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#1
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
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#2
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
#3
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
#4
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
#5
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
#6
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
#7
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
#8
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
#9
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Handle leak in System process?
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 |
#10
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Handle leak in System process?
About the only way I can think of is to open Windows Explorer and go
directory by directory and click on the top of the Size column. This will arrange the files by size and not name. The zero-length ones will go to the top of the list (or the bottom, depending on how many times you click). VERY tedious operation however. I have no idea of knowing if you know, but clicking on the top of ANY column sorts the listings in that order. Q --- 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 |
#11
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Handle leak in System process?
About the only way I can think of is to open Windows Explorer and go
directory by directory and click on the top of the Size column. This will arrange the files by size and not name. The zero-length ones will go to the top of the list (or the bottom, depending on how many times you click). VERY tedious operation however. I have no idea of knowing if you know, but clicking on the top of ANY column sorts the listings in that order. Q --- 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 |
#12
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Handle leak in System process?
Questor wrote:
About the only way I can think of is to open Windows Explorer and go directory by directory and click on the top of the Size column. This will arrange the files by size and not name. The zero-length ones will go to the top of the list (or the bottom, depending on how many times you click). VERY tedious operation however. I have no idea of knowing if you know, but clicking on the top of ANY column sorts the listings in that order. You can search an entire disk specifying a maximum file size of 1 KB and then sort the results by size. You will then have to skip over all the folders but the 0 byte files should be next. Q --- 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 |
#13
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Handle leak in System process?
Questor wrote:
About the only way I can think of is to open Windows Explorer and go directory by directory and click on the top of the Size column. This will arrange the files by size and not name. The zero-length ones will go to the top of the list (or the bottom, depending on how many times you click). VERY tedious operation however. I have no idea of knowing if you know, but clicking on the top of ANY column sorts the listings in that order. You can search an entire disk specifying a maximum file size of 1 KB and then sort the results by size. You will then have to skip over all the folders but the 0 byte files should be next. Q --- 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 |
#14
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Handle leak in System process?
Hi --
I am aware of that, but there are hundreds of thousands of folders on the drives on this particular PC. Asking Search to find all files "with size less than 0 KB" results in a lot of drive crunching but no results. Which makes me wonder what MS considers to be "0 KB" ... But asking Search to find all files "with size less than 1 KB" results in the eventual crash of the task as it produces hundreds of thousands of files smaller than 1 KB. Methinks I'll have to rely on my old Unix bag of tricks for this one (again) .... find / -size 0 -ls /zerofiles.txt Thanks CL "Questor" wrote in message ... About the only way I can think of is to open Windows Explorer and go directory by directory and click on the top of the Size column. This will arrange the files by size and not name. The zero-length ones will go to the top of the list (or the bottom, depending on how many times you click). VERY tedious operation however. I have no idea of knowing if you know, but clicking on the top of ANY column sorts the listings in that order. Q --- 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 |
#15
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Handle leak in System process?
Hi --
I am aware of that, but there are hundreds of thousands of folders on the drives on this particular PC. Asking Search to find all files "with size less than 0 KB" results in a lot of drive crunching but no results. Which makes me wonder what MS considers to be "0 KB" ... But asking Search to find all files "with size less than 1 KB" results in the eventual crash of the task as it produces hundreds of thousands of files smaller than 1 KB. Methinks I'll have to rely on my old Unix bag of tricks for this one (again) .... find / -size 0 -ls /zerofiles.txt Thanks CL "Questor" wrote in message ... About the only way I can think of is to open Windows Explorer and go directory by directory and click on the top of the Size column. This will arrange the files by size and not name. The zero-length ones will go to the top of the list (or the bottom, depending on how many times you click). VERY tedious operation however. I have no idea of knowing if you know, but clicking on the top of ANY column sorts the listings in that order. Q --- 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 |
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