MCP Server has encountered a problem

[Rainy]

"MCP Server has encountered a problem" I looked in event viewer and it said
something about "sdmcp faulting application.. I have been getting this error
quite a bit over the last couple of weeks.. I tried to find some information
on the net and came up empty handed.. here is the error in event viewer

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 7/24/2005
Time: 4:52:02 AM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-JYWO154FNL
Description:
Faulting application sdmcp.exe, version 0.0.5.9, faulting module sdmcp.exe,
version 0.0.5.9, fault address 0x00005303.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 73 64 6d ure sdm
0018: 63 70 2e 65 78 65 20 30 cp.exe 0
0020: 2e 30 2e 35 2e 39 20 69 .0.5.9 i
0028: 6e 20 73 64 6d 63 70 2e n sdmcp.
0030: 65 78 65 20 30 2e 30 2e exe 0.0.
0038: 35 2e 39 20 61 74 20 6f 5.9 at o
0040: 66 66 73 65 74 20 30 30 ffset 00
0048: 30 30 35 33 30 33 0d 0a 005303..

and yes I did click on the link and this is what it said

Details

We're sorry
There is no additional information about this issue in the Error
and Event Log Messages or Knowledge Base databases at this time. You can use
the links in the Support area to determine whether any additional
information might be available elsewhere.

How do I fix this please...I will appreciate it.. very much!
thanks Rainy

 

[Sharon F]

"MCP Server has encountered a problem" I looked in event viewer and it said
something about "sdmcp faulting application.. I have been getting this error
quite a bit over the last couple of weeks.. I tried to find some information
on the net and came up empty handed.. here is the error in event viewer

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 7/24/2005
Time: 4:52:02 AM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-JYWO154FNL
Description:
Faulting application sdmcp.exe, version 0.0.5.9, faulting module sdmcp.exe,
version 0.0.5.9, fault address 0x00005303.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 73 64 6d ure sdm
0018: 63 70 2e 65 78 65 20 30 cp.exe 0
0020: 2e 30 2e 35 2e 39 20 69 .0.5.9 i
0028: 6e 20 73 64 6d 63 70 2e n sdmcp.
0030: 65 78 65 20 30 2e 30 2e exe 0.0.
0038: 35 2e 39 20 61 74 20 6f 5.9 at o
0040: 66 66 73 65 74 20 30 30 ffset 00
0048: 30 30 35 33 30 33 0d 0a 005303..

and yes I did click on the link and this is what it said

Details

We're sorry
There is no additional information about this issue in the Error
and Event Log Messages or Knowledge Base databases at this time. You can use
the links in the Support area to determine whether any additional
information might be available elsewhere.

How do I fix this please...I will appreciate it.. very much!
thanks Rainy

Rainy, one of those is a Stardock errors. Sdcmp is, I think, the Stardock
Central component. I don't recognize the other, mcp, but it may be related.
Stardock has user forums that are decent and they also offer support by
email.

Web interface:
http://forums.stardock.com/

Newsreader interface:
news://news.stardock.com/

Link for email support is on this page:
http://www.stardock.com/support.asp

 

[Rainy]

Hi Sharon,

I went to the support link and they asked for a serial number, I have not
purchased the product. So that's out! I also went to the forum, and
there was nothing about mcp errors on the dropdown menu. The newsgroup has
so many different types of groups related to stardock, it was difficult to
find the group for me.... so after you posted, I thought, ok.. if it's
causing the problem, I will uninstall it and reinstall it again! But it
freezes every time I try to uninstall. I know I can manually delete it, by
going on the hard drive, not sure where all the entries are in the
registry.. would they be under htkey user software? And only that? thanks
for your response, it's always appreciated.. Rainy

 

[Sharon F]

Hi Sharon,

I went to the support link and they asked for a serial number, I have not
purchased the product. So that's out! I also went to the forum, and
there was nothing about mcp errors on the dropdown menu. The newsgroup has
so many different types of groups related to stardock, it was difficult to
find the group for me.... so after you posted, I thought, ok.. if it's
causing the problem, I will uninstall it and reinstall it again! But it
freezes every time I try to uninstall. I know I can manually delete it, by
going on the hard drive, not sure where all the entries are in the
registry.. would they be under htkey user software? And only that? thanks
for your response, it's always appreciated.. Rainy

Sounds like you tried the web interface for their newsgroups. You can post
in the Object Desktop section - either under the first page on the main
support page, or click the tab for WindowBlinds and post there. Since you
only have their WindowBlinds installed, that second place (tab for WB) is
probably the way to go.

Something that might help to complete the attempt to uninstall/install: Use
Task Manager. Find sdcmp.exe and end task on it. Then run the uninstall.

 

[Rainy]

Hi Sharon, I did post something to one of the stardock groups, so I am
waiting to see what happens. You said end task on sdcmp.exe, was this a
typo? I'm sure it is, but don't want to make any mistakes and end task on
something else. I always appreciate your response.. thanks Rainy

 

[Sharon F]

Hi Sharon, I did post something to one of the stardock groups, so I am
waiting to see what happens. You said end task on sdcmp.exe, was this a
typo? I'm sure it is, but don't want to make any mistakes and end task on
something else. I always appreciate your response.. thanks Rainy

Yes, typo. sdmcp.exe is the file in the error message? That's the one you
need to end task on. It is often in memory and if active can block your
attempt to uninstall.

 

[Rainy]

thank you! I'm learning! there have been applications that would not
uninstall, and I had to manually delete the program, and I know that is not
the best way to go about uninstalling.. so now I know to end task
on the .exe if it won't uninstall.. thanks again.. Rainy

 

[Sharon F]

thank you! I'm learning! there have been applications that would not
uninstall, and I had to manually delete the program, and I know that is not
the best way to go about uninstalling.. so now I know to end task
on the .exe if it won't uninstall.. thanks again.. Rainy

You're welcome, Rainy. Some of the fancier uninstallers will automatically
end processes that are active in memory. Not-so-fancy uninstallers or a
process that is being stubborn about ending need the user to intervene
manually.

If you think about it, you already know of other situations where this
occurs: Anti-spyware programs having trouble removing discovered
intrusions. Anti-virus programs, the same. This is often why you see the
directions to restart in safe mode for successful removal. By booting to
safe mode the file (hopefully) doesn't load and is not "active."

 

[Rainy]

Yes I have seen that happen.. especially when I am trying to remove a virus
or trojan and they (AVG) ask to restart in safemode, but what happens if
the program was manually deleted from the hard drive and from the registry
but the process is still running.. is that normal? Rainy

 

[Sharon F]

Yes I have seen that happen.. especially when I am trying to remove a virus
or trojan and they (AVG) ask to restart in safemode, but what happens if
the program was manually deleted from the hard drive and from the registry
but the process is still running.. is that normal? Rainy

Prefacing this with the point that WindowBlinds is not malware of any type.
The point of mentioning malware was to illustrate that you're already
familiar with the principle we were discussing. (Remembering other posts of
yours where you've had to remove those things.)

When something is loaded in memory, the file still resides on the hard
drive. In most cases, the file is static. The code in memory is doing all
the work - not the actual file - and the code is what is active. That code
may refer back to the file or to other files for further instructions but
it basically is the "live program" operating in the memory space.

The code is removed from the memory space under varying conditions: Closing
a program will sometimes remove the code from memory but not always.
Sometimes this lingers for a while in case you want to run the program
again in the same computing session. Sometimes that purposeful lingering
backfires and doesn't unload until you restart the computer. Ending a
process removes the code from memory but there may be pieces from other
related files floating around. Turning off the computer empties the memory
space.

So, yes, it's possible to remove a running program's files from the hard
disk and its registry entries but still have it active in memory *but* it's
only a temporary condition -and- if it refers to other files, it may not
operate full tilt.

Back to WindowBlinds: This is multi-component software. Stardock Central
manages many of the stardock customizing programs. The collection of
customizing programs is referred to as Object Desktop. WindowBlinds is just
one part of Object Desktop.

If you only have WindowBlinds installed, removing it should remove Stardock
Central too. It's been so long since I've run the shareware version (it
works a little differently than the licensed version), that I forget
exactly how it installs and uninstalls. Based on the error message you got
during the uninstall, that looks like how it occurs but the best source for
answers to any questions about this would be Stardock. I hope you get an
answer to your post in their forums that is useful to you.

 

[Sharon F]

So, yes, it's possible to remove a running program's files from the hard
disk and its registry entries but still have it active in memory *but* it's
only a temporary condition -and- if it refers to other files, it may not
operate full tilt.

Edit: "if it refers to other files *that you've removed*

 

[David Candy]

No it's not.

An open dll, exe, or font become part of the swap file. Code is swapped to the code segments (as they don't change they aren't written just dumped from memory and reread as needed). Almost no program exists wholely in memory. You can rename files like this but nothing else (cos the file doesn't move its location on disk). Data and other segments go into the paging file.

 

[Sharon F]

No it's not.

An open dll, exe, or font become part of the swap file. Code is swapped
to the code segments (as they don't change they aren't written just
dumped from memory and reread as needed). Almost no program exists
wholely in memory. You can rename files like this but nothing else (cos
the file doesn't move its location on disk). Data and other segments go
into the paging file.

Paging file is part of the virtual memory management, no?

 

[David Candy]

Yes. Normally c:\pagefile.sys (but you can have 16 of them if you have 16 partitions). But ALL open programs, fonts, registry files, AND DATA files opened in memory mapped mode (use paging to read write data files - it's simple for the programmer as virtual memory looks after reading and writing - they just say this file at this memory address and they don't need to think about the file again - they just work with memory addresses) are the same as paging files.

 

[Sharon F]

Yes. Normally c:\pagefile.sys (but you can have 16 of them if you have 16
partitions). But ALL open programs, fonts, registry files, AND DATA
files opened in memory mapped mode (use paging to read write data files
- it's simple for the programmer as virtual memory looks after reading
and writing - they just say this file at this memory address and they
don't need to think about the file again - they just work with memory
addresses) are the same as paging files.

Thanks, David. Always learn something from you and appreciate it.

 

[David Candy]

That's why you can't turn off paging in XP. If you disable the paging file you only ensure that XP will ONLY page code etc out rather than unused data.

 

[Sharon F]

That's why you can't turn off paging in XP. If you disable the paging file you only ensure that XP will ONLY page code etc out rather than unused data.

This part -need for a pagefile- I understand okay. When I referred to
"memory space" earlier, I was referring to RAM and pagefile. I may not be
using the term "memory space" properly?

What I didn't understand was how much of a program is "preloaded." I
thought there was a little more compartmentalizing going on - modules
loading as needed.

I think it may be time for me to buy a beginner programmer's guide and/or
spend a little more time poring over msdn resources.
Thanks again!

 

[Rainy]

thanks sharon, took me awhile to find this... seems like you and David Candy
were learning about pagefiles in my thread.. lol but I did find it
eventually.. thanks for all the help! .. Rainy

 

[Sharon F]

thanks sharon, took me awhile to find this... seems like you and David Candy
were learning about pagefiles in my thread.. lol but I did find it
eventually.. thanks for all the help! .. Rainy

David is teaching! He knows so much that I don't think he often gets the
opportunity to learn.

Anyhow, you're very welcome!