File associations very slow to open

[Guest]

I am running XP SP2 with all the up to date hotfixes installed - I also have
Norton Internet Security installed.

I am having problems opening applications associated with some of my files.
Some time after booting (time varies, but never more than 24 hours) when I
double click on one of a number of file types in windows explorer it can take
up to 2 mins for the associated application to open with the chosen file.

Initially task manager shows that windows explorer is 'not responding', but
by waiting for some time eventually the application opens and task manager
shows windows explorer 'running' again. This only seems to happen to some
associations (.txt, .doc, .htm and possibly others) other associations (,pdf,
..zip) still work as they should.

I have tried opening the problem associations from the 'run' command, but
this has the same slow response time.

The only way to cure this affliction is to reboot and then everything is
fine for a few more hours.

It would seem that something is running at some point which affects some of
my associations. I do not know enough about the mechanics of the system to
resolve this. I would be grateful for any pointers as to what to look for on
my system to find out what might be causing this as it is driving me to
distraction.

Thanks in anticipation.

David

 

[Guest]

Hi David,
It's looks like you have a lot of lurking Processors taking your memory
usage to the limit,is your ANti Virus Up to date and you have enough disk
space on your hard disk,do Scan in safe mode and check for any
spyware,because some can slow down the system.
Finaly check if you let MS manage your virtual memory or being set to (nMBs)
I hope that I have much of a help to you
nass

 

[Malke]

I am running XP SP2 with all the up to date hotfixes installed - I
also have Norton Internet Security installed.

I am having problems opening applications associated with some of my
files. Some time after booting (time varies, but never more than 24
hours) when I double click on one of a number of file types in windows
explorer it can take up to 2 mins for the associated application to
open with the chosen file.

Initially task manager shows that windows explorer is 'not
responding', but by waiting for some time eventually the application
opens and task manager
shows windows explorer 'running' again. This only seems to happen to
some associations (.txt, .doc, .htm and possibly others) other
associations (,pdf, .zip) still work as they should.

I have tried opening the problem associations from the 'run' command,
but this has the same slow response time.

(snip)

What is the virus/malware status of the computer? If you think it is
clean, what programs (including versions) did you use to determine
this?

Make sure the computer is 100% virus/malware-free:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

When you know your computer is not infested with anything, if you are
still having difficulties do clean-boot troubleshooting:

Clean Boot - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353
and How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

Malke

 

[Guest]

Hi David,
It's looks like you have a lot of lurking Processors taking your memory
usage to the limit,is your ANti Virus Up to date and you have enough disk
space on your hard disk,do Scan in safe mode and check for any
spyware,because some can slow down the system.
Finaly check if you let MS manage your virtual memory or being set to (nMBs)
I hope that I have much of a help to you
nass

Thanks for your suggestion - I don't think that memory shortage is the
problem. Task manager says that I have plenty and there is loads of disk
space avaiable, also all aplications run fine and are no slower than usual it
is just the opening of files using their associations that is slow. If I
open the application and then open the doc from there there is no problem.
My anti virus is up to date and I regularly run anti spyware apps, so I think
that the machine is clean

Thanks again,

David

 

[Guest]

:

What is the virus/malware status of the computer? If you think it is
clean, what programs (including versions) did you use to determine
this?

I believe that my machine is clean - I am using Norton anti-virus 2006 which
is up to date and the following spyware:

Microsoft anti-spyware (beta1) definitions 2 Jan 06
Spybot S&D 1.3 definitions 6 Jan 06
BT Yahoo! anti-spy v1.14 up to date
AdAware SE 1.06r1 definitions SE1r*% 4 Jan 06

I run these on a regular basis and all are currently saying that I am clean.

Make sure the computer is 100% virus/malware-free:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

When you know your computer is not infested with anything, if you are
still having difficulties do clean-boot troubleshooting:

Clean Boot - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353
and How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

Will clean boot troubleshooting show anything since that machine works fine
just after reboot it is only after a few hours that is starts misbehaving?

Thanks for your help,

David

 

[Malke]

I believe that my machine is clean - I am using Norton anti-virus 2006
which is up to date and the following spyware:

Microsoft anti-spyware (beta1) definitions 2 Jan 06
Spybot S&D 1.3 definitions 6 Jan 06
BT Yahoo! anti-spy v1.14 up to date
AdAware SE 1.06r1 definitions SE1r*% 4 Jan 06

I run these on a regular basis and all are currently saying that I am
clean.

Will clean boot troubleshooting show anything since that machine works
fine just after reboot it is only after a few hours that is starts
misbehaving?

Probably not if everything works well and then slows down. Either you've
got processes/programs starting up as Scheduled Tasks (not very likely
but of course you can check) or maybe your computer is overheating.
Since you've pretty well determined the computer is malware-free, try
some hardware troubleshooting:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

Malke

 

[Guest]

Hi wings,
That good you didn't give the scum the chance to get your system,but you
install a lot of software to do just scan for adware,no wonder why the system
slow in . You sould uninstall at least two of these Ad/spyware software.

why you don't try to uninstall the unwanted softwares/programmes ( which you
never used or it is n't system files)and try to delete its files/folders from
both the Wins explorer and the registry,(but with the registry if you are not
advanced user don't try it), it will make matters worse.

Check your system rning proccessers and type them on a pice of paper and
check them in google.com to see which you can disable and which you can't.

Finally my guess may be your AV taken a lot of usage of your memory,I tried
Norton every time updated you feel the PC start to be slower, the case with
every AVs,but noticeable with Norton.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Nass and Malke for you replies - unfortunately I think that you have
both misunderstood me. It is NOT the computer that runs slow, everything is
absolutely fine and runs like a dream EXCEPT when I try to open one of these
particular documents by association. Once the file does eventually open
everything is fine again as far as computer performance is concerned.
Currently the only work around I have is to open the target application (say,
MSWord for a .doc) and then open the file I want from there...its so much
easier to use file associations to open a file when they are working
correctly.

Thanks again,

David

 

[Malke]

Thanks Nass and Malke for you replies - unfortunately I think that you
have
both misunderstood me. It is NOT the computer that runs slow,
everything is absolutely fine and runs like a dream EXCEPT when I try
to open one of these
particular documents by association. Once the file does eventually
open everything is fine again as far as computer performance is
concerned. Currently the only work around I have is to open the target
application (say, MSWord for a .doc) and then open the file I want
from there...its so much easier to use file associations to open a
file when they are working correctly.

You're right; I did misunderstand the problem and I apologize. I'll give
you some suggestions to try and narrow down the cause of the issue.
With all troubleshooting, make only one change at a time and test after
each change.

1. Turn off the Indexing Service. Start>Run>services.msc [enter]. Now
scroll down to the Indexing Service, stop and disable it. If this
solves the issue, you're done. If not, continue with Step 2.

2. Do Start>Run>msinfo32 [enter]. In the left pane, expand the Software
Environment. Left-click on Startup Programs and then click in the right
pane to focus it. Then go to Edit>Select All and then Copy. You can
then paste the information about the Startup Programs to Notepad or
directly to a newsgroup post. Do the same thing for the Services entry.
Fix any readability issues and then paste the information into a
newsgroup post so I can take a look at it.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Malke,

1. Turn off the Indexing Service. Start>Run>services.msc [enter]. Now
scroll down to the Indexing Service, stop and disable it. If this
solves the issue, you're done. If not, continue with Step 2.

Checked this out - the indexing service is set to manual and is not started

2. Do Start>Run>msinfo32 [enter]. In the left pane, expand the Software
Environment. Left-click on Startup Programs and then click in the right
pane to focus it. Then go to Edit>Select All and then Copy. You can
then paste the information about the Startup Programs to Notepad or
directly to a newsgroup post. Do the same thing for the Services entry.
Fix any readability issues and then paste the information into a
newsgroup post so I can take a look at it.

Well, I did as you said above - I cannot believe the list of startup items
that I have. It runs to about 70 pages in notepad!! Maybe that's why my
machine takes an age to boot Here is a sample of the first few (clearly
I cannot paste the whole lot here):

$ncsp$ $ncsp$.inf NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
$ncsp$ $ncsp$.inf .DEFAULT
Startup
$winnt$ $winnt$.inf NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
$winnt$ $winnt$.inf .DEFAULT Startup
12520437 12520437.cpx NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
12520437 12520437.cpx .DEFAULT Startup
12520850 12520850.cpx NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
12520850 12520850.cpx .DEFAULT Startup
1_ssetup 1_ssetup.ini NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
1_ssetup 1_ssetup.ini .DEFAULT Startup
2_ssetup 2_ssetup.ini NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
2_ssetup 2_ssetup.ini .DEFAULT Startup
440685ABD5 440685abd5.sys NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
440685ABD5 440685abd5.sys .DEFAULT Startup
6to4svc 6to4svc.dll NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
6to4svc 6to4svc.dll .DEFAULT
Startup
ADPanel adpanel.cpl NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
ADPanel adpanel.cpl .DEFAULT Startup
AGSCSSTI agscssti.dll NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
AGSCSSTI agscssti.dll .DEFAULT
Startup
AGUSBSTI agusbsti.dll NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
AGUSBSTI agusbsti.dll .DEFAULT Startup
AIM c:\progra~1\aim\aim.exe
-cnetwait.odl DBP\David HKU\S-1-5-21-3924064129-3277439761-1653462319-1006\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
ALSNDMGR alsndmgr.cpl NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
ALSNDMGR alsndmgr.wav NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
ALSNDMGR alsndmgr.cpl .DEFAULT Startup
ALSNDMGR alsndmgr.wav .DEFAULT Startup
........and so it goes on

The list of services is a more manageable size of about 4 pages. Do you
want me to post them too or are they useless with out the full list of
startup items?

Many thanks for your time on this, much appreciated.

David

 

[Malke]

wings wrote:

Hi David -

Seventy pages of startup items! Are you *sure* you looked at the Startup
Programs entry under Software Environment? There is no way you should
have this tremendous amount of things running at startup or in the
background. To give you a comparison, the Startup Programs section of
my XPSP2 Pro from msinfo32 has 11 entries.

I'll comment on a few of the items in the "A" category below and then
finish up with some suggestions. I used Google, so when I say "this
shows up" I mean I Googled the filename.

$ncsp$.inf - Googling this brought up a link about the Sony DRM fiasco.
So maybe you have that Sony CD copy protection crap on your machine? Or
perhaps one of the trojans that quickly used the Sony vulnerability to
install a rootkit virus.
$winnt$.inf - See above comments for this one.
12520437.cpx - This seems to be a Microsoft file for Office.
1_ssetup.ini - This shows up in links for various security forums
connected with malware, but they aren't English and I can't read them
440685abd5.sys - Didn't get any hits; might be malware, might not.
6to4svc.dll - Part of Windows, but why in Startup?
adpanel.cpl - Has to do with Iomega. Got a Zip drive?
agscssti.dll - Agfa Scanner
aim.exe - AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
-cnetwait.odl - Connected with AIM
ALSNDMGR - Connected with your soundcard

Please go back and run msinfo32 again and make *sure* you have looked in
the right place. Then post back to me. It's 5:35 AM my time and I do
need to go out in an hour but I'll definitely check back later this
morning.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Malke

Thanks again for your time on this!!

First things first - I think that I might have found the spanner getting in
the works with my original problem. I've noticed that in the mornings I
still have a process called 'GIANTanti-spyware updater' running. This, as I
am sure you are aware, is the Anti-spyware beta software produced by
Microsoft. I wondered why the updater was still running when the update is
scheduled to run at 1:00am. At the time I noticed this I was having my file
association trouble - so I terminated the updater, which reported itself as
'not responding' although task manager showed it as 'running'. A bit later,
just before resorting to a reboot again, I tried launching a .htm file from
explorer and hey presto it started instantly. This is the first time that I
have had the problem clear without a reboot. So I *think* that this updater
is causing the problem - I shall wait and see what happens tomorrow.

You now have me concerned about my system as a whole. For some time now it
has been taking an age to boot (10mins), but I have been unable to fathom why
or what is being loaded that is taking the time.

Once again I ran MSinfo32, when to Software Environment and selected Startup
Programs, as you said....and yes the same *vast* list was displayed. It
doesn't help that everything is duplicated for 'NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM' and
'.DEFAULT' is that correct?

I do not understand where I might have picked up the Sony malware stuff as I
thought that this only affected CDs sold in the US and I am in the UK and
have taken little interest in the matter. I consider myself to be a 'safe'
user...I do not use peer-to-peer or warez or anything that might open me to
abuse, so I don't know where this stuff could have come from. If I look in
the 'startup' tab of MSConfig I have the programs that I expect loading at
startup. where is all this other stuff coming from? Is there any way to
clear this out on a temporary basis to see what I can get rid of and what to
keep?

To comment on you findings though:

$ncsp$.inf - Googling this brought up a link about the Sony DRM fiasco.
So maybe you have that Sony CD copy protection crap on your machine? Or
perhaps one of the trojans that quickly used the Sony vulnerability to
install a rootkit virus.

As I said above don't know where I could have got anything to do with Sony
from.

$winnt$.inf - See above comments for this one.

Same again

12520437.cpx - This seems to be a Microsoft file for Office.

Office 2003 installed

1_ssetup.ini - This shows up in links for various security forums
connected with malware, but they aren't English and I can't read them
??

440685abd5.sys - Didn't get any hits; might be malware, might not.
??

6to4svc.dll - Part of Windows, but why in Startup?

Don't know.

adpanel.cpl - Has to do with Iomega. Got a Zip drive?

Yep, have an old Zip drive

agscssti.dll - Agfa Scanner

Used to have an Agfa scanner - long gone now

aim.exe - AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)

I run AIM

-cnetwait.odl - Connected with AIM
OK

ALSNDMGR - Connected with your soundcard

Expected

Obviously I could do what you have done but I'd be here this time next year
with 70 pages to wade through. Where is the system info picking this stuff
up from? Is there a way of reverting to the standard setup without resorting
to a fresh install?

Once again thanks for your time on this. If you want to email me at
'coolcatsAThotmailDOTcoDOTuk' I will send you the full version of what system
info gives me - not that I expect you to sort it, but it may give you a
better clue as to what is awry with my machine.

Regards,

David

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

Regarding the MSINFO bit, here you go for the fix:

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/msinfofix.htm

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Malke

Thanks again for your time on this!!

First things first - I think that I might have found the spanner getting in
the works with my original problem. I've noticed that in the mornings I
still have a process called 'GIANTanti-spyware updater' running. This, as I
am sure you are aware, is the Anti-spyware beta software produced by
Microsoft. I wondered why the updater was still running when the update is
scheduled to run at 1:00am. At the time I noticed this I was having my file
association trouble - so I terminated the updater, which reported itself as
'not responding' although task manager showed it as 'running'. A bit later,
just before resorting to a reboot again, I tried launching a .htm file from
explorer and hey presto it started instantly. This is the first time that I
have had the problem clear without a reboot. So I *think* that this updater
is causing the problem - I shall wait and see what happens tomorrow.

You now have me concerned about my system as a whole. For some time now it
has been taking an age to boot (10mins), but I have been unable to fathom
why
or what is being loaded that is taking the time.

Once again I ran MSinfo32, when to Software Environment and selected Startup
Programs, as you said....and yes the same *vast* list was displayed. It
doesn't help that everything is duplicated for 'NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM' and
'.DEFAULT' is that correct?

I do not understand where I might have picked up the Sony malware stuff as I
thought that this only affected CDs sold in the US and I am in the UK and
have taken little interest in the matter. I consider myself to be a 'safe'
user...I do not use peer-to-peer or warez or anything that might open me to
abuse, so I don't know where this stuff could have come from. If I look in
the 'startup' tab of MSConfig I have the programs that I expect loading at
startup. where is all this other stuff coming from? Is there any way to
clear this out on a temporary basis to see what I can get rid of and what to
keep?

To comment on you findings though:

$ncsp$.inf - Googling this brought up a link about the Sony DRM fiasco.
So maybe you have that Sony CD copy protection crap on your machine? Or
perhaps one of the trojans that quickly used the Sony vulnerability to
install a rootkit virus.

As I said above don't know where I could have got anything to do with Sony
from.

$winnt$.inf - See above comments for this one.

Same again

12520437.cpx - This seems to be a Microsoft file for Office.

Office 2003 installed

1_ssetup.ini - This shows up in links for various security forums
connected with malware, but they aren't English and I can't read them
??

440685abd5.sys - Didn't get any hits; might be malware, might not.
??

6to4svc.dll - Part of Windows, but why in Startup?

<snip>

 

[Malke]

wings wrote:

See comments inline:

Thanks again for your time on this!!

No problem!

First things first - I think that I might have found the spanner
getting in the works with my original problem. I've noticed that in
the mornings I still have a process called 'GIANTanti-spyware updater'
running. This, as I am sure you are aware, is the Anti-spyware beta
software produced by Microsoft.

Either uninstall MSAS or stop it from running in the background. Do the
latter from within the program. I can't answer specific questions about
MSAS since I don't use it, but I can tell you that the program is still
*beta*. "Beta" software is software that is not finished and is still
in the bug-checking phase. That said, lots of people have had good
success w/MSAS so I don't want it to appear that I'm bad-mouthing it.
However, it is obviously giving you trouble. It may conflict with
something else on your system. Here's a link for MSAS support:
http://communities.microsoft.com/newsgroups/default.asp?ICP=spyware&sLCID=us

You now have me concerned about my system as a whole. For some time
now it has been taking an age to boot (10mins), but I have been unable
to fathom why or what is being loaded that is taking the time.

A healthy Windows XP system should boot within a few minutes. Ten
minutes shows that something is very wrong indeed. I think what I'd
like you to do is:

1. Uninstall MSAS.
2. Uninstall the Yahoo Antispy program.

Then do the cleanup and preliminary work I talk about in the Malware
Removal section (I know you've been there, but humor me please).
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Then I'd like you to make sure your Ad-aware is the latest version and
get the current updates. Install Spybot Search & Destroy and update it.
Then I'd like you to scan with those programs in Safe Mode. We're just
narrowing down our focus.

Now go back into Regular Mode and see how fast the system starts up and
how well it runs. I also want you to do some clean-boot
troubleshooting, but let's save that for after you do the above things.

I don't provide email support, but I'm happy to work with you as we are
now doing. OR you may want a local person to have a look. Someone who
can actually see the machine may be able to solve the issues far
quicker than someone just reading newsgroup posts. But I'm happy to
take the time with you, so don't feel bad if you want to continue.

I'll check this thread later.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Ramesh,

Regarding the MSINFO bit, here you go for the fix:

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/msinfofix.htm

Ahha - that fixed it!! I now have a much more reasonable list, thanks very
much.

David

 

[Ramesh, MS-MVP]

You're welcome David.

--
Regards,

Ramesh Srinivasan, Microsoft MVP [Windows XP Shell/User]
Windows® XP Troubleshooting http://www.winhelponline.com


Ramesh,

Regarding the MSINFO bit, here you go for the fix:

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/msinfofix.htm

Ahha - that fixed it!! I now have a much more reasonable list, thanks very
much.

David

 

[Guest]

Malke,

A healthy Windows XP system should boot within a few minutes. Ten
minutes shows that something is very wrong indeed. I think what I'd
like you to do is:

1. Uninstall MSAS.
2. Uninstall the Yahoo Antispy program.

Then do the cleanup and preliminary work I talk about in the Malware
Removal section (I know you've been there, but humor me please).
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Then I'd like you to make sure your Ad-aware is the latest version and
get the current updates. Install Spybot Search & Destroy and update it.
Then I'd like you to scan with those programs in Safe Mode. We're just
narrowing down our focus.

Now go back into Regular Mode and see how fast the system starts up and
how well it runs. I also want you to do some clean-boot
troubleshooting, but let's save that for after you do the above things.

I have now done all of the above, but it has made no difference to the
startup time!!

I have to say that although it is a frustration the machine seems to work
fine once it is up an running so I am not in too much of a panic to get it
sorted if there is no quick fix. I have checked through the list of startup
programs in MSconfig and in my 'new' sysinfo and all appears to be stuff that
I use on a regular basis, so there is no room for manoeuvre there.

I am due to build a new machine in the next few months so I think that I'll
put up with things until I have my virgin system to screw up

Many thanks for your help,

David

 

[Malke]

wings wrote:
s.

I have now done all of the above, but it has made no difference to the
startup time!!

I have to say that although it is a frustration the machine seems to
work fine once it is up an running so I am not in too much of a panic
to get it
sorted if there is no quick fix. I have checked through the list of
startup programs in MSconfig and in my 'new' sysinfo and all appears
to be stuff that I use on a regular basis, so there is no room for
manoeuvre there.

I am due to build a new machine in the next few months so I think that
I'll put up with things until I have my virgin system to screw up

Hi, David. The only other thing I can think of is that perhaps you have
a bad driver, the system is searching for a network resource or printer
that no longer exists, or your computer is haunted. ;-)

I hope you enjoy your new computer and that it behaves better for you.
Good luck,

Malke