET, Windows Forms Designer, ASP DataGrid, and
the
like. I use none of these, so I am confused as to why I would be
receiving this error.

Anyone have an idea?

Thanks in advance!



-