Generic Host Process for Win32 Error

Discussion in 'Software' started by Cockles, Aug 21, 2008.

  1. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Hi there all

    Have recently been having problems with an error that has been popping up on my home PC. I thought I'd pop down here my experiences with it as it seems to be fairly common, and how I dealt with it, as it appears to be one of those problems that has multiple ways of dealing with, but only one or two of them will work on any individual's PC. (Please, by all means all you people out there that know far, far more than me, feel free to correct anything I have put here if need be)

    So out of nowhere recently, I started getting this error message popping up when my PC booted to Windows (XP Pro SP2, see attached JPEG). This error seemed to manifest itself by screwing up the sound on my PC (for a lot of people it causes loss of internet connection), which is odd as it played the Windows startup theme when it booted, but I couldn't run Sound Manager nor any programs that required sound. If I then continued to use my PC, by task bar would suddenly turn white, and the Windows theme would suddenly revert to the Classic view. Weird.

    Rebooting sometimes solved the problem, then as it got more frequent I run CHK DSK and everything seemed tip-top.

    I looked into it, and it appears this error only affects XP Service Pack 2, and is a problem caused during shutdown that manifests itself during the next boot-up. The problem lies with the svchost.exe. Like the problem people have sometimes when Auto-Play on CD/DVD drives etc just suddenly refuses to work, it just pops out of seemingly nowhere, with no explanation, and there appear to be a million ways to fix it but to no avail.

    The M$ supporet site had a dedicated hotfix for this problem (found here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894391) but alas, this didn't work on mine. I also found literature on tinkering with the registry (which if anyone wants, I'll glady post) but didn't want to do that unless it was a last resort. Some people seemed to solve the problem by updating their drivers, particularly on things such as printers or scanners, so I tried that but again, no cigar.

    So running out of ideas, I studied the behaviour of the error. When I booted up Windows, I got a little bubble telling me my AVG definitions were out of date. When I clicked close, that's when the error message appeared. On a whim, I uninstalled my AV, and voila, problem solved, hasn't been back since. So it appears that somewhere along the line, my AV was playing silly beggars withi this host process. Some literature suggested that Windows Updater has a part to play in this too. Who knows?

    My next step is to re-install my updated AVG and monitor it, so I'll do that and keep you updated.

    Cheers

    PS. Just worth noting, my PC is not online ever, so I seriously doubt this has been caused by any malware or any nasty sods like that.
     

    Attached Files:

    Certifications: None
    WIP: Trying to find my car keys
  2. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Hmm. If I were you... I'd reformat the bugger - but then again I'm paranoid. Scratch that.. I just like reformatting stuff (rather than defrag... I reformat :p)


    Anyway... it sounds odd.

    Firstly, back stuff up if you haven't been doing so.

    Do a full antivirus scan (you can get one online with PandaScan or Kasperspy for instance (links are here and here.)

    Also scan-disc the HDD and search for any other oddities using SpyBot S+D (link) and a malware removing program (link is here).

    Better to be safe than sorry.
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCSE: Private Cloud, MCSA (2008), MCITP: EA, MCITP: SA, MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003, MCITP: EDA7, MCITP: EDST7, MCITP: EST Vista, MCTS: Exh 2010, MCTS:ServerVirt, MCTS: SCCM07 & SCCM2012, MCTS: SCOM07, MCTS: Win7Conf, MCTS: VistaConf, MCDST, MCP, MBCS, HND: Applied IT, ITIL v3: Foundation, CCA
  3. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Thanks for the suggestions Qs. I'll take a look at some of those. Like I mentioned, I'm not online, but I do download stuff to take back or take data from other people, and I'd far rather be safe than sorry

    I think this is more an error within Windows that M$ have recognised and tried to fix. If I had to take a stab in the dark, I imagine it's some conflict within the registry, one of those things where I've installed a perfectly clean programme, but for whatever reason svchost.exe took umbrage to it. When I looked into the problem, I was surprised at how common it was.

    I'll re-install my AV software and monitor how it goes, as that seemed to be the problem with it

    Cheers
     
    Certifications: None
    WIP: Trying to find my car keys
  4. Finkenstein

    Finkenstein Kilobyte Poster

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    We had that here a while ago... it was cause by a virus that targeted an exploit that a Microsoft update fixed. I would run a full virus scan on your machine with up to date dat files, and then run all of the Windows updates available.

    Hope that helps!
     
    Certifications: MCP, Network+, CCENT, ITIL v3
    WIP: 640-822
  5. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Exactly my initial thoughts. Nice catch with the Windows update though, forgot that. Must just be late in the day :p

    Oh, quick fix if you can't be bothered Kev. Reformat it :p
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCSE: Private Cloud, MCSA (2008), MCITP: EA, MCITP: SA, MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003, MCITP: EDA7, MCITP: EDST7, MCITP: EST Vista, MCTS: Exh 2010, MCTS:ServerVirt, MCTS: SCCM07 & SCCM2012, MCTS: SCOM07, MCTS: Win7Conf, MCTS: VistaConf, MCDST, MCP, MBCS, HND: Applied IT, ITIL v3: Foundation, CCA
  6. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Thanks to you both. I'll do a full scan and let you know how I get on.

    As I'm not online with my home PC, I don't get the Windows updates. I downloaded the specific fix at work for this issue, and two updates that didn't specify this problem in particular but were related, again these did no good.

    Whilst looking into the problem, it seemed to be one of those that everyone who was affected by it had a different solution, and it 'worked for them'.

    Cheers chaps :)
     
    Certifications: None
    WIP: Trying to find my car keys
  7. rehan_ganatra

    rehan_ganatra Bit Poster

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    Symptoms:

    You are surfing the internet or are engaged any type of Internet activity when suddenly all your Network activity goes to hault. You can still see the Internet connected icon in the tray but you cannot surf, browse or do anything.
    You get an error message something like “Generic Host Process for Win32 Services has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”
    Error message reporting about faulting netapi32.dll and svchost.exe.
    You try to disconnect your Internet because of no activity observed but the Internet icon wont disappear.
    You recieve an error message something like “Your PC has recovered from a serious problem” etc.
    Solution:

    Follow these simple steps and your Windows will be fully cured of this menace

    Close Port 445:

    1. Start Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) by clicking Start menu, and then click the Run icon.
    2. In the small box that Opens, type: regedit then click the OK button. The Registry Editor will now have opened.
    3. Locate the following key in the registry:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NetBT\Parameters
    In the right-hand side of the window find an option called TransportBindName.
    Double click that value, and then delete the default value, thus giving it a blank value.

    Close Port 135:

    1. Then you must now navigate to the following registry key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\OLE
    2. You will see there is a String Value called: EnableDCOM
    Set the value to: N (it should currently be Y)
    3. Close the Registry Editor. Shutdown and Restart your computer.

    Well thats all but if you want you can disable NETbios.
     
    Certifications: MCSE, CCNA
    WIP: CCNP
  8. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Hi

    Well, looks like this problem is fixed now! All it took was uninstalling my AVG Free and installing the latest version. I did a full system scan and it did unearth some trojans lurking around, but I seriously doubt this was the cause of the error as the error ceased before I did the scan and removed the infection.

    It appears that M$ had actually acknowledged that this was a bug within XP SP2 that could be exploited, so maybe for whatever reason the configuration of my AV software was just playing silly beggars with Windows at shutdown, who knows!

    Thanks for the advice though chaps, appreciated as ever.
     
    Certifications: None
    WIP: Trying to find my car keys
  9. Qs

    Qs Semi-Honorary Member Gold Member

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    Glad you have it sorted. :) If it reappears - reformat the bugger. :p

    Qs
     
    Certifications: MCT, MCSE: Private Cloud, MCSA (2008), MCITP: EA, MCITP: SA, MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003, MCITP: EDA7, MCITP: EDST7, MCITP: EST Vista, MCTS: Exh 2010, MCTS:ServerVirt, MCTS: SCCM07 & SCCM2012, MCTS: SCOM07, MCTS: Win7Conf, MCTS: VistaConf, MCDST, MCP, MBCS, HND: Applied IT, ITIL v3: Foundation, CCA
  10. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Hah, sometimes I wish I could reformat my bloody life!

    Cheers pal
     
    Certifications: None
    WIP: Trying to find my car keys

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