Message: Explorer (Not Responding)

[Julie]

I run Win98SE on a Pentium 166 with 96mb Ram.
Recently I've been getting a really annoying problem. Many times a day, the screen would freeze and when I press Ctrl-Alt-Del I get the message "Explorer (not responding)" If I press "End Task", everything works again. Sometimes some other program would stop responding but if I "end task", then its OK again.

This happens when I'm on the net but it happens at other times too.
Only new thing I've done is put in a CDRW.
Can someone help please?

[morriswindgate]

The Explorer you are seeing is basically Windows.
The problem is probably the setting on the CD-RW drive.
1. Are you sure that you set the jumpers correctly for the installation?
2. If the Jumper setting is correct you need to set the drive to DMA which is done by checking a box on the drive properties in the device manager.

[Julie]

The CDRW is secondary master by itself and works OK - I've
burned several CDs.
Its already on DMA (I checked).
Funny thing is, I always thought if you shut down Explorer in Task Manager then everything shuts down, but this doesn't happen here.
Do you think maybe there's 2 instances of Explorer open and when I shut down one the other keeps on working?
Or maybe a hardware problem?

(I've done a virus scan and also checked for malware with Ad-Aware - no problems there).

[Trick000]

maybe you or something else installed a TSR program that's interfering with explorer. check your taskman processes.
Do you have active desktop enabled?

[morriswindgate]

Do you have a Sound Blaster Sound card?
Also the newest version of Ad-Aware has had some problems with damage to system files. SpyBOT Search and Destroy is much better and free also.
With Win98 I would just do an overinstall of it once you have cleaned out some of the running tasks and cleaned the Registry up of unused and bad entries, with RegCleaner from www.jv16.org

[Julie]

Active Desktop is not enabled.
I did think TSRs are a possibility but don't know how to check
this.
I've just done a Ctrl_Alt_Del and this is what I see:

PC-Media Tech Forums
Explorer
Zone Alarm
Rnaapp
Avgcc32
Incd
Memturbo
Systray
Avgserv9

[Julie]

Morris
I didn't see your reply before posting mine.
No, I don't have Sound Blaster.
I was reluctant to reinstall because it means I'll have to re-do all my Windows updates but I guess if I HAVE to.....

[Trick000]

what's Rnaapp? Since I haven't had any probs with avg or zone alarm... i would say its either memturbo, incd or rnaapp... but then again, it could be hardware related.

[GaryRouth]

. . . Rnaapp.exe stands for "Remote Network Access Application". It's part of Windows Dial-Up Networking. I imagine that one reason you don't want to reinstall over-the-top, Julie, is because you're using a dial-up connection (a modem), and those Security Updates can take a long, long, (overnight - over-two-or-three-nights!) - time . . .

I'd try disabling InCD for a bit & see if the not-responding problem goes away. Another thing to look for is if the light on your CDRW is blinking when Explorer takes its soma holiday (soma = drug induced hallucinatory vacation in Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World") --- and then see if the light goes off after you End Task. Have you gotten any MSGSRV32 errors?
. . . Gary

(you could also remove the new CDRW (& InCd too) and see if your problem is suddenly solved . . . then when reinstalling the device, pay extra attention to cables and jumpers like morris mentions)

[p.s. - - - almost forgot: many of the newer cdrws have a "Minimum System Requirement" to run things like InCd and 32x + speed burning. You are probably just below the minimum requirement if the drive is a spanking new 52x. The Samsungs have 8mb of cache, so their minimum requirements are less stringent than others - - I'm not sure the P166 can keep up with a 52x drive otherwise (some only have 2mb cache)]

[morriswindgate]

I do not mean a clean re-install. If the running tasks are not causing the problem and a registry clean-up does not help, then it is probable that one of the windows .dll files is corrupted by a recent install.
At that time you just reinstall windows over the current installation which should not require you to completely redo the updates.

[Rick Hall]

I see that you have ZoneAlarm.
Is this the initial install of ZA or have you ever removed ZA and re-installed it? If so then you have to go to the ZA site and read the instructions on how to uninstall ZA and then you may reinstall ZA. If ZA is not uninstalled correctly before re-installing it it then you will have the problems that you are describing.

[GaryRouth]

Rick - Good to know about Zone Alarm incomplete uninstalls.

morris - do you know a good place to read up on how the Security Updates are affected by over-the-top reinstalls? I've never been 100% sure on the "how & whys" for the details . . .

Julie - any luck so far? (isn't troubleshooting fun)
. . . Gary

[andyms18a]

Originally posted by GaryRouth morris - do you know a good place to read up on how the Security Updates are affected by over-the-top reinstalls? I've never been 100% sure on the "how & whys" for the details

every time i have done an ott install of 98 i have to redownload the windows updates as the install over wrights them

[Julie]

OK, here's what's been happening.

I removed the CDRW and its software - didn't make any difference.

Tried SFC - no corrupted files found and none missing.

Used a registry checker (Registry Mechanic) - it said
problems found and fixed - no difference.

Downloaded Search and Destroy and ran it - report said 3 security threats found. Fixed that. - no difference.

The ZA has never been uninstalled.

(Gary, troubleshooting is GREAT fun, haven't eaten for 3 days.
Now I can fit into my favourite dress I haven't worn for 2 years!)

[andyms18a]

have you updated internet explorer as it shairs many explorer dill and systom files even though the two programs are diffrent all so can you run a ram and cpu test program and do you have any conflicts or problam devices in windows device manager some times explorer can get stuck due to a bad driver have you updated any drivers latley

[GaryRouth]

andy mentions testing the ram - seems like a good idea, since that could corrupt system files, too (http://www.simmtester.com)

I suppose if nothing turns up soon, though, you might as well go ahead with an "over-the-top" reinstall. [we don't want you to completely waste away to nothing on our "Troubleshooters Diet" ] I looked over on ZoneLabs website, but didn't see anything right away - since firewalls and antivirus programs do an awful lot of background things, I tend to look for known issues with certain programs (I haven't checked over at AVG yet, but you might want to take a quick look). There are a few updates issued for ZA, I suppose you could try those, too.

In case you haven't seen the details for an over-the-top reinstall, I just added a thread with all the details down in the Tips & Tricks section http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=70846 [this should stave off Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from my aging wrist - no more retyping!]

Hope all is well soon
. . . Gary

[Julie]

I reinstalled IE6 - didn't make any difference either.

Just went to Simmtester and will get DocMemory from them
as soon as I check my mail for the download link.

I'll also see if my friend will let me borrow some EDO ram from her computer so I can substitute them for mine.

Will let you all know what happens next.

[Julie]

Well, DocMemory didn't find any faulty ram and swopping the ram with my friend's computer didn't help either.

But I may have stumbled on the solution.
When I replaced my own ram, I didn't put the cover back on and - guess what - I've been surfing 2 hours now with no problems!
Of course this could be just a coincidence coz I've never heard overheating can give these sorts of error messages.
Is that possible?

[GaryRouth]

[my brains are starting to overheat, too . . . trying to sort out the possibilities]

Well, heat has been known to cause all sorts of problems - I haven't heard of this exact case before, but then I don't see a lot of hot cases. More of a lukewarm tech

Might as well check out the fans while the case is open. Might try blowing the dust out of the power supply, and off the circuit boards and heatsink, and out of the fans. Did you get a temp reading lately? (some motherboards/systems have a Windows program included that will do this, and most motherboards have a utility that will tell you the temps - stuck in the Bios Setup screens [usually called "Hardware Monitor" or "PC Health"] . . . but the truth is, P166s don't really get all that hot, usually. I suppose if the tiny little Socket 7 cpu fan has completely stopped turning, the cpu will heat up to the point where you'd see trouble.

What memory types did we end up figuring you have installed? (what types/amount?) Did you end up with a mix of EDO and PC133? and what speed did things up running?

Of course, maybe I should be completely quiet: so that the Gremlin in your PC doesn't wake up again
. . . Gary

[Julie]

Yes, Gary, so far so good.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed (but it's very hard to type like that!!)

But to answer your question: The memory is all EDO - 2x16mb plus 2x32mb. MB is socket 7. The fan does work but it's pretty small, in fact doesn't cover the whole cpu surface.

I've no idea how to monitor CPU temperature, so haven't done it but will do the other things you suggested.
Thanks to everyone here for your help. I've learned a lot.