OT...Please, need tech help for 2 problems.

from WinCustomize Forums
After I applied *all* the latest patches from MS, 2 problems have surfaced which I absolutely cannot seem to fix. Sys specs at end.

The first and biggest problem: After a period of inactivity, my computer shuts down. I come back and there is the box on the screen which says "It is OK to shut down your computer." Normally, when *I* shut down, I don't get that. My box just shuts off. I have looked in the Power Options cpl and it is set to 'Always On', I have checked the BIOS and there hasn't been anything changed since installing the patches. I have looked everywhere I can think of and it all looks the same.

The second problem: Win2K doesn't like my version of PCAnywhere. It still works though. Prior to installing the patches, there was never any indication that there was a problem. Now, however, I get an warning similar to 'Windows 2000 has a problem with AW_Host.sys and it has been disabled. You may restart it from... (something in the control panel which doesn't exist.) This warning appears when I power up and when I power down. I have renamed this file to something totally nonsensical (I don't ever use host functions with PCA.) PCA still functions correctly. This warning does not impede the loading or the closing of the OS, but I would like to stop this from happening.

If anyone can help, especially with the first problem, I will keep you in my prayers and be eternally grateful.

Thank you,
David

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9,134 views 29 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm sorry, forgot the specs
MB: SY-K7V Soyo Dragon Plus w/ VIA KT266A
RAM: 512m Kingston
OS: Win2K SP2 with all the latest patches
Processor: AMD Thunderbird 1.33
Video: ATI Radeon 64m DDR ViVo

Would it help or hinder if I re-installed the VIA 4in1 drivers to fix problem #1?

Thanks again,
david

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Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I know I'm not supposed to reply to myself, and I apologize.

I have another piece of the puzzle which might help. I downloaded Drempels and started the desktop function. I looked at the task manager CPU graph and it was topped out. Went away for about 20 minutes, came back and my computer had shut down to the "It's OK to turn off your computer." I figured if the CPU was so busy, it wouldn't have shut off.

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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
my guess was it is something in your power options but you said it's set to always on... hmmm

as far as PCA I use version 7.5/8.0 and since I went to winXP I too get the msg that it is incompatible, it says to upgrade what version do you use?
now when I make a successful connection the file transfer window initializes instead of the remote window, but it still works so I never upgraded...
but that may fix your prob there, just go to 9.0 there might even be a PCAnywhere 10 out by now, not sure
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
yikes there is a 10.5 version out, well that may be your fix there, your OS is listed on it...
I myself just close the file transfer window and ignore the first error msg and carry on, been doing it for a while now w/ no further problems after that.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Doreen, thanks for answering.

My version of PCA is 8.01. Nothing bad happens at all when I load PCA. Only when I boot-up or shut down does this warning show. You should see my event logs

I dl'd and installed the latest 4in1 drivers from VIA. We shall see if this helps with the first problem.

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Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
boot up??? so is yours set to be in the waiting mode? "Host" right? I only use mine for "remote" so it never bothers me until I start it up to connect to other machines and stuff then I have small issues but nothing that stops me so I never bothered to upgrade either, it seems me and you are behind the times if there is a 10.5 out... hehe

If you are using yours for Host purposes you probably should upgrade since yours is set to run continually in the background maybe and could cause other issues.

I might upgrade if I can remember over the weekend, hope your problems get fixed g'luck
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have PCA 10.5 running on XP. Not seeing any messages, though I primarily use the remote, not the host. I had 10.0 on Win2k and when I installed XP, it would not let me install 10.0 on XP. I probably could have forced the issue, but I don't need any headaches on this machine.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The first problem sounds like a power savings option gone haywire or so. That'd be the first thing I'd check. Umm, perhaps check your syslogs to see what happened?
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
could even be the pca running buggy in the background he should try to upgrade and see if that helps maybe?
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks Crae, I checked my logs and found these 3 errors:

1.
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM

Windows cannot unload your registry file. If you have a roaming profile, your settings are not replicated. Contact your administrator. (I do not have a roaming profile. It is local.)

DETAIL - Access is denied. , Build number ((2195)).

2.

The ATI WDM Specialized MVD Codec service failed to start due to the following error:
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. (I believe that this is due to an installation of the ATI DVD player, but I have no DVD on this machine.)

3.

AWHOST.SYS has been disabled. (The only file I could find on my entire system was AW_Host.sys. I renamed that to something meaningless because I never act as a host. Is there a hidden file which search cannot find?)

When I installed my OS, it was a clean install and I selected the option to always assume I would be the only user signing on and therefore do not enter a password to logon when I turn on my computer.

All power options which I can find have been set to always on.

I dl'd and installed the latest VIA 4in1 drivers last night, they fixed nothing.

If I can provide you with any other information, please let me know.

Thanks again,
David

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Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Silly question, but is your login an administrator on your computer? If it is, was it not at some point and you installed something under that account while not an administrator?
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hi Faramir,

My login has always been as an admin and, as far as I know, has never changed.
Thanks.

Hi Doreen,

I don't have PCA running in the background ever. The only thing I use it for is to do maintenance on a database application I wrote for a company. I am never the host.
And thanks to you too.

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Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
like crae said buggy power option on your computer or something running crazy in the background... hmmm
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
rule of thumb try to remember the VERY last thing you installed prior to this happening then and begin to uninstall everything backwards you installed last...

all else fails
reformat and reinstall clean something is glitchy
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Doreen,

The very last thing I installed prior to this was the Win2K patches and etc from MS. Some of these cannot be uninstalled. I really don't want to have to reformat and reinstall because it would take forever to get all the Win2K sp2's and Office Sp2's and on and on Only as a totally, no other options, last resort. So, aside from the power options cpl, what else could have been affected by the MS patch installation and where would I find it?

I appreciate you trying to help. I know it's frustrating when you can't get behind the wheel, so to speak, to troubleshoot something.

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Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Maybe you should try switching off power saving?

Those errors are highly curious. Is there anything in the logs (not just errors, but possibly plain messages) that indicates why your machine was shutting down?

I can recall having seen somewhere in XP (would probably be the same in 2000) that the machine would shutdown or restart upon failure of spcific services. Luckily you can switch that off. Trick is to find the service that is causing it.

Note that I am merely guessing here.
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
put yourself in waiting mode and let me dial into your machine I drive good... hehe
j/k

my guess is that it was one of those patches you installed I installed a patch once that killed my machine and I had no alternative but to reformat and install clean now I'm frightened of patches! hehe
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Crae... If, by switching off power saving, you mean in the BIOS, I have done so. I think , some of those settings are a bit esoteric for me, but I've set everything to disabled or off. I looked through all the messages in the event viewer, nothing odd at all. I looked at all the services which have anything to do with power and they are set to manual. I only have 2 items which are set to disabled and they have nothing to do with power or the like.

Doreen... I am also frightened of patches. I installed these because...well I don't know why, actually When I looked at the list of all the patches, it just seemed like I should. I've been brainwashed. Bill Gates is a swell guy. I should do everything he says. I should constantly upgrade.
Actually, this is the very first time I've ever had a problem with the OS. I suppose I've been lucky.

Oh well... I'm not giving up. Maybe there's something on the MS libraries somewhere.

The thing that surprised me was that, with Drempels running, there was constant CPU activity. I would have thought that would keep any power saving apps quiet. I suppose it was because there was no keyboard or mouse activity.

I'm off to delve into the quagmire that is the Knowledge Base. If I'm not back in an hour, send out the troops

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Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
okay does your OS give you the option to set your system back before you installed those patches, I think I'm not sure but the later OS's give you the option of a "System Restore" not sure how that works cuz I've never tried it, I believe that lets you restore your sys back to a "prior date" before something went wiggy on your system?
if that is the case then you can restore your system back prior to the installation of those patches, I still think it was a patch that messed your machine up but I'm guessing too
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Doreen...

I think Win2K offers that, but, like you, I've never tried it, don't know how it works. I think you have to manually set a restore point *before* you do anything, and, of course, I didn't do that.

This knowledge base thing is a bit frustrating. I'm getting all kinds of irrelevant results. Arrrgh.

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Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well I found an article that was dang close. It talked about the computer shutting down after the application of the SRP1 patch. However, this particular event generated several errors, which I'm not getting.

I hate re-installing this OS. So much downtime involved. So little personal time to do it. So many programs I just can't live without. Such a slow dial-up It would be nice if Ghost or some of those other clone apps weren't so expensive.

Sorry, just venting

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Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
yeah but you'll have a squeeky clean machine!
(me guesses again it was the patch)
if so, you will most likely be doing the inevitable and "reformatting" then reinstalling...
Have fun!
Reply #23 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yeah, Doreen, I believe you are correct. Dang MS. I'll have to live with this for awhile I guess.

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Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
but if you decide to go for it, make sure you don't just do a simple reinstall that may not kick the patch out of your way, you need to reformat and wipe it clean and start a fresh reinstall, I could be wrong so try everything else first and reformat if everything else fails... G'luck!
these computer probs are a royal pain in the behind & setback I try not to fix things that are not broken meaning I ignore patches and upgrads alot
Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Doreen, thanx for the encouragement I *always* format first. I really, really wanted a clone proggy for Christmas, then for my birthday, then for Fathers day, but, alas, twas not to be. Don't quite have the $$ at this time to buy it for myself. That would sure save tons of time.

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