Re: Program Not Responding

From: JHEarcht (JHEarcht_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 12/05/04 

Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 15:03:01 -0800

Malke,

Thanks for the response. I have concluded that this may be an OS glitch,
because I have exhausted most of the other options. As you suggested, I
opened Event Viewer, and it merely confirmed that various applications
suddenly and randomly hang for no apparent reason. [hung apps include:
kernel.dll, MSiInstaller, MS Office, MS Outlook, MS Word, and several
graphics and CAD apps] I have excluded viruses, malware, and hardware [e.g.
ran a memory tester]. I have carefully combed thru running apps and processes
in Task Manager. I have rooted-out some suspicious software in the Registry.
The only other clue I have, is that the problem may have started after an
automatic update of WinXP. Since SP2 seems to wreak havoc on some systems, I
have turned off the automatic updates. I could try to restore to a point
before each update, but since the problem is intermittent, that could take a
long time.

What I'm looking for now is some insight into the mechanics of a hang-up.
What kind of calls or commands could cause "this application is not
responding" errors"? The Knowledge Base showed lots of examples, but not much
of a pattern. Do you have any other ideas or suggestions? Thanks again,

JHE

"Malke" wrote:

> JHEarcht wrote:
>
> > Windows XP, SP1
> >
> > For the last couple of months, various applications
> > have started to lockup for no apparent reason. The
> > error message is: "This program is not responding".
> > So I have to close and restart the program. Another
> > example is sometimes when I Shut-down Windows this
> > error message appears: "IExplore.exe - this program
> > is not responding".
> >
> > I have a virus checker, firewall, and spyware remover.
> > According to these, I have no viruses, trojan horses,
> > or adware on my computer. I haven't updated to Service
> > Pack 2, but I have several automatic updates. And I
> > suspect that one of them may have caused the problem.
> > The MS Knowledge Base has plenty of "not responding"
> > entries, but none fit my setup specifically.
> >
> > I'd like to know what kind of Windows glitch will
> > result in repeated "not responding" errors. Any
> > suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks,
>
> It doesn't necessarily have to be "a Windows glitch". It could be
> failing hardware. There isn't any way to tell from your post, except
> that if your antivirus is current and the definitions are updated you
> probably don't have malware. Are there any clues in Event Viewer
> (Start>Run eventvwr.msc [enter])? Try doing a clean boot. Perhaps
> something legitimate that is running in the background has a problem.
> Here's a link to how to do a clean boot:
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353
>
> Malke
> --
> MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
>