Win2000pro - preparing network connections hangs - services.exe

squeaky

Actually, thinking on, I fairly consistently get services.exe locking up whenever I do anything with the network and even with plugging in the external CD or A drives.

So I'm going to copy over the file from the good one.

It's got to be either that file or some dot dll or dot sys that it is relying on.

Odd though that it has never (apparently) been modified by all the updates this thing has gone through!

squeaky

Copying the services.exe file across from the good laptop (in safe mode and using msdos for the first time in ages) didn't change anything. While I was there I enabled boot logging.

And got several instances of:-

Did not load driver IEEE 802.11g WLAN11g network adaptor

And none of "Loaded... blah"

So what *IS* the sytem using? Whatever it is it certainly seems to upset services.exe

OK... time to load the diagnostic stuff I just got.

squeaky

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

How else do you plan on ruling out a hardware issue? A Linux-based live CD is the quickest option, but if you've got a Windows XP disc and a bit of spare time on your hands you could create your own instead.

I rather got sidetracked yesterday. I DID download ubcd day before yesterday and am in the process of putting it all together.

I actually got two files. ubcd ect dot exe and ubcd etc dot iso

So hopefully I can try creating and burning an iso from the contents of the dot iso and see how that goes before going the whole hog and running the maker dot exe thing? Will they work on a stick?

In all of this there's been one common factor. Every time I plug in an external drive, or initialise one, or initialise/change/modify network settings the file services.exe hogs all CPU time for around 90 secs - which also happens to be the hang time for "preparing network services". I've copied over the same file from the good laptop, to no avail, so it has to be "something" that services.exe is attempting to use - but none of my logs give me a clue.

Maybe ubcd will...

squeaky's_electrician wrote:

It turns out that what's knocking my mains power off is the nineteen year old dishwasher. It pops the trip(s) while switched on - and not even when it's actually running a wash program.
So... I'm in for (yet another) long and busy day. Not to mention that most of the afternoon/evening is going to be spent watching events at Wimbledon!

Right, what's that song...? Oh yes... "hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go..."

squeaky

The iso works. That's one heck of a set of tools.

I had a look around using it on my good laptop. (didn't want to be problem solving on the dodgy one when it might just be finger trouble.) I figured on checking on what I can and cannot use on the good one and then try those on the dodgy one.

Hmm... time to try the maker thingy.

squeaky's_electrician wrote:

<sigh> Doncha just lurve "professionals"?
I've got a fused switch above the worktop, and a plain socket for the dishwasher below the worktop. Since it's the easiest thing to check I unplugged the dishwasher and then switched on the wall socket and Baldrick would have been proud of me. As in BOOM!!!!

Investigation showed that he'd nicked the live cable about an inch back from the actual connection point on the lower socket. This, over time had relaxed/moved to the point where it was earthing out on the casing. (in fact, the dishwasher, since it draws a small amount of power for lights etc, was reducing the violence of the trip. It really was a cracking good BANG when I turned the switch on with nothing connected!
Anyway... connection remade.

And so my nineteen year old dishwasher lives for another day

squeaky

Bench testing... some more bench testing... diagnostics... monitoring.... all show that there are no hardware problems on the "dodgy" laptop.

While wandering about in one of the system info things I came across this bit...

Property Value
Computer Name LAPTOPMARTIN
Workgroup Name WORKGROUP
Logon Server \\LAPTOPMARTIN

Socket Version 2.0
Highest Version 2.2
Description WinSock 2.0
System Status Running
Host Name LAPTOPMARTIN
IP Address 192.168.0.2 00:02:6F:20:FD:C0 (Senao International Co., Ltd.)
DNS Servers IP: 192.168.0.1
Node Type 0
IP Routing Enabled No
WINS Proxy Enabled No
NetBIOS Resolution Uses DNS No

Ethernet Adapter {DF622B18-B823-4430-8547-A4344B7143EF}
Description IEEE 802.11g WLAN11g network adaptor
Physical Address 00-02-6F-20-FD-C0
DHCP Enabled Yes
DHCP Server 192.168.0.1 IP: 192.168.0.1
IP Address 192.168.0.2
Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway 192.168.0.1 IP: 192.168.0.1
WINS Enabled No
Primary WINS Server N/A
Secondary WINS Server N/A
Lease Obtained Fri Jul 03 06:30:19 2009
Lease Expires Mon Jul 06 06:30:19 2009

ARP Table
IP Address MAC Address Type
192.168.0.1 00-0f-b5-b4-3a-64 (NETGEAR Inc) Dynamic

Are those settings as they should be? Anyone?

-TangleFoot-

squeaky wrote: »

Logon Server \\LAPTOPMARTIN

What about that bit?

squeaky

That'll be what was added after I created a live network for the "preparing network connections" thing so that it actually had a network to set up.

I honestly don't know if it's problem - I think its the "impersonation" bit for other incomers?
In any event, my problem predates it and it hasn't changed. Services.exe still hangs whenever it is called on.

I was more unsure of the non-use of DNS in this bit...

IP Routing Enabled No
WINS Proxy Enabled No
NetBIOS Resolution Uses DNS No

Anyway - after giving this beast a real pounding with the Live-CD (and I really have to say a big thank you for pounding into my thick skull the value of it ) I'm confident that, as I "felt" but couldn't prove, the hardware is OK so it's software or, more likely - settings related somewhere.

If I make a change to network stuff, or plug in/out the external CD or external A: drive the machine hangs and, as always, it's services.exe hogging the CPU time.

After all the Service Pack updates and the KB updates it's STILL there!

I've cleared all the other errors and warnings with sorting out the network and permissions etc - this is the last one to go.

Still waiting on snail mail for the Win2000pro disk!!!

squeaky

And finally... well, hopefully...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/328885

Waiting for the hotfix to arrive...

It's dated FEB 2007 !!

squeaky

Pah!

Despite my checking the box for SP4 on the "request a hotfix" page, when I unpacked and ran the thing it refused to run... because...

.. it only runs on machines to SP3 !!!!!

So presumably SP4 was supposed to "fix" this one? Hmm... NOT.

squeaky

<sigh> The win2000 disk didn't cure it but...

Thanks again Tanglefoot for persevering and pointing me at the live CD. It not only proved to my satisfaction that I didn't have a hardware issue on the laptop - it also showed me that winXP would load and run even in only 128MB.

So it now has WinXP on it. No issues!! YAY!!!

There are, however, some limitations on which programs will run on it correctly and the memory manager dll's are working overtime. No biggie, I'll just have to wait until a new memory chip arrives.

THEN, being a smarty pants I thought I'd utilise an optimiser program so that I could make the best of the small hard drive and limited memory... it decided to load netframe before loading itself and immediately absolutely trashed the winXP. I couldn't get a system restore point, nor a recovery, nor a safe start, nor a "start from last known good settings".

Even a "repair" from the installation disk wouldn't work!

But, thanks yet again tanglefoot, using the liveCD I was able to delete the files for the optimiser and also remove their start entries.

Even then I couldn't get a start... but thankfully the recovery from the installation disk would now run. I did a bootfix and, at last, I was able to do a repair from the installation disk.

Phew!