Mouse/Keyboard Freeze (requires reboot)

**Sampson** · 01-18-2005, 04:54 PM

My PC has recently developed a nasty mouse/keyboard freeze.

Originally, this seemed to occur only in MS Word 97, but has more recently happened when in IE and even when just looking at the desktop. It can happen shortly after startup or after a couple of hours running.

I've run memtest86+ and the RAM checks out fine (even after 6.5 hours).

I've replaced the video card (as an unlikely solution to this problem, but also to handle another (less serious) symptom).

I've run McAfee (why do your techs advise against this one?) and Spybot 1.3.... Clean.

The worst ScanDisk turned up was that the entry for free space was incorrect (but then, I assume that "undiginfied" shut downs can cause this).

The system seems to be stable in Safe Mode.

During the most recent freeze (on start up in normal mode), I "learned" that EM_EXEC.EXE couldn't load/was not responding... but I don't know if this has always been the case, or if it just happened this time.

After discarding the RAM and video card hypotheses, I've continued to wonder about corrupted OS files, an incompatibility with an update (I did a major one several months ago, and one other which may or may not be around the time this started), and, now I've begun to suspect EM_EXEC.EXE.

This is a ~4year-old, custom-built Athlon 1050 w/ 512MB of RAM and 2 hard drives (partitioned like so: D: is 40GB and C:/E: are each 20GB). It's got a professional sound card (Echo Mona).

The OS is installed on C:, as are the apps.

Thank you for hearing this.

greyknight17 · 01-19-2005, 09:08 AM

Try running the system file checker by going to Start->Run and type in sfc. Choose the first option and scan. See if any files are missing/corrupted so that they can be replaced.

I don't like McAfee or Norton mainly because of the resources used and the performance. We usually recommend using Grisoft AVG. It's free, uses less resources than the two and does a much better job at catching trojans/viruses.

If you want, we can take a more detailed look and see if you have spyware on your computer:

Please download HijackThis - this program will help us determine if there are any spyware/malware on your computer. Create a folder at C:\HJT and move HijackThis.exe there. Double click on the program to run it.

1. If it gives you an intro screen, just choose 'Do a system scan and save a logfile'.
2. If you don't get the intro screen, just hit Scan and then click on Save log.
3. Get HijackThis Analyzer and save it to the same folder as the hijackthis.log file. Run HijackThis Analyzer and type in y if you agree. The result.txt file will open up in Notepad. Copy the whole result.txt log and post it in the forum. We do not need the original hijackthis.log (unless we ask for it). Do not fix anything in HijackThis since they may be harmless.

**Sampson** · 01-20-2005, 01:55 PM

Update: Ran SFC... found 7 (then 8) possibly corrupted dlls... restored 'em... still can't boot in normal mode.

It seems to hang during startup while trying to execute:

EM_EXEC.EXE (helps my trackman), ECHOCON2 (Console for my sound card), and RNDAL (ahhh... Real Networks... it's coming back to me... harp music, please...).

I'm savvy AND dense... I have made a recent change to my system... I disabled http://systemboothideplayer... could this have anything to do with... anything?

Any help?

01-18-2005, 04:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
Sampson I helped the forums. Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: New England Posts: 2 OS: Win 98 SE	Mouse/Keyboard Freeze (requires reboot) My PC has recently developed a nasty mouse/keyboard freeze. Originally, this seemed to occur only in MS Word 97, but has more recently happened when in IE and even when just looking at the desktop. It can happen shortly after startup or after a couple of hours running. I've run memtest86+ and the RAM checks out fine (even after 6.5 hours). I've replaced the video card (as an unlikely solution to this problem, but also to handle another (less serious) symptom). I've run McAfee (why do your techs advise against this one?) and Spybot 1.3.... Clean. The worst ScanDisk turned up was that the entry for free space was incorrect (but then, I assume that "undiginfied" shut downs can cause this). The system seems to be stable in Safe Mode. During the most recent freeze (on start up in normal mode), I "learned" that EM_EXEC.EXE couldn't load/was not responding... but I don't know if this has always been the case, or if it just happened this time. After discarding the RAM and video card hypotheses, I've continued to wonder about corrupted OS files, an incompatibility with an update (I did a major one several months ago, and one other which may or may not be around the time this started), and, now I've begun to suspect EM_EXEC.EXE. This is a ~4year-old, custom-built Athlon 1050 w/ 512MB of RAM and 2 hard drives (partitioned like so: D: is 40GB and C:/E: are each 20GB). It's got a professional sound card (Echo Mona). The OS is installed on C:, as are the apps. Thank you for hearing this.

01-19-2005, 09:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
greyknight17 Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: New York Posts: 14,331 OS: Windows 98 & Windows XP Home/Pro My System	Try running the system file checker by going to Start->Run and type in sfc. Choose the first option and scan. See if any files are missing/corrupted so that they can be replaced. I don't like McAfee or Norton mainly because of the resources used and the performance. We usually recommend using Grisoft AVG. It's free, uses less resources than the two and does a much better job at catching trojans/viruses. If you want, we can take a more detailed look and see if you have spyware on your computer: Please download HijackThis - this program will help us determine if there are any spyware/malware on your computer. Create a folder at C:\HJT and move HijackThis.exe there. Double click on the program to run it. 1. If it gives you an intro screen, just choose 'Do a system scan and save a logfile'. 2. If you don't get the intro screen, just hit Scan and then click on Save log. 3. Get HijackThis Analyzer and save it to the same folder as the hijackthis.log file. Run HijackThis Analyzer and type in y if you agree. The result.txt file will open up in Notepad. Copy the whole result.txt log and post it in the forum. We do not need the original hijackthis.log (unless we ask for it). Do not fix anything in HijackThis since they may be harmless. __________________ Please do NOT PM me. Post whatever questions you may have in the forum and we will take a look at it when we get to it. If you have waited for more than 3 days, you may then and ONLY then PM me for assistance. I will take a look at it. Adaware :: CWShredder :: HijackThis :: Panda ActiveScan :: Spybot S&D Anti-Spyware Tutorial :: Spyware Prevention Tools

01-20-2005, 01:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
Sampson I helped the forums. Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: New England Posts: 2 OS: Win 98 SE	Update: Ran SFC... found 7 (then 8) possibly corrupted dlls... restored 'em... still can't boot in normal mode. It seems to hang during startup while trying to execute: EM_EXEC.EXE (helps my trackman), ECHOCON2 (Console for my sound card), and RNDAL (ahhh... Real Networks... it's coming back to me... harp music, please...). I'm savvy AND dense... I have made a recent change to my system... I disabled http://systemboothideplayer... could this have anything to do with... anything? Any help?