Re: manual MS Update fails (gen. host proc. fail) but works automa
- From: "Gary R." <roberthouse@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2008 22:47:52 -0700
I thought I'd post a quick update to my windows update issue with generic
host process errors that were elusive to troubleshoot...maybe it will be of
some help elsewhere, but it certainly illustrates how evasive some problems
can be.
Updates were failing for various 'generic host process' errors with various
dll's, and I had done everything from reinstalling files to registering
dll's, etc., and just when it all was working, a day or two later up popped
those errors again.
What led me to the source of the problem was I finally got a couple of blue
screens (XP), and was able to see a pfn_list_corrupt message before it shut
down. A search at MS said I should try the Windows memory tester, which
sounded odd, but I did. It failed miserably.
The memory was added to the laptop when it (new) had Vista to upgrade from 1
GB to 2 for performance reasons. and was the right spec and speed. However,
I then swapped back the original 1-GB chips, and ran the test again, which
went perfectly. So I booted up, and no more errors. Ran updates, they
worked fine. I slipped in the Vista hard drive and booted up, and the
occasional 'services' errors that I'd seen there also disappeared.
It turned out that the memory was seen by the machine as 4-4-4-12 for
timings, and the actual DDR memory spec was 5-5-5-12, and it was failing at
the slightly higher speeds, especially when cached. The laptop's bios was a
typical cheap one which doesn't allow the user to set the timings, it's all
automatically detected. So hopefully the coming replacement 2-GB memory
will be detected properly, otherwise I'll have to get a different brand, or
some that will run at 4-4-4-12.
I'd have never figured either Vista or XP would have run at all with the
error-plagued memory installed, but it mostly ran fine but for the services
errors (and eventually the couple of blue screens which saved the day). I
run Photoshop and other graphics programs, and all ran without problems with
that memory problem.
Anyway, I do troubleshooting and repair a lot for others, but this one was
really a surprise to me, so I thought I'd pass it along in case anyone else
gets to the end of their rope with troubleshooting what they think is a
software issue, but isn't.
Gary
"TaurArian" <TaurArian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:A726E543-36A9-4CEF-90E7-2C8FF80D69AA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Miracle or not, as long as it's fixed. Do another image while everything
is
working well".
K
"Gary R." wrote:
Must be a miracle 8^). While I have an HP printer network-shared, it
wasn't
the type specified, so that was out.
However, following the links you provided, I ran through virtually
everything...installing another update, registering dll's, shutting off
auto
updates then back on, checkdisk, spyware and trojan searches (clean),
every
possible thing I could find regarding updates through your links and
Google.
Still got those infernal error messages for updates.
I had resigned myself to reformatting...though it's a lot of work
reinstalling everything, I don't want a machine I can't rely on when it's
the only one (laptop) I may have with me. Did a full disk image with
Acronis (just in case the format/reinstall didn't work either), exported
all
docs and settings that I could, and decided to bite the bullet and
reformat.
A last-minute look at event viewer looked relatively clean for the last
day
or so, so out of curiosity I clicked on MS update. Waited for the
familiar
"generic host process" message; and waited; and waited; then up popped
the
list of available updates. Ran a couple of them (optional ones) and all
went fine, and all important updates are current.
So go figure. Must have healed itself, or when it realized I was serious
and going to dump the whole mess, decided to quit giving me a hard time.
8^)
Thanks for the suggestions. I don't know which, if any, did the job, but
regardless of that, I got out of a lot of extra work and everything is
working.
Gary
"TaurArian" <TaurArian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:468D2204-2EC0-4715-8B61-11D4AAFB7A79@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hard one to track. Could be virus/malware related.
Do you have a HP Printer installed?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?dlc=en&lc=en&product=391194&lang=en&cc=us&docname=c00273968
HP All-in-One Products - A 'Generic Host Process For Win32 Services
Has
Encountered a Problem and Needs to Close' Error Message Displays
Some additional stuff here:-
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927891
You receive an access violation error and the system may appear to
become
unresponsive when you try to install an update from Windows Update or
from
Microsoft Update
"Gary R." wrote:
Thanks for the quick reply. I tried the reinstall of the update files
specified in the article as it instructed, and it completed, but the
error
message still comes up.
"Generic host porcess for win32 services has encountered a problem and
needs
to close etc."
The tech details show:
szappname svchost.exe
szappver 5.1.2600.2180
sz mod name msxml.dll
sz mod ver 8.90.1101.0
offset 00009abf
I noticed something else after both of these occurrences...it seems to
affect network accessibility for that machine. It still accesses the
internet fine, but the other computers can't find it on the network,
where
they could immediately before this occurred. (I noticed this when I
tried
to move a file after the earlier try at MS update, and couldn't get to
the
network. It happened again after the next update try. It can
sometimes
see
the other machines, but they can't see it until I reboot. When the
windows
update is not involved, it is always easily accessible to and from
other
machines.
Something additional; there was an update showing in the system tray,
so
I
initiated it (Capicom KB931906) and it worked fine. Then after I
closed
the
box that reported a successful update, up popped that 'generic host
process'
box. This time it was the msi.dll like the first time, not the
msxml3.dll
like the second time. Again, the other computers could not see it on
the
network until I rebooted.
I don't know if it's relevant, but your message and the article about
the
repair process reminded me of it. As I was installing applications, I
ran
into an issue that seemed to be caused by a newly installed app; I got
a
couple of blue screens, so I uninstalled the app and did a system
restore
to
earlier that day. It turned out that the blue screens were caused by
a
USB
drive I had plugged in with a corrupted file system instead of the
application, but the system restore was at a time when the install of
XP
was
relatively fresh and updates were installing pretty regularly. It's
too
late to undo the system restore now, but I wonder if the system
restore
messed something up (?)
Anyway, your help and further suggestions are appreciated.
Gary
"TaurArian" <TaurArian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1C6B987D-AE0D-4326-BCED-6AE347E219A5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Gary, check this kb article out (ignore the title as it relates
to
clean
installs also etc)
Updates are not installed successfully from Windows Update, from
Microsoft
Update, or by using Automatic Updates after you repair a Windows XP
installation
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144
Post back if no joy and we'll try and assist further.
K
"Gary R." wrote:
New clean install WinXPpro sp2 on a Gateway laptop. Several days
ago
I
was
installing updates and the sp1 for Net Framework 2 failed; I
downloaded
the
update and installed it manually because I couldn't get any
response
from
the MS Update site after that. Prior to that I believe the manual
update
was working OK, because I had it check for updates to get the net
frameworks
installed.
Auto updates since then seem to be working normally and succeeding.
However, if I go to MSUpdate manually (wanted to check for driver
or
optional updates) it starts out normally, but while it's checking
for
what
updates are needed, it stalls and I get a popup that generic host
process
has stopped (sorry, I didn't get the exact wording). Sending the
error
info
to MS doesn't get any 'help' info in response, but it sends OK.
Looking in event viewer for applications, it shows as Faulting
application
SVCHOST.EXE, faulting module MSI.DLL, event ID 1000.
Looking in the log for windows update just after that problem, it
appeared
that something was working, as there were many entries with that
time
stamp
for things that did not need updating, and info that there was a
scheduled
update tonight. No warnings or indications that something went
wrong.
But I never get to the list of optional updates; as I said, it just
hangs
while it's checking and never gets there after the general host
process
error. Following the links from Event viewer are no help, and I
once
tried
to use the free support for windows update but it failed after I
typed
in
all the info...no explanation except "try later".
In Googling this, I find references to Windows installer, and it
seems
like
msi.dll would be part of that, so could this be something as simple
as
reinstalling windows installer, or is that just a symptom? The
machine
is
working well and I'm too far along in reinstalling applications to
start
over with a clean install (this was a Vista machine, but I located
drivers
for everything for XP and decided I preferred XP for now).
So any ideas of how I can fix this to be able to use the manual
update
feature? Auto is fine, but I don't like having something like this
bugging
an otherwise great working machine. I got used to those popup
error
messages on Vista machines, but never get them in XP, so this is an
oddity.
Thanks for any help.
Gary
.
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