JUNE 04 PROBS WITH SYSTEM: XP home, SP1 all current updates.
1. DEVICE MANAGER CONTAINS NO DEVICES.
2. Internet Explorer ACTING STRANGE 3 WAYS
- HITTING ENTER AFTER ENTERING URL IN ADDRESS BAR
PRODUCES NO IMMEDIATE RESULT - NO ACTIVITY TO NET
- it EVENTUALLY does bring up the specified site. at least 30 secs.
- clicking down arrow of address bar to see list takes a full SIXTY
seconds before responding. this just happens the first time
an I.E. window is accessed.
- inline autocomplete doesn't work, although it is set on.
these three went away completely at one point during all the
testing I was doing - without any changes to the system!
but are back now consistently.
3. OTHER than the above, the system appears to be behaving reasonably
normally, except for a repeated internet access slowdown/stoppage at
around the same time many nights.
I consider this a separate problem, connected with the internet
and/or my ISP, not my system.
3a. two incidents occurred which were changes to the system, which
could have affected these problems:
1. I used EASYCLEANER to remove over 200 entries from the registry.
I spent a couple of hours examining and checking the
entries listed to see that they were safe to remove.
2. Windows XP home, which I've had for 2 years, came up the
first time I booted after the above action and said my
hardware had changed substantially, I needed to do a WPA within 3
days.
this was successfully done.
since wpa (windows product activation) does examine
various hardware items, I wondered whether it could have been the
source of the empty devmgr.
but going back to a bootable image before the WPA still showed the empty devmgr.
4. ACTIONS I HAVE TAKEN: (through research on the net) -
- copied a previous version of devmgr.msc from a bootable image a
couple of weeks old, where device manager looked correct, to the
current system - made no difference.
the two files (the one on the current system and the one I copied)
were the same size, 33K.
- restored the registry entries removed by EASYCLEANER, using its
UNDO method. verified that the entries were again in the registry.
- following advice to stop and start plug and play, I DISABLED it,
then re-enabled it.
no change.
- I could find no way to actually STOP pnp, even with
net.exe, which MS says will do it - and am not sure if DISABLE would
have the same effect.
- all the 'experts' said the next step if the pnp stop/start didn't
work was a repair install.
- I did this; but the install stalled after all files were loaded,
and it sat there for 20min at least saying 'please wait while we
configure your system' (or similar). so I finally hit 'reset', and
the
new version came up, but devmgr was STILL blank.
these 'problems' are apparently causing no major problem, I can still
do what I need to do.
I can work around the annoyances with IE, as frustrating as that is,
and the devmgr being empty isn't causing any difficulty right now,
that I know of.
BUT each of the noted problems indicates a system not fully and
properly functional, and this bothers me, I would like to get it
corrected before greater problems do happen.
I would like to avoid a full re-install if possible.
so now I need some advice, hopefully something fairly simple that will
eliminate these problems! |
Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
07 Jun 2004 07:42 PDT
Hi bink99,
In regards to your internet problems, please run the following two
programs, disabling System Restore first (to avoid restoring an
infection you just removed).
Disabling or enabling Windows XP System Restore:
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001111912274039?OpenDocument&src=sec_doc_nam
1) HouseCall (very thorough "online" virus scan):
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
2) Ad-aware (check for updates before running):
http://www.spychecker.com/program/adaware.html
>>>>>>
In regards to your Device Manager problem, two things to try...
1) Plug and Play:
Start / Run / type msconfig / OK / Services
Verify that the Hide all Microsoft Services checkbox is NOT checked.
Scroll down the list of services until you see the service named Plug
and Play and make sure it is checked.
If that didn't help...
-Right-click My Computer / left-click Manage. The Computer Management
window appears.
-Click Services and Applications / Services / Standard and scroll down
to Plug and Play.
Double-click Plug and Play (if a warning dialog box appears, click OK).
The Plug and Play Properties window appears. Click to change the
Startup Type to Manual,
and then click Apply (if a warning dialog box appears, click OK).
-Under the Service Status section of the Plug and Play Properties
windows, click the
Start button. This will start the Plug and Play service.
Click OK on the Plug and Play Properties.
2) Check the security permissions (be careful here!):
Start / type "regedit" /
HKLM / System / CurrentControlSet / Enum /
Right click Enum -> Permissions
Set permissions for System -> Full Control.
View graphic here (not exactly the same but may help):
http://www.leadtek.com.tw/support/pic1.gif
Please let us know how that goes so we'll know if your question needs
further work or if I should post this as an answer.
Thank you (good luck!),
hummer
|
Clarification of Question by
bink99-ga
on
07 Jun 2004 10:57 PDT
since last night when I posted this, the 3 IE problems listed in #2
have disappeared. computer was on , no re-boot, but did close all IE
windows and re-start. can't figure this one out!
if it behaves as previously, the next time I boot, the problem will re-appear.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
hummer-ga
on
07 Jun 2004 11:40 PDT
Hi bink99, did you run Ad-aware? hummer
|
Clarification of Question by
bink99-ga
on
07 Jun 2004 14:06 PDT
re first part: don't run system restore. did a housecall on all my
HD's, for your peace of mind. (I have Norton antivirus with automtic
update.)
no viruses. right now, IE is behaving well!
as to the empty device manager - I skipped your directions about pnp,
since I had started and stopped it before, and current check indicates
it is started.
for step 2, I used regeditx - there were two choices ,
'administrator', and 'interactive' when I got 'permissions' up. so I
clicked 'full control' for the administrator, which is me. then
questioningly brought up device manager, saw a blank screen, - BUT
THEN IT FILLED OUT!!!
now, your only remaining task :-)) is to explain all this to me!
as a retired systems programmer and tech support in a mainframe
environment, I am used to knowing what is going on in my system,
keeping it cleaned up, tuned, etc. I subscribe to LANGALISTPLUS from
Fred Langa, an enormous help.
so could you tell me why the device manager list disappeared, and what
is this 'full control' in permissions - one menu I had never seen
before.
was 'full control' on originally in my registry, and somehow got
turned off? maybe by some program being installed? or is this just a
'special' way of making the list visible? what are the implications?
why does MS have this setting in XP?
Hummer, I would like to understand what has gone, or MIGHT HAVE gone
on. I realize that without being here, and knowing everything I have
done since April (when I know the list was there) this might be a
difficult task.
but give it a shot, please, and you'll get a 5-start rating!
Oh, I just ran adaware 6.0 build 181, the latest according to the lava
site - it shows 15 items, only Alexa is in the registry, the rest are
cookies.
I am leaving them there for a bit, in case you want to know the specifics.
all are listed as 'data miners'.
regards, and thanks a bunch! I am MUCH happier now!
Vern
|
Dear Vern,
Thanks for the good news - that's terrific!
In regards to HouseCall, often it finds things that others do not
(Norton included). It's a good idea to run Housecall regularly (every
month or so), especially if you're a heavy user of IE and Outlook.
"...then questioningly brought up device manager, saw a blank screen,
- BUT THEN IT FILLED OUT!!! now, your only remaining task :-)) is to
explain all this to me!"
Gulp, don't know if I can. First of all, you may want to run SFC, just
to be sure all is ok. To try and find a solution for you, I searched
Google using the terms <empty device manager> and browsed forums.
Everyone talked about PnP, but then I came to this:
"If Device Manager is showing nothing, then Its the plug and play
service that is the problem. But if the Device manager is showing the
system_name and not showing any devices in the window, then check the
security permissions on the Registry key
HKLM\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\ENUM .The SYSTEM account must have full
control permissions on this key in order for the Device manager to
list all the devices in the window"
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1063864008
So, I guess the answer to your question is "The SYSTEM account must
have full control permissions on this key in order for the Device
manager to list all the devices in the window", but I do not know how
or why yours got turned off, I'm sorry.
"Oh, I just ran adaware 6.0 build 181, the latest according to the
lava site - it shows 15 items, only Alexa is in the registry, the rest
are cookies. I am leaving them there for a bit, in case you want to
know the specifics. all are listed as 'data miners'."
It's up to you what to do about Alexa, it's associated with "Related
Links" - you'll find an explanation here -
Is Alexa Spying On You?:
http://www.imilly.com/alexa.htm
If it were me, I would dump alexa and all of the data miners cookies.
You could also download and run Spybot Search and Destroy, just to be
sure you found everything.
Spybot (check for updates before running):
http://www.safer-networking.org/
I'm really happy all is well now with your Device Manager - it must've
seemed like magic when the window first filled out, I wish I could've
been there with you!
Sincerely,
hummer |
Request for Answer Clarification by
bink99-ga
on
07 Jun 2004 19:15 PDT
Hi Hummer - doing further research through google on how enum
permissions should be set, I discovered this site:
http://www.tburke.net/info/regentry/topics/30004.htm
please note the CAUTION at the bottom.
while it refers to W2K, my understanding that such refs can also apply to XP.
where can we find out definitively about this?
and if the permissions should not be changed, what is PLAN B ?
regards and thanks,
Vern
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bink99-ga
on
07 Jun 2004 19:38 PDT
Hummer, a little further clarification -
went back to my April bootble image of XP , checked the device manager
was properly listing devices, then checked the permissions for enum -
they are NOT set to full control. no ticks in any of the boxes.
so it seems there is some other way to get the data to show up.
guess we need to find out whether the setting permissions can really
be dangerous eh?
TIA,
Vern
|
Clarification of Answer by
hummer-ga
on
08 Jun 2004 05:25 PDT
Good morning, Vern,
Hmmm... 8-(
Here's an interesting thread about changing permissions under emum.
"Here is the solution for this issue, it worked perfectly for me : Why
do I get the message "data is invalid" when installing a device
driver? This error appears to be due to a protection problem in the
Windows registry and can occur with a variety of drivers (sound cards
and SCSI drivers have been reported). To fix this problem, go to
Start, Run... and type "regedit" without the quotes to run the
Registry Editor. Navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ENUM\PCI and you will see
a number of keys of the form "VEN_xxxx", where xxxx are strings like
"1102&DEV_0004&SUBSYS_00011103&REV_04". Under each of these folders
will be another folder with a long numerical name. Open each folder
and look for the "DeviceDesc" which matches the hardware you are
trying to install. Right Click on the "VEN_xxxx" for that device and
select 'Permissions' and then tick "Allow" for "Full Control". Close
Regedit and then continue with the installation of your device."
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1005255996
Here's a thought - have you added anything (driver, card, etc) that
may have changed the permissions as in the above thread? Compare how
the ENUM/PCI permissions is set on your April bootble image and how it
is set now. Perhaps you just need to reset the PCI sub-key permissions
instead of all of the sub-keys under ENUM. Or search around in there
further and look for any permissions that have changed since April.
Adapted for Windows XP:
1. Click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE window and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ENUM\PCI.
2. Highlight PCI, right-click and select "Permissions..."
3. Highlight the SYSTEM entry, and make sure that "Allow" is selected
for both Full Control and Read.
4. Select the "Advanced" button and in the "Advanced Control Settings"
view make sure that "Reset permission entries on all child objects..."
is selected, and that "Inheritable permissions..." is NOT selected.
5. Hit "Apply", then "OK", and close the various Regedt32 dialog windows.
6. Go back to Device Manager , highlight the new hardware, right-click
and select "Update Driver..."
http://stuandgravy.typepad.com/blog/2004/04/
PLAN B?:
"Hi Guys, I've been watching this thread with interest, because it
happened to me a few days ago on my Windows ME machine. Device Manager
was empty except for one unknown device. However, Safe-Mode was still
revealed the entire list. The solution for me was to boot the machine
to a DOS prompt using an Emergency Startup disk. Then ran
c:\windows\win. It reported a problem and said it had fixed it. Back
in business!! Thought it was coincidental, but I was installing a
Wireless Router onto my network back then. Hope this helps."
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/1081040743
I'll get this off to you now but will continue to work on it -
hummer
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bink99-ga
on
08 Jun 2004 21:57 PDT
Hi Hummer -
>Here's a thought - have you added anything (driver, card, etc) that
may have changed the permissions as in the above thread? Compare how
the ENUM/PCI permissions is set on your April bootble image and how it
is set now. Perhaps you just need to reset the PCI sub-key permissions
instead of all of the sub-keys under ENUM. Or search around in there
further and look for any permissions that have changed since April.
You remember I mentioned the internet 'slowdown/stop' I have been
experiencing, and have been working with Rogers, my ISP to correct
this.
here is part of an email I sent them after a very frustrating time
with their techs.
*********
after this, I re-booted, and found 'invalid ip address' thru control
panel; could not get this resolved, no email, no internet, so decided to
call again.
this tech asked whether I had an ethernet card, and I said no, it was a
linksys adapter connection, so he immediately said that was the problem.
we looked at hardware device manager, and found TWO devices listed under
network adapters; the linksys adapter, and a 'wan miniport (network
monitor); this last one had a yellow ! mark. neither of us knew what
this 'miniport' was, since I only have 1 computer, and no network,
certainly not a wide area network.
so he told me to delete these two, then re-boot, which I reluctantly did
(remembering that my system was working fine before all this started).
now it wants to install the driver for the linksys, and requests the
linksys floppy, which I didn't have handy. so got off the phone,
another half hour gone by.
found the floppy, got the driver re-installed, STILL didn't work.
still had an ip beginning with 169, which he had told me was invalid,
and was blaming the linksys for this. ???
finally I decided to re-boot, and this resolved the problem, I could
again get email, and after the 'slow period' ended, again got fast
access to the Net.
***********
this was early May - so at that time devmgr was normal - but we DID do
the linksys re-install, and I don't recall looking at devmgr after
that.
but MUST have looked to see things were OK after the re-install, so
presumably the hardware list was still there then.
now SINCE that event, there have been no changes to the system EXCEPT
for the product activation. could this have caused devmgr to go away?
I did go back and look at the April system, here's what I found:
ENUM/PCI has 2 entries, 'everyone' set to READ, and 'system', set to
FULL CONTROL and READ.
ENUM has 'administrators' and 'interactive', both with SPECIAL PERMISSIONS set.
I also looked at currentcontrolset\control, and found
administrators/etc set to full control in the April system, and
today's. other entries the same in both.
Hummer, I frankly don't know whether there is anything to be concerned
about here, or not. OBVIOUSLY changing the ENUM permissions has
changed the settings in PCI too, and perhaps other 'dependent' places.
so, looking for some re-assurance.
thanks,
Vern
|
Clarification of Answer by
hummer-ga
on
09 Jun 2004 08:16 PDT
Dear Vern,
I completely understand what you are saying and why you are concerned
- I would feel the same way. I went through something similar
regarding modems/connections a few years ago - I spent so much time on
the phone, jumping back and forth between Dell and my ISP, that my ear
hurt.
About the WAN:
Wan miniport Network Monitor:
"The WAN mini-port network monitor is one of a few wan miniport
devices installed on your system (they are normally hidden in device
manger)
Generally the network monitor device is only installed when microsofts
network monitor or associated tool is on the system."
http://www.osnn.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-36612.html
WAN Miniport (Network Monitor) (!) Issue :
http://groups.google.co.uk/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=ev%23660KJCHA.1840%40tkmsftngp09&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dwan%2Bminiport%2Bremove%2Bnetwork%2Bmonitor%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN%26tab%3Dwg
Linksys / WAN Miniport (Network Monitor):
http://www.mydesktophelp.com/_disc2/000000b2.htm
>>>>>>>>>
The important message in the following thread is: "If you make a
mistake that results in your computer not starting properly, you can
restore the registry."
"Verify that the system has full control of the Enum subkey and all
subsequent subkeys in the registry:
Caution
Incorrectly editing the registry may severely damage your system.
Before making changes to the registry, you should back up any valued
data.
Click Start, click Run, type regedt32, and then click OK.
Select the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum
On the Security menu, click Permissions.
In the Permissions for Enum dialog box, verify that SYSTEM has full control access.
If not, select SYSTEM in the list and in Permissions, check Full Control.
Click Advanced, and then select the Reset permissions on all child
objects and enable propagation of inheritable permissions check box to
make this change in all subsequent subkeys.
Restart your computer for this change to take effect.
Important
If you make a mistake that results in your computer not starting
properly, you can restore the registry."
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Hardware/Desktops/Q_20905812.html
In other words, editing the registry always carries a certain amount
of risk - if you run into trouble, you can always restore your
registry. However, I personally think you are ok - you've been
operating ok now for a couple of days, right?
Vern, if you are worried, why not go back to your backed-up registry
(which I'm sure you made because you are so careful!) and then set
your permissions in the PCI subkey to the way they were in April.
Adapted for Windows XP:
1. Click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE window and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ENUM\PCI.
2. Highlight PCI, right-click and select "Permissions..."
3. Highlight the SYSTEM entry, and make sure that "Allow" is selected
for both Full Control and Read."
4. Select the "Advanced" button and in the "Advanced Control Settings"
view make sure that "Reset permission entries on all child objects..."
is selected, and that "Inheritable permissions..." is NOT selected.
5. Hit "Apply", then "OK", and close the various Regedt32 dialog windows.
6. Go back to Device Manager , highlight the new hardware, right-click
and select "Update Driver..."
http://stuandgravy.typepad.com/blog/2004/04/
For me, if your computer is humming along, I would say stop worrying and enjoy it!
Sincerely,
hummer
|
Request for Answer Clarification by
bink99-ga
on
10 Jun 2004 10:26 PDT
OK Hummer, I opened an incident with MS, simply asking the question
could the ENUM change cause a problem. they replied that it couldn't,
and that sometimes 3rd party software might change those permissions,
thus causing the empty dev mgr.
so I'm happy, and this incident is closed.
you were very helpful , even with my concerns after the problem was resolved.
thanks!
Vern
|
Clarification of Answer by
hummer-ga
on
10 Jun 2004 10:42 PDT
Dear Vern,
Oh goody, we're back to being happy again! 8-)
I'm glad to hear that you called MS - thanks for letting me know - now
you won't have to live with that nagging feeling in the back of your
mind.
Thank you for your nice note and rating. It's been an interesting exchange.
Sincerely,
hummer
|
