[Basty]

I answered, but my answer does not appear in the thread.

Will do it again.

 

Bad behaviour is when the THIS PC File/Windows Explorer page opens without (most) content and then goes non-responding.

 

Before I (re)do the activity you suggest, I will first post this and check that it appears in the thread.

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Like yesterday, my attempt to paste a copy of EVENT's contents here caused the browser to become non-responding. That may explain why my post did not appear in the thread. I will try another browser and if I succeed you'll get yesterday's and the one I redid today.

 

"Try putting msaud32_divx.acm in the FRST search box and then Search Registry. Does it find anything?"
I had isolated that file on the desktop - do you want me to put it back before I run FRST again ?

[Basty]

Like yesterday, my attempt to paste a copy of EVENT's contents here caused the browser to become non-responding. That may explain why my post did not appear in the thread. I will try another browser and if I succeed you'll get yesterday's and the one I redid today.

 

"Try putting msaud32_divx.acm in the FRST search box and then Search Registry. Does it find anything?"
I had isolated that file on the desktop - do you want me to put it back before I run FRST again ?

[Basty]

This is from an uptodate browser (Chrome) and also does not accept the pasting of the contents copied from EVENT.

[Basty]

Edge behaves the same way - can not paste in the contents of EVENT.

I will try to attach the files instead.

After choosing the EVENT file it returns 'NO FILE CHOSEN'.

Maybe we have come upon the gremlin and he wont allow revelation of his misdeeds. 

 

[RKinner]

Since we are searching the registry it doesn't matter where the file is. 

 

When File Explorer gets non responsive does it finally come back if you wait a while?

 

Can you run Process Explorer and then get file explorer to act up while still watching Process Explorer?  Maybe with Process Explorer set to show biggest memory users (click on Working Set column header once or twice in order to sort things with the biggest memory users at the top).

[Basty]

You seem unconcerned about my PECULIAR inability to post either those files or their contents.

 

To the extent that the fault was random I would have said 'Yes, functionality returns if you wait long enough'. NOW, I suspect I might have to wait a long time for functionality to return.

 

I'm impressed by the array of tools you have exposed me to in this thread.

 

I will download, (install ?) and run Process Explorer - I'm confident that I can get THIS PC to fail - so should be able to report the results soon.

[Basty]

I opened Process Explorer, sorted the Working SET, and opened THIS PC - it did NOT fail ! Nor did the second attempt.

 

So what is the strategy ? - open Process Explorer when THIS PC does fail ?

[Basty]

I tried to open THIS PC some 5 times since I opened Process Explorer - NO failures !

[Basty]

I kept Process Explorer open and have now triggered a FAILURE of THIS PC to show its contents. Attached is the (I hope relevant) information from Process Explorer.

 

Registry search produced :

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\drivers.desc

and

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[RKinner]

What did you do that makes it able to paste and attach files again?

 

Looking at your Process Explorer log I see the top program is Windows Live Mail.  This is a rather obsolete program that is no longer being supported.  I also see a lot of Mighty Text entries.  I wonder if a third party program might be at fault?  It doesn't appear to be running out of memory tho.

 

Run Process Explorer again and click once or twice on the CPU column header to get the big CPU users at the top.  Sometimes if the CPU gets super busy you will get not responding errors.  If you wait long enough it usually comes back.

 

 

About the registry search results.  You could go into regedit and delete the msaud32_divx.acm values associated with the two keys it found.  I would export the keys first but I doubt that the system will notice when they are gone.

[Basty]

What did you do that makes it able to paste and attach files again?

The only answer I can think of is "I CHANGED THE SOURCE" - now it is NOT from EVENT.

 

Windows Live Mail is sufficiently 'supported' to be able to run it as a functional email client.

 

I've done the Registry search again - 8 entries

but don't have time NOW to run Process Explorer again.

 

 

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Basty]

THIS PC had less content than ever before, so i ran Process Explorer, but could not take a representative picture, because the display was VERY dynamic Most of the time the CPU column was empty, but every now and then about a dozen entries would flash '<0.01'

[RKinner]

OK.  Perhaps Latency Monitor will catch something.

 

In case we haven't run it before:

 

Go to

 

http://www.resplendence.com/downloads

 

Scroll down to

 

System Monitoring Tools

 

and then find

 

LatencyMon 6.70 (or it may be a higher number if they update)

 

Click on Download free home edition

 

Save it then right click and Run As Admin.  It will install and then start the program.  

It will tell you to click on the Start button but there isn't one.  

Instead click on the green arrowhead (looks like a Play button).   Let it run while you try and break File Explorer. Then hit the red box to stop it. 

 

Edit, Copy Report text to Clipboard then move to a REPLY and Ctrl + v to paste the text into a reply.  

 

 

Click on the Drivers Tab.  Click on the column header for "Total execution (ms)" once or twice until the biggest numbers are at the top then take a screen shot and post it.  Click on the Processes tab then click on the column header once or twice until the big numbers are at the top.  Take a screen shot and post it. 

[Basty]

I will do that when I can, but I want to add a hunch I have developed : it is a fact that often the disappearance of one or other drive can be fixed by pressing the connector leads in the SSD.

While it is odd that the PC can work even though the system drive is missing from THIS PC, it is also true that on reboot, I may have to press the leads of the system drive as well, There is something very unstable about the mechanical connections between the drives and the mobo SATA sockets. I have tried various improvements short of BUYING new signal leads; The improvements do not last. I think the THIS PC misbehaviour is consistent with the connection failures.

 

I have not bought new leads because I am not aware of the existence of a more secure connection mechanism than just the slide-ons. The clips on the signal leads do not engage anything on SSDs. I have tried angled connectors - in the hope that the 'leverage' thus created is the solution, but it is NOT.

Edited by Basty, 08 March 2021 - 02:32 AM.

[RKinner]

Could you use a tie-wrap (AKA Cable Tie or Zip Tie) to hold the connector in place on the SSD?  Might not be pretty but who cares if it works.  (I use them to hold my SSD in place since I haven't been able to find an adapter I like. Holds it nice and snug up against the metal rail so the rail can conduct away heat.  Most of the adapters on the market are plastic and don't do anything to prevent heat buildup.  Most make it worse.)

 

Might also help to clean the contacts of the SSD with a new eraser.  Just lightly rub the eraser over the contacts to remove any corrosion.