Unstable in Safe Mode

[Terry Pinnell]

As one of many steps to try solving various problems on my XP SP1 PC
(probably caused by installation then uninstall of SP2), I booted to
Safe Mode and ran the Component Console, i.e. Run > dcomcnfg.exe

When I expand the Component System line, then click the Computers
line, it closes unceremoniously. In Event Viewer and elsewhere, I was
able to get these messages:

Event Viewer COM+
The run-time environment was unable to initialize for transactions
required to support transactional components. Make sure that MS-DTC is
running. (DtcGetTransactionManagerEx(): hr = 0x8004d01b)
====================
The run-time environment has detected an inconsistency in its internal
state. This indicates a potential instability in the process that
could be caused by the custom components running in the COM+
application, the components they make use of, or other factors. Error
in d:\nt_qxp\com\com1x\src\comsvcs\package\cpackage.cpp(1184), hr =
8007043c: InitEventCollector failed
====================
The COM+ Event System detected a bad return code during its internal
processing. HRESULT was 8007043C from line 44 of
d:\nt_qxp\com\com1x\src\events\tier1\eventsystemobj.cpp. Please
contact Microsoft Product Support Services to report this error.

Do these mean anything to anyone here please? They are meaningless to
me, although obviously they look serious.

Strangely, if I reboot back to my normal account (which has
administrator status), I can click the Computers entry without getting
that crash.

 

[Richard Urban]

Terry,

You have been posting here long enough to have read about the desirability
of using a disk imaging application. Why don't you begin to use one, BEFORE
you make changes to your operating system.

As an example, I imaged my drive C "prior" to removing Norton AntiVirus 2004
and installing AntiVirus 2005. I had a glitch during the install. It took me
5 minutes to get back to where I was, prior to beginning the procedure. On
the 2nd try, everything went fine!

Suggest you use the same (-:

--

Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Do you even need DCOM or COM+?? Why not disable all DCOM/COM+ crap?
The only downside is a few errors in Event Viewer and you won't be able to
open Component Services (comexp.msc).

On your system, see if you have any installed "COM+" Applications. If not,
you can probably disable this service with no side effects (besides the
Event Log complaining upon reboots).

Navigate to C:\Program Files\ComPlus Applications and see.

Disable these in Services...
COM+ Event System
COM+ System Application

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#COM+_System_Application

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#COM+_Event_System

DCOM Windows XP - You Do Not Really Need It!
http://www.updatexp.com/dcom-windows-xp.html

How to disable DCOM support in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;825750

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Do you even need DCOM or COM+?? Why not disable all DCOM/COM+ crap?
The only downside is a few errors in Event Viewer and you won't be able to
open Component Services (comexp.msc).

Thanks, Wes. You're probably right; as a sole user with no network, I
guess I can do without them. I am however presently running with
rather more than the 'Black Viper minimum', while I try to resolve the
couple of problems I mentioned, implicating WMI. (Covered in separate
posts: essentially, msinfo32.exe doesn't work; and I get No
Dependencies for all Services.)

On your system, see if you have any installed "COM+" Applications. If not,
you can probably disable this service with no side effects (besides the
Event Log complaining upon reboots).

Navigate to C:\Program Files\ComPlus Applications and see.

That was an interesting tip. I found just one. In a folder
C:\Program Files\ComPlus
Applications\{21D61CE6-A517-11D1-9D8B-0020781039AF}
there were just two files
AEMTSSvc.dll and AEMTSSvc.PAK
The latter is readable in a text editor, but apart from a few lines
like:
Description=APE MTS Transaction Account Component
Name=Visual Studio APE Package
Description=APE MTS Transaction Package for Microsoft Visual Studio
6.0
it's gobbledegook to me. (I uninstalled VB6 many months ago, as I
reconciled myself to never having time to learn it properly!)

I backed up the folder and then deleted it.

Disable these in Services...
COM+ Event System
COM+ System Application

I've done that, for the moment, despite my comments above.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#COM+_System_Application

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#COM+_Event_System

DCOM Windows XP - You Do Not Really Need It!
http://www.updatexp.com/dcom-windows-xp.html

How to disable DCOM support in Windows
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;825750

I'll try that too, after a registry backup.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Terry,

You have been posting here long enough to have read about the desirability
of using a disk imaging application. Why don't you begin to use one, BEFORE
you make changes to your operating system.

As an example, I imaged my drive C "prior" to removing Norton AntiVirus 2004
and installing AntiVirus 2005. I had a glitch during the install. It took me
5 minutes to get back to where I was, prior to beginning the procedure. On
the 2nd try, everything went fine!

Suggest you use the same (-:

What made you think I don't, when occasion warrants?

 

[Terry Pinnell]

Thanks, Wes. You're probably right; as a sole user with no network, I
guess I can do without them. I am however presently running with
rather more than the 'Black Viper minimum', while I try to resolve the
couple of problems I mentioned, implicating WMI. (Covered in separate
posts: essentially, msinfo32.exe doesn't work; and I get No
Dependencies for all Services.)


That was an interesting tip. I found just one. In a folder
C:\Program Files\ComPlus
Applications\{21D61CE6-A517-11D1-9D8B-0020781039AF}
there were just two files
AEMTSSvc.dll and AEMTSSvc.PAK
The latter is readable in a text editor, but apart from a few lines
like:
Description=APE MTS Transaction Account Component
Name=Visual Studio APE Package
Description=APE MTS Transaction Package for Microsoft Visual Studio
6.0
it's gobbledegook to me. (I uninstalled VB6 many months ago, as I
reconciled myself to never having time to learn it properly!)

I backed up the folder and then deleted it.


I've done that, for the moment, despite my comments above.


I'll try that too, after a registry backup.

But I was unable to do so. Those instructions on how to disable DCOM
include this:

"1. Run Dcomcnfg.exe.
2. If you are running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, perform these
additional steps: a. Click the Component Services node under Console
Root.
b. Open the Computers folder.
c. For the local computer, right-click My Computer, and then click
Properties."

Here, there is no Properties item, as you see from this screenshot:
http://www.terrypin.dial.pipex.com/Misc/DCOM1.gif

Also, this looks identical to what I saw in Safe Mode, as reported
earlier. BTW, note the red arrow, the significance of which is unclear
to me. (No mention in Help.) Do you know what it means please?

Like much of the material under XP's Help & Support, no distinction is
made about XP Home v XP Pro. I suspect these instructions are for the
latter. I've come to learn over recent days that some 'Pro' facilities
can be run in XP Home in Safe Mode, but (a) this doesn't seem to be
one of them, and (b) Safe Mode is the unstable one!

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Terry,

It's been so long ago since I did this that I don't remember.

Since I've disabled this, if I open Component Services and go through about
the first three steps, Components Services closes. I then see four dcom &
two COM+ errors in the Event Viewer. This is to be expected, but I can't go
through the steps to see anything to help.

No idea on the red arrow.

The only difference between Pro and Home as far as *.msc (Microsoft
Management Console) files is which ones you have, not on how they work.

Pro has these, Home does not:
gpedit.msc = Group Policy
rsop.msc = Resultant Set of Policy
secpol.msc = Local Security Settings