Two Win2000 problems in search of an answer.

[410]

Just set up a Pentium 3 machine on a Win2000 base. Everything’s working fine (despite some major dramas trying to get an oldish HP scanner to be recognised by Win2000).



However, my problem stems from one of the steps I took trying to get the scanner up and running. One of the scanning programs I put on turned out to be a pre-production version of Easy CD Creator which caused me all sorts of grief, including hanging the computer up on shutdown. I uninstalled it, but it seems to have left a legacy of sorts behind – when the computer starts, the Windows ‘System 32’ directory box comes up on screen. If you close it, the computer goes on to work fine, but I’d like to get rid of this if possible. Is there anyone out there who might know a fix?



Thanks in advance.





******



Second problem: the same old Pentium 3 machine runs a copy of Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2 which has more bells and whistles than the Version 4 Home Edition that came with my digital camera. (I know PhotoShop is the tool of choice, but PhotoDeluxe is very user friendly, and the lady of the house is used to it.) The program worked fine when the P3 was running on Win98 and had only 128mb of RAM, and it’s still running fine now on Win2000 with 256mb of RAM and a new 64 mb video card. However, I copied it onto my own P4 (also with 256mb RAM), and I get the message “There is not enough RAM to launch PhotoDeluxe 2.00”.



Any ideas?

[fobotcso]

Need to know a bit more about the P4 machine that won't run PhotoDelux. Also Win2K, I assume. Check in Task Manager to find out what else is running. You may have a "leaky app". Is your Firewall blocking PhotoDeluxe?

Ah, the dreaded System folder on startup! :( I lived with that in almost identical circumstances after an unsatisfactory installation of EZ CD Creator. That's when I went to Nero.:ok:

And now I'm having trouble remembering how I got rid of it. I think that there's a call for "Rundll32.exe" in the Registry but that there is no DLL specified. Again, check Task Manager just after start up and see if Rundll32.exe is running. Then go through the Registry with fine tooth comb looking for the culprit. That'll keep you amused for hours on a wet Sunday afternoon.

Or reinstall Windows. :\

[410]

Thanks for the reply, fobotcso. Re the P4: yes W2K, same software as the P3.

Would appreciate if you could you go into a bit more detail re the errant rundll command. I'd really like to get rid of the problem.

[fobotcso]

410 I'm not ignoring you but fixing Mistress fob's car got to the top of the priority list. Moreover I've just erased the first draft of the long answer I typed. :{

The RunDll32.exe scenario is complex. Take a normal Application to start with, say, Outlook, When you open it by clicking on Outlook.exe it becomes a "Process" and you can see this happening in Task Manager where the Process count increases by one and the new one is simply Outlook.exe. However, also in the Office folder there are 6 or so DLLs associated with Outlook with names such as Outlacct.dll and Outlmime.dll. These are Application Extensions and ride on the back of Outlook so you don't see them running.

But you can have DLL's called in their own right and good examples are the Control Panel Functions. They don't have EXE files, only DLLs. And they need RunDll32 to be running to do their stuff. Try having Task Manager open when you open Control Panel and click on say Phone and Modem Options, System or Users and Passwords. You will see RunDll32.exe start and that's it. It'll stop when you close the Function you called from Control Panel.

RunDll32.exe and associated DLLs are used extensively in installation and uninstallation procedures. So this is what I think is the reason you've got the System 32 problem after your unhappy experience with EZ CD Creator. Have you discovered that you can make this Window appear at will? With a clear Desktop try this: Start>Run>type in C: \Winnt\System32 and press Rtn. With this you don't even get a Rundll32.exe started.

So what's the answer to your problem? I don't know definitively.

Check the simple possibilites:

Look in the Task Manager and see whether a Rundll32.exe is running without a corresponding result.

Look in Programs>Start>Startup and see if there is a line like the one above. If so delete it.

Open the Registry (Back up first) and see what is in the various "Run" keys. The quickest way to find a "Run" key is to search on "RunOnce" and then go to the key just above it. See if there is a line like the one above.

But there are dozens of Rundll32.exe calls throughout the Registry and many are incompehensible to ordinary mortals. Some will open a Process if run from the Start>Run window. such as:

rundll32.exe msconf.dll,CallToProtocolHandler %l\1

This will get you the Netmeeting Conferencing window!

As I said, I don't remember what is was that cured my example of your problem (and I had it for months). I'm still thinking and hope to have inspiration soon.

[fobotcso]

When you get back from wherever you've been (Martian Orbiter?) you could always try something like this (http://www.vtoy.fi/jv16/shtml/jv16powertools.shtml) (courtesy of Golden Runways in another thread).

[410]

Thanks again, fobotcso, I really appreciate the effort you put in for those of us unable – (or not clever enough!) - to delve so deeply. I’m trying to squeeze the fix in today, my one rest day in between two (very low, multi-launch) orbiter missions.

I'll report my success... if I have any.

410

[A-V-8R]

May I throw my two cents in......

Go to www.download.com, tucows.com or zdnet.com and search for a registry repair tool. They are there, some are free, and they work.

I use a commercial version called Fix It Utilities System Suite.

Broken links in the registry can hang up a machine quite easily. Uninstalling software sometimes is not complete.

Also look for a registry defrag program. Please don't confuse this with the normal hard drive defrag program.

[410]

fobotcso, I used the very handy regristy tool you gave the link for in your last post, and it removed an extraordinary number of useless regrisrty entries. However, it didn't stop the 'system32' box coming up on start.

If there's anyone else out there with a fix for this problem, I'd appreciate finding out how to do it.

[fobotcso]

Bad luck, 410! I'll keep thinkin' 'bout it. It's a Registry job, to be sure.

[Ridley]

Just my 2 cents, but I get similiar problems all the time, since I edit a lot of video on my system, and many different plugin's and Codec's often screw up my system startup and innevitably the registry.

The program I have learned not to live without is:
"Registry Medic"
www.iomatic.com (http://www.iomatic.com)

Its a little more than a registry program, as it looks at every type of program and dll that has entries in the registry and well as every sort of program that executes or works though the registry.

Its found more than its share of problems with my w2k setup. Including the old easy cd problem. If this doesn't work however, go into this registry entry:
Open up regedt32.exe
hkey_local_machine/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/
Now look for the directories /Run
/RunOnce
and /RunServices
(Turn on 'View Tree and Data')
One of those directories should have the errant program. Delete the line you find it on, and that should fix it.

Thats if you need to do it without 'registry medic'.