Computer freezes with Rainmeter

[heath28m]

I am not for sure if this is the correct place to post this or not... didn't know if I should start my own thread, seemed like a good place to put it.. BUT.. I have found.. I think... a very strange BUG with Rainmeter that has been going on for several versions.. even in 1.2... I never had the problem before.. so it sort of took me a long time to figure it out.... and there are many variables in what could have caused it.. and because of the type of problem.. no logs in the Event Viewer for my system...

Windows 7 Ultimate 32 Bit
Rainmeter 1.30.560 ( as indicated on the EXE )

IF I run Rainmeter... with just about any skin applied... and start accessing large files on external drives and sometimes even large files on the main HD.. Especially when writing them or creating them...for instance a very large PSD file...big problem when compressing, decompressing, or joining files to make one large file... My system will freeze... the light on my drive will keep blinking.. like i the instance of an error when using an EHD.. and when it occurs on the main HD.. it just simply stops.. no light and no activity.. The same is true of all mouse movement and ability to use the system. I have to do a hard shut down with the power button and restart.. I have allowed it to wait for over an hour before.. thinking that it might be a simple issue of resource usage.. but its not the case.. especially when the system and all hardware comes to a halt... almost like a bad driver issue, back in tha day..LOL as they say..

I can reproduce the issue randomly.. so I don't know what is going on exactly.. It will also do it as mentioned in the above posts.. when I start Rainmeter and close it... thinking that it was a direct problem or incompatibility with the program itself..while it was running.. I don't know if its a buffer overflow error.. memory leak.. I just don't know too much about the cause but the only common factor I can come to is Rainmeter.. it also uses about 14% of CPU Resources to perform normal system monitoring tasks.. if thats related somehow...

I can provide full reports on system hardware and specs if needed.. and even provide you with my Rainmeter files as well.. plugin versions.. anything thats needed.. I would like to get it worked out.. Or atleast compare notes with someone who is knowledgeable about Rainmeter and its plugins.. I definitely do not want to get rid of it.. Love the program.. just really causing a problem for me right now..

Thanks..

EDIT: I also wanted to mention that I am member in another forum.. where this issue is currently causing the same system freeze on another members computer as well... so this I hope can help both of us..

[Chewtoy]

So the skin doesn't matter at all? Nothing the skins that makes your computer kill itself have in common? Like using specific plugin or measure or something?

Could you do this http://rainmeter.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4394 ?

Have you some program that checks current tasks and scans them for virus or something? Anything really that might see Rainmeter as something evil and triggers when it see Rainmeter running and then a big system load when you open something else.

This is a really odd problem I must say...
Have you tried 1.4 beta and see if you still get it?

[JamesAC]

Does it still happen even with no skins running??

Also, do you have a link to the other forum??

[heath28m]

So the skin doesn't matter at all? Nothing the skins that makes your computer kill itself have in common? Like using specific plugin or measure or something?

Could you do this http://rainmeter.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4394 ?

Have you some program that checks current tasks and scans them for virus or something? Anything really that might see Rainmeter as something evil and triggers when it see Rainmeter running and then a big system load when you open something else.

This is a really odd problem I must say...
Have you tried 1.4 beta and see if you still get it?

I would need to do some more thorough research to see about what your asking, about making sure that the skins don't have something in common.. I see a few configs and it starts to all look the same.. but I think WinMerge can probably help me out..

I will also run the task you ask for me to do...I just downloaded it..

My Protection/Security in place is as follows..

• ESET Smart Security - Active Protection.. I have it tweaked to be giving the best protection possible.. EVERYTHING is enabled.. so all the bases are included...
  PeerBlock - 1.7 Billion IP's Blocked
  Local Security Policy - Part of Windows 7, in relation to a few changes suggested by Tenable Nessus.
  UAC - All the way on..

I have went through and made exception for all files and folders within the directories as noted by Morely in the forums before concerning ESET Products.. I have quite a few other Security related apps that I use.. that relate to other areas and use Hitman Pro as a second opinion scanner... nothing active for it though.. no services or BS..

I did download the 1.4, but I have yet a chance to try it out.. I have upgraded Rainmeter nd possibly even carried over plugins from 1.2.. The other guy n the other forum.. did a fresh install of 1.3 current and go the issue.. so when I get the chance I am going to back up what I have - again - LOL... and try the 1.4 .. Betas herre usually go quite well.. as far as I have been concerned anyway..

Does it still happen even with no skins running??

Also, do you have a link to the other forum??

I think so.. it seems as though it did.. but I will check and see again... just to be sure.. unload shut down restart.. and then run an empty Rainmeter and see if its just the plugins being loaded by Rainmeter..right?

Do you want a link to the thread he posted in.. or just to the forums itself? The post was made in a Desktop Posting thread.. where we started talking about Rainmeter.. and he stated the issues and we have PM'd about his problem since.. I came over and decided to post about it, when I read here about a member who had a similar issue and he stated he was getting the same thing.. SO I am thinking there is a good chance something there is related.. but really though.. I would have to get you the PM's to cover it because.. He stated very little publicly about the problem.. and that is something, though I would like to.. I won't do.. unless the member approves it..

Summary I will be checking out what the two of you have suggested and get the output to you... I hope I find something that will lead to a resolution.. Sorry bout taking so long to get back here.. been very busy and still backed-up a little.. so it may be another day before I am back...

Many Thanks!

[JamesAC]

I think so.. it seems as though it did.. but I will check and see again... just to be sure.. unload shut down restart.. and then run an empty Rainmeter and see if its just the plugins being loaded by Rainmeter..right?

Yeah that's what i meant.

I would have to get you the PM's to cover it because.. He stated very little publicly about the problem.. and that is something, though I would like to.. I won't do.. unless the member approves it..

Ok, don't worry about it for now. Just let us know if you come up with any other info which you haven't mentioned yet.

At the moment, I havnt got any ideas, but the output of the RainEnv utility may give us a bit more of an idea.

[jsmorley]

Feels like a conflict with something, probably related to your draconian security setup. If it were me, I would be tempted to use Autoruns or something and temporarily disable all apps that run when the computer starts other than what is absolutely needed, and Rainmeter. Does it work ok then? If so, start adding things back in one at a time, reboot, and see when the problem starts. That is then the app that is causing the hiccups with Rainmeter. Then you can see if there is some mitigation through settings in that software, whether you can live without it, or maybe it is something we can do something about on the Rainmeter side.

[Chewtoy]

If I were to wing it I would guess that it's ESET that is the devil. They seem to have always got something 'funny' going on in my world...

It might help if you relay what we ask of you to the user who have the same problem and say what (s)he get. Or redirect him/her here. Should help narrowing it down if you have the exact same problem.

[heath28m]

If I were to wing it I would guess that it's ESET that is the devil. They seem to have always got something 'funny' going on in my world...

It might help if you relay what we ask of you to the user who have the same problem and say what (s)he get. Or redirect him/her here. Should help narrowing it down if you have the exact same problem.

I have let them know about the Forums, in fact I made it a point to let them know that I am posting about it here and was looking into it for myself as well.. It would be nice to have them active in this thread but I will have to wait until they are back on.. and get my IM.. but yeah was my first thought.. after finding that it wasn't just some small simple everyday problem..

Feels like a conflict with something, probably related to your draconian security setup. If it were me, I would be tempted to use Autoruns or something and temporarily disable all apps that run when the computer starts other than what is absolutely needed, and Rainmeter. Does it work ok then? If so, start adding things back in one at a time, reboot, and see when the problem starts. That is then the app that is causing the hiccups with Rainmeter. Then you can see if there is some mitigation through settings in that software, whether you can live without it, or maybe it is something we can do something about on the Rainmeter side.

I ran the RainEnv... You are really not going to like this.. its a mile long because of all of the configs.. LOL.. I couldn't even post the code.. twice as many as the allowed limit.. :shock: I can get it in any format you may need as well.. not just 7z..

RainEnv.7z

I did remove a few things that reveal a bit of information that could be used inappropriately.. The missing lines.. :insider: and 0 will equal my account name...

Uhm, you mentioned 'Draconian Security..' before.. the odd thing is though I use all of the native Windows Security tools.. and do these things.. I do not have a real problem with resource usage and I am properly protected, basically I try to get the most bang for my buck with such low number in system resources... and older hardware.. runs great with no lags..( in fact sometimes faster ) and 9.9 out of 10.0 times I find something bad out there.. it doesn't make in past it.. before it winds up on my system... plus I believe it is necessary.. if you keep up with the latest IT and Security news.. and the newest exploits in the wild.. to truly cover the bases.. some of these things are simple changes... some of them my never be needed.. but I can't 'sit on my front porch with a shotgun all day' either... so I stay abreast to these things and keep my system updated with all updates and so on.. Very few on Windows 7... when compared to others.. Ultimate just lends a few extra tools by default, because of its ability .. out of the box.. It may sound like a lot compared to the average user who slaps in AVG ( which scores very low BTW ) and goes on their merry way ) BUT.. it is just a few extra steps which can help you be a bit more secure..

A list of system startup.. from HiJack This! Log.. I can get you the whole thing if you need it.. This is just a few sections that are relative to the question about system startup..

Currently Running Processes:
C:\Windows\system32\taskhost.exe
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET Smart Security\egui.exe
C:\Program Files\Atomic Alarm Clock\AtomicAlarmClock.exe
C:\Program Files\cFosSpeed\cfosspeed.exe
C:\Program Files\CFi\ShellToys\cfishlman.exe
C:\Program Files\TrueTransparency\TrueTransparency.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\NoSleepHDv2.0 (Fixed)\NoSleepHDv2.0.exe
C:\Program Files\Rainmeter\Rainmeter.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\plugin-container.exe
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HiJackThis\HiJackThis.exe
C:\Windows\system32\DllHost.exe

Startup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [egui] "C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET Smart Security\egui.exe" /hide /waitservice
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SkinClock] C:\Program Files\Atomic Alarm Clock\AtomicAlarmClock.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [cFosSpeed] C:\Program Files\cFosSpeed\cfosspeed.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [CFi ShellToys Utility Manager] "C:\Program Files\CFi\ShellToys\cfishlman.exe" -start
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')

Services Section
O23 - Service: Acronis Scheduler2 Service (AcrSch2Svc) - Acronis - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\Schedule2\schedul2.exe
O23 - Service: Acronis Nonstop Backup service (afcdpsrv) - Acronis - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\CDP\afcdpsrv.exe
O23 - Service: Apache2.2 - Apache Software Foundation - C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\bin\httpd.exe
O23 - Service: cFosSpeed System Service (cFosSpeedS) - cFos Software GmbH - C:\Program Files\cFosSpeed\spd.exe
O23 - Service: ESET HTTP Server (EhttpSrv) - ESET - C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET Smart Security\EHttpSrv.exe
O23 - Service: ESET Service (ekrn) - ESET - C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET Smart Security\ekrn.exe
O23 - Service: Eyeline Video System (EyelineService) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\NCH Software\Eyeline\eyeline.exe
O23 - Service: Icecast-trunk Streaming Media Server (Icecast-trunk) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\Icecast2 Win32\icecastService.exe
O23 - Service: Remote Packet Capture Protocol v.0 (experimental) (rpcapd) - CACE Technologies, Inc. - C:\Program Files\WinPcap\rpcapd.exe
O23 - Service: Titan FTP Server Daemon (SRTSERVERDAEMON) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\srxTitan.exe
O23 - Service: Adobe SwitchBoard (SwitchBoard) - Adobe Systems Incorporated - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\SwitchBoard\SwitchBoard.exe
O23 - Service: Tenable Nessus - Tenable Network Security, Inc - C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\nessus-service.exe
O23 - Service: TVersityMediaServer - Unknown owner - C:\Users\0\AppData\Local\TVersity\Media Server\MediaServer.exe
O23 - Service: Zope instance at C:\Plone\parts\instance (Zope_-722186511) - Unknown owner - C:\Plone\python\PythonService.exe

None of the services except ESET and cFos, startup automatically... then you have the regular Windows Services.. which have been optimized for the configuration and usage I have for the system.. I can also export my settings for ESS, to share with you in case there is something in there.. you would like to take look at...

Things I have not done yet.. I have not gotten a hardware report from Everest for possible device incompatibilities.. ready to share .. I have yet to install the new Beta 1.4... nor have I tried Rainmeter running no skins after a reboot - of the configuration change... to reverify that it still occurs when empty...
BUT it is next on my list..

Hope this helps a little in tracking it down.. ( I really need to clean some of those skins.. LOL ) Plus I have more waiting to be trial-ed/tested and decided on.... LOL ... Quite a few LARGE Alphas and Beta packages that need to go away..

[heath28m]

Found a little info.. not for sure if its related or even could be related o how the program s designed to interact with the drives or rest of the system.. I have not had a crash yet with the new Beta.. so I am not for sure if the problem has been fixed..

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2265716/
Read about it here..
http://www.windows7hacker.com/index.php/2010/08/microsoft-released-a-hotfix-to-fax-a-randomly-stop-responding-issue-on-windows-7-computer/

Ignore the typo.. in the link..is supposed to be fix instead of fax..

I also have cleaned all skins and plugins out with my current installation except the Mail Meter.dll.. and one other.. and have cleaned out my configs... Haven't been running the same one.. either.. Created some themes.. will see.. still wondering because I go like this forever and then one day.. it just decides to lock up.. and be related.. cn get you a new RainEnv ( much smaller now.. ) if needed..