Win XP Home SP3 on a Gateway 4525gx Laptop, w/ 2gb RAM.
Every time I close windows, I get this popup that I must click the button "end Now" before I can actually shut down.
Any ideas how to get rid of this error, or how to track down the specific process that is causing it?

What I have done...
Completely uninstall Wireless and reinstall... several times.
Completely uninstall Proset and delete... Problem persists.
Completely uninstall drivers for Wireless... (redetected upon restart, so.,..)
Completely delete the preciously automatically installed drivers... Problem persists.

No Traces in Event Viewer or Minidumps to help.

I have noticed in another thread that Norton can sometimes cause this issue, but I have never had Norton on my system.

The issue began when I did a hard drive replacement, with a rebuild of my system from the Gateway restore disk, followed by a complete update to SP3. It was not present prior to the disk upgrade / replacement. Also, I did the 8-steps complete, with clean report, just to be safe.

Any ideas as to how to trace which exact process is causing this, and thus moving toward solving this annoyance?

Thanks in advance.

For it to display End Task, means that it must have started
Have a look at Autoruns

Note: Only disable what you are sure of
I once disabled my personal firewall (or something) and Windows stopped running

Here's another good one: Process Explorer

Thank you, Kimsland. I will give those a try and report back...
probably after the weekend at this point.

Oh I remembered :rolleyes: it was Sygate Firewall
I disabled Sygate, and then Windows stopped running.


Also, start with Process Explorer to see what's actually running first

Well, I have done some experimenting, and see what you mean about using care! :rolleyes:
Nothing major, a minor hiccup, easily retrieved...

I used the Process Explorer...
Attached are
1. Running Processes, listed, with some preliminary analysis... I only see a couple of lines
"C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService" that might be culprits here...
2. A JPG of the Process tree... I think this is less information, but what do I know? :haha:

Again... I appreciate the help!

Hmm I should have said run MSConfig and place your system in "Diagnostic Mode" then apply and exit
Restart your computer, allowing Diagnostic mode when logging into Windows

Then test to see if the fault happens again

If not, through running process of elimination, try running MSConfig again, and turn a few on at a time, until you eventually find out which startup is causing the issue.

You may also want to confirm no Virus or Malware by running; through running this guide:
UPDATED 8-step Viruses/Spyware/Malware Preliminary Removal Instructions

As noted in the initial post... I had already done the 8 steps, just to be safe... clean report...

I am in the process of re-running them in Diagnostic Mode... No surprises so far...
Running "Full Scans" not just quick ones. (Currently the full MBAM is running)...
Avira (Full Scan / All Files and Include scan for root kits) - Only "Detection" was a false positive for an old installer for Sophos AV.
CCleaner... Clean
MBAM - Quick Scan is Clean...
Minor Update - Full Scan came back clean too...

What I have noticed though... (Unrelated to the 8 steps)
Going into Diagnostic Mode, and Running Process Explorer... The Zero Config utility is still running,
even though... It is UN-ticked (unchecked) in MSConfig, and is shown as Disabled in
Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Processes.
When I "killed" it from process explorer, Windows seemed to shut down properly,
but then the utility was running again when restarting in Diagnostic Mode.

Thoughts?

Start->Run-> services.msc ->ok

To see what has started even though in Diagnostic Mode

Services.msc shows (as started/running) DCOM and RPC

Process Explorer shows...
SMSS, CSRSS and WInLogon.
Under WinLogon it shows Services, SASS and ZCfgSvc.exe
Under Services it shows SVCHost (2 entries, one each for DCOM and RPC).

edited by B00kWyrm; at 11:46 AM.. Reason: new thoughts...
new thoughts...
Since ZCfgSvc.exe is part of Intel's Proset (which I thought I had removed) and is not Windows Zero Config!
I think I will try renaming it, and then see if I can get a functioning connection using only Windows Zero Config.
My issue now will be to try to get back to a system that will load all components needed for networking.
I seem to have lost that since going into diagnostic mode.

edited by B00kWyrm; final update to close thread...
I am back on, using my Gateway, instead of my wife's Dell...
Used MSConfig, "Normal Startup" to get back to all needed components...
Now I am rebuilding / (trimming back to) my selective startup to get a quicker / cleaner start.
The annoying popup is gone, and I will finally get rid of all of Proset... (last piece ZCfgSvc.exe)

Kimsland - Thanks for the pointers along the way.
Lessons learned include not assuming that I know what a file is! (doh!)
Maybe the thread should be retitled? (ZCfgSvc is Not Windows Zero Config!)
Interesting tools you pointed me to. Thanks again.

If you still have any disabled items (not required) in MSConfig
You can run MSConfig Cleanup to clean them up

My understanding is that "End Program" message has finally been removed?
If so, then yes the above tools and commands will be helpful to others as well, with this Titled problem.

Yes, the pop-up is gone. Yes, the problem was Intel's Proset utility for wireless.
The specific component in my case was ZCfgSvc.exe.

The Process Explorer was useful in isolating the processes, and allowing me to "kill" it, thus proving that this was the offending process.
Somewhere in the process I noticed that it was identified as an Intel process rather than a Microsoft process.

By going to MSConfig, Diagnostic mode, and using Process Explorer, it allowed me to see with certainty that this process was loaded/running,
even though it was not called for in any part of the windows startup.

Someone more knowledgeable may be able to correct my assumptions here and my way of expressing them, but it would seem that as the wireless hardware was recognized and the the Broadcom drivers for the wireless were being loaded, they were "hooking" ZCfgSvc, instead of WZC. By renaming the file after "killing" the process, the Broadcom driver for wireless was no longer able to find it, and instead must rely upon the WIndows component, (which was my desired setup to begin with.)

Afterword/Postlog: MSConfig Cleanup is a much quicker and easier (not to mention... ahem... safer)
method than doing a manual regedit!

Thanks Again! Much Obliged!

End Now - Sample

I had this same problem some time ago and it drove me nuts trying to figure out what it was. I narrowed it down to a graphic and learned that it was the desktop Wallpaper. If you go to the control panel > Display, just above the picture of whatever is on your desktop is the word "Sample" - that was where the problem was. I don't remember what I did to solve it. I may have done something in the registry or maybe I just switched it to Windows desktop with the field on a hill and rebooted or something - I really just don't remember what I did. Play around with that a bit and see if you can straighten it out, then you can change your wallpaper again to whatever you want. I've learned that Windows doesn't always like the wallpaper I choose, but I think it helps if you save the picture in the Windows folder as opposed to just selecting from your picture files. Mine is located in Windows/Web/Wallpaper

Good luck!

Sample - End Now

I posted this response elsewhere -- I think I may have posted it in the wrong place so I'll try it again!

I had this same problem some time ago and it drove me nuts trying to figure out what it was. I narrowed it down to a graphic and learned that it was the desktop Wallpaper. If you go to the control panel > Display, just above the picture of whatever is on your desktop is the word "Sample" - that was where the problem was. I don't remember what I did to solve it. I may have done something in the registry or maybe I just switched it to Windows desktop with the field on a hill and rebooted or something - I really just don't remember what I did. Play around with that a bit and see if you can straighten it out, then you can change your wallpaper again to whatever you want. I've learned that Windows doesn't always like the wallpaper I choose, but I think it helps if you save the picture in the Windows folder as opposed to just selecting from your picture files. Mine is located in Windows/Web/Wallpaper

Good luck!