What do you do if cpu hangs and you receive error message Msgsrv32 is not responding?

I am having problems with a friend's computer which has Windows 98 SE installed and I wonder if you can help.

The problem started with unintelligible messages being sent with E- Mails. I found that the virus profiles on the Norton Antivirus were seriously out of date and no Fire wall was installed!!!

Norton Antivirus and File Wall 2003 were purchased, installed and updated.....55 infected files were found and cleaned. All seemed well but it was still my intention to carry out a reformat etc the following day. The computer was used however and the following fault has developed:

When connecting to the Internet/Outlook Express the connection takes an inordinately long time, the Windows Logon box then appears, when Cancel is clicked the computer is immediately connected to the net. When an attempt is made to disconnect from Internet/Outlook the computer "freezes", only the mouse pointer moving.

When Ctrl + Alt + Del is pressed Task Manager states Msgsrv32 (not responding). When end task is chosen the computer "unfreezes" but does not operate correctly for example ....if My Computer is chosen and then the window is closed My Computer stays in the task bar but cannot be maximised again. Any attempt to click on My Computer again causes the computer to crash.

There have also been occasions when the computer freezes before a connection to the net is made

SYSTEM

Time computer

Motherboard ...make unknown

has; 3PCI slots 2 USB

onboard NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64

onboard Creative Audio 128

Processor : ATHLON 700MHZ

RAM : 128MB Siemens PC100 SDRAM

Modem ; PCI HSP56 Micromodem

CD : SAMSUNG DVD- ROM SD 608

Standard Keyboard and Mouse

Attempts to cure

1) The Hard Drive has been repartioned using Fdisk and reformatted and Windows 98 installed twice (Using two different CDs containing Widows 98 to ensure no damage to CD!)

2) Another Modem installed (temp)

3) Another Hard Drive installed (temp) with fresh Windows 98 installation

PROBLEM NOT CURED .....Any help/sugestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated (eg would XP installation cure problem?)

Please accept my thanks in anticipation of your help in this matter

Ian

This question was answered on February 20, 2003. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

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SYMPTOMS

When your computer is idle for a period of time and then stops responding (hangs), the Close Program dialog box may report that Msgsrv32 is not responding

CAUSE

This behavior can occur when power management is enabled, and you have issues with programs not responding correctly to power management commands, for example, screen saver programs

RESOLUTION

To work around this behavior, use the following steps:

1 Quit any running programs, and then test to determine if a specific program is causing this behavior If you quit all running programs and the issue is resolved, one of the programs that was running is the cause of this behavior If this does not resolve the issue, continue to step 2

NOTE: This issue is often caused by screen saver programs

2 Disable power management To do so, click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Power

3 In the Power Management box, click Off (or click the "Allow windows to manage power on this computer" check box to clear it)

4 Click OK

5 Restart your computer

If the behavior continues to occur, follow these additional steps:

1 In Control Panel, double-click System

2 On the Device Manager tab, double-click the System Devices branch to expand it

3 Double-click Advanced Power Management Support

4 On the Settings tab, click the Enable Power Management Support check box to clear it, and then click OK

5 Click OK

Restart your computer when you are prompted to do so

About the author

Posted by Enyenihi of Katharine Gibbs School - New York on February 20, 2003

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