Stimon on Startup Yields Msgsrv32 Hang Error

Topic

New Reply

Hello,

I am running Win98SE2.

I recently reenabled an old Zip100 parallel drive and used it (with difficulty) to copy to CD some files I had only stored on Zip Disks. When I did this I began getting an ‘eternal hourglass’ when I rebooted.

I did a bit of research and based on my findings I began dropping items from the startup list in msconfig. When I got down to explorer, system tray, the two files for Avast (ashwebsv and ashmaisv) and the MS upgrade files (kb891711 and kb918547) the boot went OK. When I reinstated stimon the hourglass came back. I believe I need stimon to use my usb scanner, no?

Is there a straightforward way to uninstall and reinstall stimon? The MSKB tells me:

Still Image Monitor (Stimon.exe) is a tool that is installed by Windows Millennium Edition (Me) and Windows 98 when a Universal Serial Bus (USB) scanning device is successfully enumerated. Stimon.exe is configured to start automatically during the Windows startup process, and is loaded from the following registry key:

HKEY_Local_MachineSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrent VersionRun

The KB does not say what to do when the conflict I describe happens.

In the past, I have also started power management to shut down my monitor during idle periods of the day. I also started rampage (which seemed to reduce the number of random crashes considerably), timesync (to more or less keep my drifting system clock in sync with the real world) and scanreg (because I read somewhere that it was a good way for non-compulsive users to maintain a current backup of their registry file and other related startup files.

So, I am open to any help anyone can offer to clear up the stimon/msgsrv32 conflict.

I am also open to constructive comments about the other startup items I now have disabled. It is quite a task to go through and enable them one by one (or in various combinations with one another) on top of the ‘base’ items that give me a clean boot. Should I do this just to make sure that stimon is the only offending process?

Thanks,

Reply | Quote

Replies

Several of the threads returned from this stimon msgsrv32 hang – Google Search indicate some sort of malware issue. Have you run a/v and spyware scans?

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Joe,

Thank you for your prompt reply!

I immediately ran two checks,

1) http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

the eTrust Antivirus Web Scanner which has worked for me in the past and,

2) an AdAware scan.

Neither found any significant looking problems. I did sequester the ‘low level’ items found by the latter. They always seem to come right back.

Should I have done more?

Thanks,

Reply | Quote

That is a good start. Have a look at Tutorials & Links to Detection & Removal Tools for other tools to try.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the encouragement, Joe.

I had a few minutes tonight and found a straightforward freeware solution to the stimon.exe problem at:

http://www.smatters.com/stimon/readme.txt%5B/url%5D

and

http://www.smatters.com/stimon/stimon_fix.html%5B/url%5D

The download is embedded in a brief product description for a shareware program the author has written. It takes only a minute or so to find it. I’ll honor his request that we read the ad to find the link.

Thanks again,

Reply | Quote

Glad you found a possible solution. Please post back after you’ve had a chance to try it so others can benefit from your experiences.

Joe

--Joe

Reply | Quote

Joe,

The ‘workaround’ works. Those who write code and understand the ‘ordering of processes’ will find the author’s ‘read me’ explanation of his solution interesting.

It does involve a gambit back into DOS during the boot sequence. I don’t have the patience to time the added seconds to each reboot. Mine is slow because my internal HDD’s are all SCSI, and those require their own DOS gambit. If you watch your boot, you will see that during the 15 second (that works for me and my machine is ‘long in the tooth’ (an OtiPlex GX200 with an 866 mHz processor) delay that assures that stimon.exe is loaded last in the startup you are ‘subjected’ to an ad for the author’s shareware programs.

I’m satisfied.

My machine once again boots and shuts down cleanly. I wish I knew what it was that the Iomega software I installed from the web (at least the problem manifested itself right after I installed it) did to my machine. I uninstalled the software after I was done recapturing the files.

Reply | Quote