[JodyMac12]

I started looking for help with this problem in the 'malware removal' forum - i belive we are OK on the malware front, but some weirdness remains on this machine. my malware 'geek' suggested i try posting this issue in this forum to try to solve the mystery, so here goes.

In the 'device manager', if i 'scan for hardware changes', i always get a message indicating 'found new hardware - distributed link tracking client', then that is followed by a second message indicating 'a problem occurred during hardware installation, your new hardware may not work properly". well, i haven't installed any new hardware, yet i get the error message(s) every time.

I suppose i should just ignore it, but surely it's telling me there's a problem somewhere. I am particularly concerned because this machine functions as our server - all our shared files are stored & backed up on the quirky machine...I want it to be the most reliable...Thanks in advance for any help you can provide...

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what can you tell me about your network?

Workgroup or domain?

This is a windows xp machine, not server?

Is it used regularly as a personal machine, in addition to being the primary server?

Are files stored on other machines as well? Do people have shortcuts to these files?

Are the other machines turned on and off alot? Do they have removable devices?

Are shares permanently mapped among machines ?

It sounds like--sounds like--you have at one time mapped a drive somewhere, created a link to a file, then removed the mapping and windows is trying to reinstall the drive, but maybe cannot find it.

Or maybe someone has a link to a file that is now deleted?

distributed link tracking service tries to maintain links even when files are moved, by creating unique IDs to files and then searching for them if they go missing.

[gerryf]

what can you tell me about your network?

Workgroup or domain?

This is a windows xp machine, not server?

Is it used regularly as a personal machine, in addition to being the primary server?

Are files stored on other machines as well? Do people have shortcuts to these files?

Are the other machines turned on and off alot? Do they have removable devices?

Are shares permanently mapped among machines ?

It sounds like--sounds like--you have at one time mapped a drive somewhere, created a link to a file, then removed the mapping and windows is trying to reinstall the drive, but maybe cannot find it.

Or maybe someone has a link to a file that is now deleted?

distributed link tracking service tries to maintain links even when files are moved, by creating unique IDs to files and then searching for them if they go missing.

[JodyMac12]

Hi Gerry -
Thanks for the quick response!

- the network is a workgroup, not a domain.

- the machine in question is not really a 'server', just another pc acting as a 'server'. it is not regularly used as a workstation.

- all the machines in the network run XP professional with SP2.

- all the shared files are stored on the server, so i'm not aware of any shortcuts to files located on other machines.

- the other machines are not turned on / off much - one has a removable cd drive on it.

- i'm not sure i fully understand the question about the shares being permanently mapped. i have a drive partitioned on the server (Z:\) and all the shared files are stored on this 'Z' drive. all the workstations are mapped to connect with the 'Z' drive at startup.

Your theory (It sounds like--sounds like--you have at one time mapped a drive somewhere, created a link to a file, then removed the mapping and windows is trying to reinstall the drive, but maybe cannot find it.) sounds plausible, but i don't know how to determine if that is what's going on...

Thanks again for helping...

[gerryf]

Are you certain all shared files are stored on the server? Possible anyone has a file stored locally, and maybe there is a link/shortcut to the file in the share folder?

Do you move files around in subfolders?

This error occurs only on "the server"?

Let's try an experiment.

Start > run
services.msc
enter

find distributed link tracking client

double click it.
stop the service
set the startup type to manual

reboot the server

scan device manager....

does the error repeat (should not)

[JodyMac12]

Hi Gerry -

I followed your instructions for the experiment - i still get the error message, whether the d.l.t.c. is started or stopped...

- regarding the other questions: if there are any shared files (other than shared printers) anywhere besides the server, i didnt set them up.

- i don't think we 'move files around in subfolders'...

- the error definitely only occurs on he 'server'

Thanks!

[gerryf]

maybe I am missing something....

in device manager...what made you hit scan for new hardware? Is there something in there?

also, at the time the error occured

start > run
eventvwr.msc
enter

any redxs at the time of the error?

[JodyMac12]

Hey Gerry -

originally discovered this issue when trying to find malware (problem actually tuned out to be a bad stick of memory, but anyway...). at one point, i thought my video card was bad, so i installed another one. in the process of trying to get the card functioning, i would get the message about the hardware not installing properly. my problems continued, so i ended up reinstalling the original video card. at some point in the process i noticed that it didn't matter what device i checked - if i selected 'scan for new hardware' the same messages show up.

maybe i am describing the messages wrong - i guess they are actually 'information' messages, not 'error' messages - they show up in a 'bubble' coming from the bottom right hand corner. no 'red xs' in the event logs for weeks, and in fact, i don't see that a record of these messages shows up in the event logs (either the application logs or system logs).

maybe i'm making something out of nothing, but everything else seems to be working properly now, and this tells me something somewhere is out of whack...Thanks again...

[gerryf]

I almost wonder if there are two things going on and just seem related.

Nothing in device manager with a yellow !?

[JodyMac12]

everything looks good in the device manager...