Hello everybody, I'm new to this forum but it was recommended to me by someone on the malwareremoval site. I've read A LOT of posts of people having this APPCRASH error and "program has stopped working", with not really any answers. The answers that are given are too varied to give me an idea of what to look at, other than it seems to be a Vista issue. I know it's not a malware issue because I just went through the whole process on www.malwareremoval.com , here is a link to my thread/topic, not sure if it'll show up hyperlinked or not.

http://www.malwareremoval.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=28653&p=280747#p280747

I know most people with this problem either have it with IE or explorer, but mine happens with several other security/maintenance programs. The list so far is PC Tools Spyware Doctor (which I don't want anymore anyways), Registry Mechanic, Registry Booster, Security Task Manager, and RegRun. Below I've included some of the messages. I have a hp pavilion dv6736nr notebook with Vista Home Premium. Please let me know if anyone is having similar problems who might have a way to fix this ... besides having to reinstall, which may be inevitable Thankyou guys for listening.

Here is the main program and the one that I first noticed wouldn't work anymore.

I liked Spyware Doc in the beginning, but I don't think I wanna use it anymore.

It seems to use too much resources and I read a lot of bad things about it ...

Product
PC Tools GUI Application

Problem
Stopped working

Date
3/12/2008 11:36 PM

Status
Not Reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: pctsGui.exe
Application Version: 5.5.0.204
Application Timestamp: 2a425e19
Fault Module Name: StackHash_e51a
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00000000
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: e51a
Additional Information 2: 4c0d4d78887f76d971d5d00f1f20a433
Additional Information 3: e51a
Additional Information 4: 4c0d4d78887f76d971d5d00f1f20a433





Here is a different error for the same program, Spyware Doc...

Product
PC Tools Tray Application

Problem
Stopped working

Date
3/10/2008 5:35 PM

Status
Not Reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: pctsTray.exe
Application Version: 5.5.0.106
Application Timestamp: 2a425e19
Fault Module Name: StackHash_e51a
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00000000
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: e51a
Additional Information 2: 4c0d4d78887f76d971d5d00f1f20a433
Additional Information 3: e51a
Additional Information 4: 4c0d4d78887f76d971d5d00f1f20a433





And here is another similar error with Registry Mechanic ...

Product
Registry Mechanic 7.0

Problem
Stopped working

Date
3/10/2008 7:10 PM

Status
Not Reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: RegMech.exe
Application Version: 7.0.0.1010
Application Timestamp: 469c7102
Fault Module Name: StackHash_290f
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000096
Exception Offset: 01df312f
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 290f
Additional Information 2: 31a83b6b61fec06f9c9a0596d488cfd9
Additional Information 3: 93e5
Additional Information 4: 2db70b254698db96c7d9fdcd7570671d








Product
Adobe Illustrator CS3

Problem
Stopped working

Date
3/17/2008 1:19 AM

Status
Not Reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Illustrator.exe
Application Version: 13.0.128.0
Application Timestamp: 45fa64db
Fault Module Name: kernel32.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.0.6000.16386
Fault Module Timestamp: 4549bd80
Exception Code: e06d7363
Exception Offset: 0001b09e
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 2f2a
Additional Information 2: 52b8051b3892f9e311edde6f73f7058d
Additional Information 3: e878
Additional Information 4: dc7b2260c9a6d1ad3416b78998de1529






I'm not even sure what this is, but it happened about a day before I uninstalled

ESET and all the problems began. They probably aren't related though, it only

happened that one time and none since ...

Product
Client Server Runtime Process

Problem
Stopped working

Date
3/8/2008 5:06 PM

Status
Not Reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BEX
Application Name: csrss.exe
Application Version: 6.0.6000.16386
Application Timestamp: 4549ad3f
Fault Module Name: smumhook.dll_unloaded
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 2a425e19
Exception Offset: 636f2291
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Data: 00000008
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 6d71
Additional Information 2: 4a5f612bb66b18b8e1691acf09ec1a9c
Additional Information 3: db15
Additional Information 4: 5d0a55c699c5321488aa1cc17c7f901c

Files that help describe the problem
Version.txt
AppCompat.txt
memory.hdmp
minidump.mdmp






This also happened within a day of the issue starting, but again, only happened

the one time ...

Product
Host Process for Windows Services

Problem
Stopped working

Date
3/10/2008 5:20 PM

Status
Not Reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BEX
Application Name: svchost.exe
Application Version: 6.0.6000.16386
Application Timestamp: 4549adc4
Fault Module Name: smumhook.dll_unloaded
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 2a425e19
Exception Offset: 636f2291
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Data: 00000008
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 452e
Additional Information 2: a8948a9b04fd6e9e41b1da2d58fdce23
Additional Information 3: f09c
Additional Information 4: 53a8bb48ab789905d724f970c560c135







RegRun and Security Task Manager both show the "stackhash ..." fault module

error.

Also, this service shows up in my WinPatrol under services, but it does not

exist. Can't find it in the directory that it says its in. Also, WinPatrol says

file not foundv...


C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\APPMGMTS.DLL



Oh, and this is some of the possible causes and solutions that I uncovered through my research of SEVERAL different forums.

1) JAVA issue (you know I just uninstalled and installed the newest update so that's not it)
2) Yahoo Toolbar or programs, which I didn't see under add/remove programs to remove, I guess it's a IE thing. I don't use IE, I prefer Firefox.
3) Codec issue (which this might be it ... a few weeks ago I was trying to convert an Xvid and I didn't have the codec needed to convert for WinAvi. I downloaded the k-lite codec pack, but then found the Xvid codec individually and so uninstalled the klite. I've read that codecs are tricky to mess around with and can really mess your computer up when trying to uninstall. Of course I read that after I uninstalled it;)
4) NVidia issue, and something to do with NVidia's network manager possibly. Not sure where to find this, how to adjust this, and/or how to update (driver) if it's needed.
5) DEP and/or memory issue (corrupt memory) ... this seems rather confusing, but promising as to what might be causing the problem. "DEP is intended to prevent an application or service from executing code from a non-executable memory region. DEP is enforced by hardware technology that detects code that is running from the default heap and the stack and raises an exception to terminate the process when execution occurs, and software-enforcer that prevent malicious code from taking advantage of exception-handling mechanisms in Windows. In short, DEP perform additional checks on memory to prevent malicious code or exploits from running on the system by shut down the process once detected." Atleast that's what one of the sites I read said. Attempting to disable it seems worse though.

Hi there, kitneyes, and welcome to Castle Cops.

As a user of Vista for over a year, with my endurance has come some jaded views of Vista, but overall I like it. However, a lot of applications are not written well for Vista and cause periodic problems with Vista and it's 'more secure' interface.

I have a feeling that one or more of your critical system files may have been corrupted, or else a critical registry key may have been deleted (Vista is hypersensitive to removal of keys that are deemed critical).

I suggest that you use the Vista DVD (if you have one) to run the diagnostics on Vista to see if it can find any errors for you. If you do not have the DVD contact HP and demand a DVD so you can evaluate the installation.

RE: The codecs - yes, I tried a codec pack on my second install - and after it hosed my system I vowed to never install a codec pack again. Other than the XviD / DivX codecs, I suggest that you do the same - you never know what can happen with them.

Finally, re:Yahoo toolbar - if you don't use IE and have that installed, either it was pre-installed with your system or else you let it get installed when you downloaded Danton program and it was bundled with it - in which case you might have also allowed some malicious program to similar enter your hard drive as well. I am not saying that this is definite, just that it is a possibility. But let's get through the first couple of steps and see of we get anything and we can move on from there.

hello, thankyou for helping me. I believe I've already read several of your other threads/posts helping other people, I'm glad I lucked out and got you. As I'm sure you're familiar, as I've read this on many forums, that most new laptops do not seem to want to include install discs etc, but instead do this whole "preinstalled" thing. Yeah, that was a brilliant idea Okay, so after my minor vent, on to the issue. I made the recovery discs as suggested right after I bought this computer, which by the way, was only about a month ago. I've also downloaded some sort of Vista recovery disc from this link http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

Would either of these be able to help me repair as you suggested. I've also done one of those command prompt scannow things, not sure if I just spelled it right, but whatever it is, I think I found it suggested on this site somewhere. Should I rerun that, after I look up that page again, I bookmarked it. thankyou again and I'll wait to hear back from you. I really hope something works because I'm about thisclose to reinstalling and I also think its driving me crazy

First of all - wow, I wasn't expecting that praise. Thanks, but in truth, I just try to help out as much as I can. Once you have this issue resolved, I hope your opinion of me remains the same...

That Neosmart-hosted Recovery disc should do the trick for you, with the added benefit that it is only a CD and not the full Vista DVD....being smaller, it means faster burning.

However, it may just as well be ineffective, as if the recovery disc finds errors that it cannot fix without replacing system files, I suspect that it might in fact ask you to insert a Vista DVD.

Give me a couple of hours to grab it myself and see what it is all about, but if you feel comfortable at least trying ti, go ahead and give it a shot. In fact, to save some time, go ahead and run it and see if it finds any errors and reports them (I am assuming that it is a normal recovery console built into Windows Vista DVDs, so there will be a couple of options you can try, see http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/2b3724d1-f4ad-5b26-16dc-3e9e66f4be5e1033.mspx for more information (again, that is if this RC from NeoSmart is the same thing as the one on the Vista DVDs).

I am off to grab it now.

I too experienced the "Registry Mechani 7.0 has stopped working" problem and a similar experience with Ad-Aware. Oddly these failures occured on my Dell XPS410 and not my HPm9177c. Both have Vista SP1 but only Dell (the problem PC) has recently been update for Java. Perhaps this additional info helps somewhat identify the cause.

Geekseeker, yeah it seems to be a common problem. Have you found anything out with further research, or do you get the same varied solutions? I'm pretty sure it's not the new SP1, my problem started several weeks before I even installed it. Also, updating to the Java update 5 (I think that's the current one?) didn't cause it either because I just did that ... but, maybe one of the older updates could have, I think I updated to version 3 around then.

johnlgalt, thanks for the quick reply. I haven't gotten to try the disc yet, I'm in the middle of making some gumbo right now but I'll try to do it in between. Also, what do you think of the scannow prompt thing ... isn't it supposed to find and fix system errors? Does the disc do something different?

Thanks to both of you ... any input is much appreciated. You'd think the Microsoft people would read some of these forums and realize a lot of people have this problem and propose a solution. Oh well, I guess its a trial and error type of thing for now.

Here is what pctools said to do in their "common Questions" webpage when:Registry Mechanic suddenly stop working on my Vista Operating System

Please add Registry Mechanic process files into your Windows Data Execution Prevention (DEP) Settings exceptions - switch the selection to '...for all programs and services, except...'. and browse :

- RegMech.exe
- RMReg.exe
- RMTray.exe
- RMScrn.exe
- unins000.exe
- Update.exe
To be excluded from Data Execution Prevention.

***Default location is C:\Program Files\Registry Mechanic

To access Data Execution Prevention:

1. Click on Start, click Run , type sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
2. Click on the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.
3. Click on the Data Execution Prevention tab.
4. After adding all the above files > Apply > Ok.
5. Reboot

Last modified: August 09, 2007

======> Well ...I did that and nothing good happened. In fact my PC hung up and I had to force a restart and then remove the DEP settings. Sigh ......

Yes, DEP has been one of my suspected suspects, that and
"code integrity", which seems to be related. But again, one of the many proposed answers, where is the admission of Vista and solution to fix it - for sure instead of "it could be ...". I'm glad to hear that you tried the DEP thing, although not that it didn't work, because that was on my list to attempt. I suppose that can be crossed off for now.

Well, I was gonna include my scannow log, but it seems to be too big (20 MB). I guess that means that it had to fix a lot of things.

The scannow should not have been able to fix the 'broken' system files without access to the original Vista system files in the first place - so if your log is that big, you may have a new problem - you used a scannow that was set to use your Vista *pre-SP1* system files to fix a Vista *SP1* installed system - I sincerely hope this doesn't break your computer, but I am almost expecting it to.

I didn't think about this last time I posted, but that system recovery disc posted by NeoSmart is probably not a good idea either, as it seems to have been written before SP1 was released, and if it tries to fix things it may also use older system files - which can cause all sorts of havoc on your machine.

If you are able to boot the machine, you might try installing SP1 again (if you are not offered SP1 via WU again, then you can try downloading the manual install - let me know what has happened thus far so we can move forward.

Not sure I'm following here, but to be honest I'm gettin a little scared now. I didn't even think about the sp1 update Well, there seems to be no problems as of yet, but then again I haven't restarted the computer. I'm not sure how repairing works ... 1) would it have used the files from the recovery partition to do the repair? 2) do you think the sp1 update would have updated the files in my recovery partition as well?

When I did the scannow, I followed the steps at this microsoft site
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833 ... and so when I tried to view if there were any files it couldn't repair, there were none. I'm not sure how to read that? If I don't have any problems now do you think somehow I'm safe? God i hope so. Do you think I need to reinstall sp1? How would I find out if the sp1 files were replaced?

can i zip the CBS log to post?

I'm kinda afraid to reboot, I will here in a min. I'm also gonna try to attach the zipped CBS log to see if you can understand it. I have no idea what its saying ...

Thanks
Amanda

scannowlog331.zip
Description:		Download
Filename:	scannowlog331.zip
Filesize:	948.75 KB
Downloaded:	34 Time(s)

So far so good ... rebooted a couple times with no problem I guess that means I did no harm. Were you able to look at the CBS log? I think my registry is messed up somehow and that might be what is causing all this, but then again I know nothing about registry issues so it's just a guess.

anybody have any suggestions or experiencing this same problem? Something else of importance, which I sorta mentioned in my initial post, the "appmgmts.dll" file is missing. I downloaded it yesterday, but it won't register for some reason ... with the also seemingly common error message "DllRegisterServer entry point was not found" - which when googled has lotsa forums/sites. But if appmgmts has been missing all this time, wouldn't that mean that NO programs could be installed?