I know ...

As for 0-length files: I just discovered that there's no way to search for
them in Windows XP ...


"Questor" wrote in message
...
It was only a suggestion based on the info you gave us. You didn't
mention malware checks or anti-virus and that is the first thing that
jumped into my mind on your report.

Q

---
This computer is routinely sweeped for viruses and malware, and is also
running Symantec's Endpoint Protection suite. Malware and virus checks
always come up clean.

CL

"Questor" wrote in message
...
I'd start with a good malware checker. Malwarebytes is a very good one
and it is free. Have you checked to see if any zero-length files are
lying around on your HD? That would indicate something running that
shouldn't be.

Q

---
Hi --

I have a Windows XP Pro SP3 box that's been giving me a headache for
some time now. Every so often, programs will fail to load and Windows
(or an app) will complain about being out of memory or system
resources. Or windows won't open. Etc., etc.

I've been looking high and low for the reason for this, with little
luck. One thing I have noticed is that when the PC starts to get
cantankerous, the System process has an elevated handle count (18,500
this last time I started having problems). When I check the System
process through Process Explorer, I see thousands of handles open to
what looks like an empty key, and a lesser but still large number of
handles open to what looks like a file with no name:

--------------------
DETAILS

Basic Information
Name:
Type: Key
Description: A Registry key

References
References: 1
Handles: 1

Quota Charges
Paged: 0
Non-Paged: 0

SECURITY

Unable to display security information.
--------------------
DETAILS

Basic Information
Name:
Type: File
Description: A disk file, communications endpoint, or driver
interface.

References
References: 2
Handles: 1

Quota Charges
Paged: 0
Non-Paged: 0

SECURITY

Everyone: Delete, Synchronize, Query State, Modify State, (Special
Permissions)

Advanced:
Permissions: empty
Auditing: empty
Owner: Everyone
--------------------

The Handles list shows all of these empty Key handles with an Access
code of 0x000F003F, and the empty File handles with an access code of
0x0012091F.

I have checked just about every other process listed in Process
Explorer. No other process that has handles open to Registry keys has
any open to blank or empty keys. Process Explorer shows valid key names
for every other key every other process has open. No other process that
has handles open to files has any open to files with no name.

Rebooting the PC solves the problem -- temporarily. The System process
returns to a manageable handle count. But even after rebooting, Process
Explorer shows a collection of "empty" keys and "no-name" files open to
the System process. And even with the PC just sitting there at a
desktop with no other windows open, that count steadily increases over
time.

At the risk of sounding stupid: This is _not_ normal, right? How do I
find whatever is triggering this, if I don't even know what to look
for? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
CL