Windows 32 services error

[TheForce]

I've been getting the Error notice that the Generic Windows 32 Host process services has generated an error and needs to close. I'm not sure how to fix this without reinstalling windows XP.

A scan of my computer indicates no virus or spyware or root kits and I run registry errors correction software and have no errors there either. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes for the error to flash up and other times about 30 seconds after reboot. Once the error notice happens most software including windows explorer refuses to work. Before the error, the computer runs fast as always.

Lately I have been receiving quite a few virus notices that end up automatically going to the virus vault in AVG.

I wonder if a file or two in the win32 section got corrupted? Can I restore a whole folder of files from another computer running XP to see if that fixes this?

I did a system restore to the last known good config but that didn't work either.

 

[Ramy]

You might be able to replace those files but then you would have to find the exact version of it. You could try installing the latest service pack over again and then updating from there to see if that takes care of the problem.

 

[avg1joe]

Are you running Service Pack 3? Have you installed all windows updates to date?

Does this page help at all?
You receive a "Generic Host Process" error message after you start the computer, or DBCS attachment file names are not displayed in Rich Text e-mail messages

 

[lsilvest]

That error is generated by any number of things, some innocuous, but also by spyware or bots. If it's that severe, try running the Windows malware detection - you can get it on their site. If that doesn't fix it and your spyware program doesn't detect it, your best bet may be just to format the drive and reinstall.

If you do that, in the future I wouldn't rely on System Restore. When you're system is working perfectly, make an image using Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image (you can get a free version from WD or Segate). This takes only a few minutes to completely restore your system.

 

[TheForce]

avg1joe- Good link! I learned a lot from that. I really need to learn to use MS support resources more. I always forget to check there.

As it turned out, I went to check out my SP3 status and it had aborted and was still on SP2. So I updated that and rebooted and it has been running so far so good. I also saw about the malware and even though I'm pretty confident that was not the case, I am now using the MS malware scanner removal tool. It's almost done and hasn't found any infections yet.

I do use Ghost but wanted to try to get this drive bug free as I haven't imaged my drive to my spare drive in 2 months. If it makes it clean for the day, I'll clone the drive tonight.

 

[avg1joe]

Great! I hope that did the trick.

Save yourself some frustration next time. All I did to come up with that solution was google the error message and most of the search results had to do with sp2. I find google to be the best computer troubleshooting tool.

 

[TheForce]

Great! I hope that did the trick.

Save yourself some frustration next time. All I did to come up with that solution was google the error message and most of the search results had to do with sp2. I find google to be the best computer troubleshooting tool.

Actually it would have been even easier for me having the message on the screen as there was a link to the solution. Unfortunately, it would have been easier if the damn computer would have actually gone there with that error activated.