Mps error

[dweeb]

I run Windows 98 and whenever I log off I get the message for the program Mps that says:

This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

Can anyone tell me what the problem is?

Thx,
Chris

[GaryRouth]

Your best bet would be to check the web site of your mps vendor. MPS is an abbreviation for a great many things: exactly which program are you referring to?

If you are not sure, you can search *mps*.* in Windows Explorer and see if there's a .hlp or .txt file with information to help you discover it's origin and purpose.

Perhaps your "mps" is a Print Server from Informatix?

You can try uninstalling/reinstalling the offender to see if that helps. Also, when you get the error message, does it offer a box labelled "Details"? If so, check it out & let us know what it says.

This should get you started.
. . . Gary

[dweeb]

I did the search you suggested and all I came up with was a program called mps.exe in the folder c:\windows\system - I poked around msconfig to try to figure out when it's loaded as I have no idea what it is, but didn't see anything (I may have missed it, though, there's a lot of stuff in there).

When I checked mps.exe properties I noticed it was accessed today so I bet this is the offending program. Do you have any idea what it is and when I might be loading it?

Thanks,
Chris

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

The only associations I found with mps.exe were for a Global Positioning system, an open-source software with no description (I'm guessing it's an open-source version of a game), and an astronomy program by Minor Planet Software. There also may be a virus that creates such a file.

Hopefully you have an up-to-date virus scanner to check on the virus angle.

If that's clean, try going to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Information, and from the Software Environment, look at the Startup Programs in there. There's a column for "Loaded From" that will tell you where it is called from. If it's not in the Startup, see if its under any of the other listings of running programs or modules.

. . . and - you don't have a multi-processor system, do you? Or something called "Microsoft Commercial Internet Service"? . . . this is a bit of a mystery, since I don't get many results where I'd expect them when searching for "mps.exe".

Post back if you find anything interesting. If you do find it in Startup, you can disable it in msconfg and see what happens.

. . . Gary

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Just a late note. I did find a virus listing on the TrendMicro Virus Encyclopedia list called MPS. So you might want to make sure to scan like the dickens. If your current virus definition subscriptions have run out, you have the option of running HouseCall, TrendMicro's free online scan. It will only detect if you're infected (and clean it if it can), it won't protect you from future re-infection. You'll need a real-time scanner for that (one that runs constantly in the background). Here's the link for the MPS entry in the Virus Encyclopedia - sorry that it's not very informative:

http://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/virusencyclo/default5.asp?VName=MPS

Best of luck
. . . Gary