Help with lock-ups

[jerry]

Hi folks

I'm Having a great deal of trouble with my computer locking up. It happens a lot when I'm in photoshop but it is also happening at other times even in screen saver mode.

Here are the particulars. I recently added 256 ram (total 512 my max.) as suggested by some members on this site. Computer is a good bit faster and photoshop runs large files a lot better. You can see my thread concerning required RAM in the hardware forum.

Also, I recently hooked up with a cable modem and am running a 30 day test version of Norton Personnal Firewall. The software for these two items is constantly running. Th error that I get when I lock is "MSGSRV32 not responding". Sometimes I can shut that down and exit windows. Other times I get a hard lock and the on/off button is even disabled.

Doug suggested that I might get rid of Windows ME when I asked my minmum ram question But at least on member on this site has had horror stories with XP.

So in trying to narrow this down, here are my questions.

- Is anyone using Norton Personnal firewall, What kind of results are you getting and did you use the 30 day free trial.

- Is anyone running Windows ME and experiencing similar trouble with cable modem software.

- Has anyone upgraded from Windows ME to get rid of this lock-up problem and if so, what did you upgrade to and with what results.

- Does anyone have firewall software recommendations.

- Do any of you software intensive folks know what can cause numerous "MSGSRV32 not responding" problems.

Your help is GREATLY appreciated

Thanks
Jerry

[jeaniesa]

Hi Jerry,

Unfortunately, I have neither the knowledge nor experience to answer any of your questions. All I know is that I have spent many hours over at a neighbor's house helping her get her computer running with Windows ME and finally just gave up. I will never run that OS on any computer that I own. I never had so many problems with a computer locking up in my life! And there was nothing special about her configuration. Basic dial-up modem, no security SW except for Anti-virus, simple USB scanner and parallel printer. I never could get both the scanner and the printer working at the same time though.

Good luck with your situation. I'm sure someone here has some information that will be of use to you.

Jeanie

[chris h]

As a start pull your new ram and see if their is any improvement.

[Ed_L]

My knowledge of computers could easily fit on a pin head. My son has ME, and he has a lot of problems with it also. I was running Windows 98, and had my share of lockups with it (but not as bad as his). Recently I bought a new computer with XP already installed. I find it to be much more stable. But this wasn't an upgrade. I think most people regard XP as being more stable, but that doesn't mean everyone.

Ed

[DannyRaphael]

Hey Jerry...

Norton products: I love 'em; I hate 'em. Great when they work; a pain in the @$$ when they don't.

I'd be more suspicious of Norton than RAM. Probably easier to deinstall Norton than yank RAM, isn't it?

RE: What causes this type of problem? Looks like multiple possiblities based on a quick query at http://www.google.com, using
"MSGSRV32 not responding" as a search argument.

Also tried
"MSGSRV32 not responding" norton
to narrow it down. Didn't see anything ME specific, but still quite a few hits.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q169987 looks promising... does hang occur "all of a sudden" or after computer is in "sleep mode"?

The Symantic site (www.nortonutilties.com ) has a pretty good self-help facilities. I believe they still offer the ability to post questions to their tech team.

Hope this helps a little...

DannyR

[thomasgeorge]

Jerry, you might try disabling or removing Nortons and see if the problem persists. Some Norton software has a tendency to do strange things besides what it was designed to do... If there is no improvement, try disabling all power managment and screen saver routines... pay particular attention to sleep mode routine..there have been lots of problems with it....also you might try disabling "smart keyboard" ,"hot keys" etc. and try just using the basic keyboard functions. The only other thing might be to check with the modem manufacturer and find out if there are any upgrades/patches you might try......I have one computer with ME and it works very well...as long as the power managment is disabled and only basic keyboard functions are enabled.Otherwise it begins doing strange lock up and error message type stuff......Good luck and let us know what you find out....Tom

[Sanda]

I run Norton personal firewall and have never had a problem BUT I'm using win98. I've heard a lot of horror stories about Win ME, sorry I can't offer any help on that. I used the 30 day trial of Norton firewall then bought it after trying a couple of other firewalls like blackice and zone alarm. I found that the Norton one worked best on my system.
When you have the lock ups have you tried holding the on/off button down for 10secs? That usually works for me but I can't guarantee it will always work.

[ItzRandy]

Jerry,

I'm currently running XP Pro, fortunately with NO PROBLEMS! I've also had ME, 98, 98SE, and 2000 machines up and running. I also have a broadband connection (DSL) and have been through all the major firewalls. I personally had nothing but trouble with Norton! Didn't like Zone Alarm and I'm currently using the newest version of BlackIce.

The next problem is that Norton doesn't just "uninstall" ... it will leave a significant amount of "doodie" in your registry. To truly clean it out will me a clean install of the OS again (a major pain if you have a system loaded with programs).

First things first! make sure that you have disabled all the power saving and hibernate features. You can try an uninstall on Norton and see if it helps. I'd have to agree with the other posts, your problem is most likely going to be the Norton program. The only Norton's that seem to play nice with Photoshop are Anti Virus and Win Fax Pro. The rest of them have mixed reviews among the masses!

Good luck, hope you get it figured out in the easiest way!

Randy

[jerry]

Thanks Everyone

Thanks for answering so quickly. This site amazes me. You all gave me a lot of options to try. The only one that I can rule out is the ram problem. I only installed it yesterday, and had 2 locks before and 2 locks after installation. Danny I will visit the links that you provided . You and the others have spent a good bit of time and I appreciate it. The Norton program sounds like a possible culprit. My hybernate mode was set at 3 hours so I just disabled it..

Guess I'll go experiment.

Thanks

Jerry

[Chris W.]

Hi Jerry,

I did a search as well on the error message you were receiving and a large percentage of what I read dealt with "Norton" and the associated problems.

I'd say uninstall Norton before removing your ram first.

I've installed ram many times in different computers and never had a problem.

However, I've installed Norton for a few people and they seem to have a variety of problems. I've elected not to use that program myself due to several problems.

Hope this helps as I know how frustrating a computer problem can be.

[chris h]

J Ok on the ram it seems I put the cart before the horse if the ram followed the Norton install. I was considering the Norton prog but I think I'll hang fire and let the cauldron bubble a little more !

[jerry]

Hi Folks

Well after tinkering with this problem for a day, it definitely appears to be related to the Norton Firewall and how it interacts with screensavers and/or slumber mode. I have posted on the norton website to see if they can shed any light on this problem. It appears that you guys might be right about Norton and the lock-up problem. I will keep you posted as this sounds like something that could affect others.

Chris H, You had no way of knowing that I just put the ram in yesterday. I should have told you. Thanks for the effort.

And thanks to all of you for the help.

Jerry

[jerry]

Hi folks

Here is an update and WARNING. After getting rid of Norton firewall I installed a trial version of Blackice Defender. My computer was still locking up just as it did with Norton. Frustration
sets in immediately.

After scouring the internet I found that there was a update to my version of Windows Me. It was a security update. While installing the Windows update,my Norton anti-virus kicked in and found a virus/trojun in my operating system. This virus was undetected by norton anti-virus earlier because of a flaw in Windows Me. I am now up and running, but don't know if I am totally well yet. I had to use the "go back in history" feature of windows to get all of this done. So now I must reload programs that i recently installed such as photoshop 6.0.

A word to the wise. If you are out on the internet a lot like me, it would be very wise to check for Windows updates for your version. Your virus software can be compromised by flaws in the operating systems.

Good Luck
Jerry

[Ed_L]

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate turn of events. Thanks for warning everyone. It can be a real problem at times.

Ed

[DJ Dubovsky]

Jerry
Sorry about all the problems you've been having. Thanks for the warning though and glad things have leveled off for you. Hope your luck holds out and the problem is really taken care of.
DJ