What is this problem?

[MADMEE]

i bought a new logitech optical wheel mouse the other day. i was hoping to use this in 1 of my usb ports but while installing i couldnt get it to work on the usb port, so i installed it in the ps/2 port and installed the logitech mouseware 9.42.1 drivers, which i down graded from the mouseware version 9.73, as i thought this might not be the correct version.

the mouse worked fine at that time but i wanted to try and get it working on the usb. so a couple of days later i tried again to get the mouse working on the usb, at first i only got the movement working without the buttons.
i then reinstalled the 9.73 mouse ware version and it seemed to now work fine.

a short while after i noticed that the mouse pointer was changing from the normal pointer to the 'working' pointer every second. i as found my computer to be running very slow and was quite 'laggy'. i saw a huge performace drop when running a game that is usualy fine. i am running a AMD althlon 1800 .i thought this might be a problem with windows 98 second editions usb support and decied i would settle for using the ps/2 port.

i turned off my computer and took the mouse out of the usb and put the adapter on and plugged it in to the ps/2 port. i rebooted and while loading windows i got the message "while initilizing CONFIGMG. windows protection error. restart computer.." etc.

i shut down and plugged the mouse back into the usb port, and booted up into windows ok, execpt that the problem of the computer being very slow and the mouse pointer changing still existed.

i tried a number of things such as uninstalling the mouse drivers, going into safe mode etc. i finally managed to delete all mouse drivers while in safe mode and was able to boot into windows with the mouse attached in the ps/2 port.
i also installed the most basic mouse driver i could find.

this is now my current state.
i have the mouse in the ps/2 port , with some basic drivers.
the mouse pointer still changes to its 'working' mode and the computer is very slow, laggy and prone to crashing if i do too much at once.

before this all happend i had a 'sleep' problem after boot up, where my computer would go into sleep mode before finishing to load windows. i could bring the compuer out of sleep mode using the sleep button on my keyboard, even though i have not got the drivers for my keyboard installed, which i once did.

i have spoken to some people about the sleep problem and they said it was to do with power management. i have tried differet settings for that an it remains the same. As i say im not sure if this problem is related

i also use a usb mass storeage device / pen drive on this computer which required drivers to be installed for it.

i also had a steering wheel pluged in to the usb port, which i hardy ever used, but didnt experence problems with. this is now unplugged and not being used.


i hope some one can help as im not quite sure what the problem is any more, seeing as the mouse seems to now work on the ps/2 port and i dont get the error while booting up.

i have tried looking on the net but am not sure what catogory this falls into.

i asked this on another site and got a reply saying that basicly it would be best if i formmated and started again, as i have device conflicts and basicly my comp is messed up.

however i would like a second opion and to know what could be causing the problem.

My system spec:

mobo : Asus A7v333
CPU: AMD atlon 1800 (not over clocked, running @ ~1533mhz)
RAM: 512 DDR (PC333 - i think) 256 * 2
Modem: 56k hardware creative
Hard disk: 30gb
2gb (old backup)
OS: Win98 second edition (i have found to be a good operating system, very stable for me)
Graphics Card: Geforce4 Ti4200 (not the latest denator drivers because they continually crash, using what came with it on cd, which i have found to be very stable)
Sound: Audgy (cd- drivers)


at the moment my computer seems to be running at what my old p233 did. really slow to do most stuff and as i said crashing randomly, when it seems if i try and do too much at once.

ok if the overall answer is to format then i will, but i really would like to see if i can find out what caused the problem of this cpu usage.

as i have win98 i dont have a task manager that shows cpu usage. So far i have read that it could be something to do with the Interrupts from the USB.

Thx to any one that replies

MADMEE

[Randall]

A couple of questions: Have you tried plugging in your old mouse? And just because coincidences do happen, when was the last time you ran a virus scan?

There's a program called WinTop in the Windows 95 Kernel Toys (http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/WUToys/W95KernelToy/Default.asp) that will show you the CPU usage of running tasks, much like the task manager in NT. That may tell you what's hogging the CPU.

Randall

[Daytripper_MI6]

NOTE: This download is not intended for use on computers running Microsoft® Windows® 98. Have you run this program on any systems besides 95 (Eg 2000, ME)?

[Randall]

WinTop doesn't run on NT, but I've used it on 98. Might work on ME as well.

I don't recall any Win98 incompatibilities with the other Kernel Toys. But I doubt many of them will work with NT.

Edit: The Time Zone Editor is straight out of NT, so it should work with anything.

Randall

[MADMEE]

thats a good prog and it has pin pointed the problem. The file Msgsrv32.exe was taking loads of CPU time. where it was about equal amounts of idle and Msgsrv32.exe. (16:00 idle, 18:00 Msgsrv32.exe was its state before i closed the program.
And it was taking up to 95% of the cpu.

i looked up this file and it sounds quite important (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=138708)

the page http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=169987 seems to describe my exact problem, however there are 3 probles with this page and the solutions.

1)it says its for windows 95 - iv got 98

2)it says to disable screensaver -- i have
its says to clear the box "Allow windows to manage power on this computer" -- but that option doesnt exist, and i have tried different options with this already.

3)it says to go into Advanced Power Management Support in system devices and clear the Enable Power Management Support check box -- well i dont have Advanced Power Management Support in system devices, the closest thing i have is Advanced configuration and power interface, which doesnt have any settings or options.

so basicly i carnt do any of the fixes.

im still looking into my other options and trying to find out more on this file.

thanks for the help ppl

any more ideas on where to go from here would still be appreciated, or if you know of any fixes.

thx

MADMEE

[Randall]

Microsoft has been known to change the Power Management controls from one Windows version to the next, and ACPI replaced Advanced Power Management after Win 95 came out.

This may be power managemnet related, but that article is talking about old technology.

Does Msgsrv32.exe show up in the programs list when you hit Ctrl-Alt-Del?

And have you tried Safe Mode since you removed the Logitech mouse driver?

Msgsrv32 may only be a symptom, not the disease.

Randall

[MADMEE]

tried what in safe mode? if the problem still occurs?

and

no it doesnt appear when i press ctrl+alt+del

MADMEE


edit:

just found this site http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=306616

the line "The pointer switches between an hourglass shape and an arrow shape after Windows starts." describes my situation exactly.
and

i do have the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) on my comp but it doesnt give a fix..joy!

and i dont have a cable modem or a Palm cradle (whatever that might be!)

[Randall]

Originally posted by MADMEE:
the line "The pointer switches between an hourglass shape and an arrow shape after Windows starts." describes my situation exactly. No, because it also states that
When you press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, MSGSRV32 is listed as Not Responding in the Close Program dialog box. Which is why I asked about that. ;) It also says your machine hangs, but you haven't mentioned that.

You always have to be careful diagnosing these problems based on something you read on the net -- or something you were told by tech support, for that matter. Many problems can create similar symptoms, and msgsrv32.exe is involved with a lot more than just Palm Pilots.
tried what in safe mode? Simply booting into Safe Safe, now that the mouse is hooked up to the PS/2 port. Does the mouse pointer still switch between normal and busy?

Safe Mode starts you up with a minimal set of drivers. If the mouse pointer problem continues in Safe Mode, than some very basic part of the OS is having fits.

Randall

[Randall]

Also, you mentioned a USB mass storage device. My first step in troubleshooting would be to disconnect it, since this may be a device-related problem.

Randall

[MADMEE]

no it dont do it in safe mode. Or at least it didnt seem to start.

the usb storage device isnt plugged in all the time, and hasnt been for any time during these problems. i was thinking about uninstalling the drivers to see if that would make any difference. you there would be any point in that?

iv just got myself a copy of norton antivirus 2003. all 190k files ( %) ) clean.

i have been watching its activity using that prog you reccomended. i dont know if these details will help, but i run it as soon as windows finishes loading.. i can sit and watch it and it wont do any thing... as soon as i click on, say, my computer it starts off.. and from then on it does its '1 sec on 1 sec off' thing. However explorer crashed and restarted itself.. after the restart the file was again inactive. probably doesnt tell you ne thing but.. well.

Also this time i booted up the file did not become 'active' for quite a while.. untill now where it is still going.. and getting annoying!

also noticed a small bug that seems to of started happerning. the icons in the start menu i usually have small icons.. but recently they seem to reset to the large icons now and again.. probably unrelated.. just annoying and strange.

thx

MADMEE

ps.. like the avatar pic... it looks so much like me its scary! :)

[Randall]

no it dont do it in safe mode. Or at least it didnt seem to start. Sounds more and more like a device driver. Which raises the usual question: Which one? ;)

Removing the USB storage driver would be a good place to start. You would expect it to just sit quietly when the drive is unplugged, but it could be checking the USB ports looking for it. Opening up Windows Explorer or My Computer would trigger it.

The other thing you could try is just plugging the drive in. If the system remains calm, you've nailed the culprit.

Randall

[MADMEE]

well plugging it in doesnt help. i havent uninstalled the drivers yet cos i carnt find the driver cd to reinstall them with... and i need it for college work. so i cant have it out of action for too long. ill try looking for the cd later.

ill uninstall the drivers for my steering wheel, as that has usb drivers too.

thx

MADMEE

[Randall]

You can usually find drivers on the manufacturer's web site. Helps me a lot when I misplace the CDs. :)

I'm much more suspicious of the USB drive, but the steering wheel is worth a try.

Randall

[MADMEE]

found the cd, so i uninstalled the drivers but still no change.

also uninstalled drivers for my virtual cd-rom that i use. but that didnt help either, not that i though it would really, as iv used it for a long time before, but hay, might as well try it.

Also had a friend of mine that is good with hardware and builds his own comps etc.. he had a look over my system in the time available but he couldnt find any thing wrong.

iv set a date for a couple weeks time, if a soulution to the problem hasnt been found my then ill format and install winXP.

thx

MADMEE

[Randall]

Hmmm. So much for that idea. :\

This is the point where I stop worrying about the source of the problem and take the brute force approach: Reinstall the OS.

I'm not talking about reformatting the hard drive and starting over from scratch -- save that for the upgrade to XP. Rather, reinstall 98 over the existing installation. Sometimes a refresh is all you need to straighten these things out.

If that still doesn't do it, and if nothing else comes to mind, skip it and go to XP.

Randall

[MADMEE]

well thx for your help Randall.
At the moment my system is fine and i carnt seem to set if off. i carnt say if its fixed, ill need to give it a longer go and more testing. So it looks as if it is getting better, and the things you suggested have helped.

im gona leave the system as it is now and updrade to XP like i said in a couple weeks. i dont want be using my system knowing that its performance might be effected, or the problem might come back.

thx

MADMEE

[Randall]

At the moment my system is fine and i carnt seem to set if off. i carnt say if its fixed, ill need to give it a longer go and more testing. I hate when that happens. You never know if it was something you did -- and I wouldn't be surprised if it did start up again.

Good excuse to do an upgrade. ;)

Randall