16 Bit Windows Subsystem Box Appears at Boot

A couple of months ago when trying to install an older UMAX scanner, I didn't get the software disc placed flat and I had to gently force the CD ROM open to reseat the disc. I was unable to install the driver software (probably damaged as I can't install it on another computer) and I began getting the following dialog box:

"16 Bit Windows Subsystem - C:\PROGRA~1\Symantec\S32EVNT1.DLL An Installable Virtual Device Driver failed Dll initialization. Choose 'Close' to terminate this application"

Newt and several others guided me through fixing the problem and through System Restore, it went away - or so I thought.

The past few days, the dialog box has been appearing when I power up or restart the computer. I can choose either "Close" or "Ignore" and the box goes away and the computer seems to operate normally. In the Event Viewer the Source is cited as "PerfNet" and the description says "Unable to open the Server service. Service performance data will not be returned. Error code returned is in data DWORD 0 ".

As I said, I can use the computer after I get rid of the dialog box but I would prefer to fix it as it could be an indicator of a problem elsewhere as well. Any thoughts?

Later Edit: Just noticed another link to XP on the MS page but none of the messages seemed to relate to the message I get on my machine.

 

Go to this page and download "XP Fix.exe" and run it.

Or go to this Microsoft page and follow the directions there.

After reading Microsoft's fix, you'll probably want to try XP Fix.exe first.

Please post back in this thread with how things are going.

 

Thanks for the input Miz. I downloaded, installed, and ran the XP Fix.exe and then rebooted - it didn't fix the problem. I looked at the MS link and it appears it only applies to Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003.

I am very reluctant to start using my Dell/Microsoft OEM CDs as my one experience at that with a Sony Laptop a couple of years ago wiped out everything I had and put me back to square one. Probably didn't use it correctly but thought I was following the instructions.

Any other thoughts?


Got in too much of a hurry. Put my edit that should have been in this post in the post above. Sorry.

 

Hi, make sure you back up the registry before making any changes:-
1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
2. Type regedit and then click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
3. Navigate to the key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\VirtualDeviceDrivers

4. In the right pane, double-click the VDD value. The Edit Binary Value dialog box opens.
5. Select the contents of the Value data box, ant then press Delete. There may be four zeros that cannot be deleted.
6. Click OK, and then Exit the Registry Editor.
Reboot and see how you go.

 

Sorry for the delay - I've been out for a couple of days. I'm not sure how to back up the registry. I did some searches on google, Windows XP Home Help and Support, and on this BBS but didn't hit any fixes that I could follow very well. It appears that Backup is not a utility installed in XP Home - would I have to install that and would that merely be a process of putting the XP Home CD in the drive and finding that utility to install. My luck with OEM CDs trying to install pieces had not been too good. I have a fairly new Dell 8400 with the Dell discs. Thanks.

 

Registry backup - click on start, on run, key in regedit, and OK.

With regedit open, highlight My Computer (the top item in the regedit box) then click on file, on export, and export your registry. This makes a full copy that you can easily restore via regedit/import if you need to.

As to the specific error, is there anything in your event logs that gives more detail?

 

In regards to the Dell CDs....both of the Dells I own as well as the Dells I have worked on come with several CDs. Among them is one with the operating system on it, the other contains drivers.

If you want to find out what your Dell-provided operating system CD will do, put that CD in the CD drive and reboot. When it boots to the CD (you may have to get into the BIOS - aka, "Setup" - to put the CD drive first in the boot order), see what choices it offers you. All the XP ones I've used offer the same four options: repair the existing Windows installation, remove and reinstall Windows, remove everything and reinstall Windows and access to the Recovery Console. In other words, pretty much the same options as a standard Windows XP CD.

You don't have to choose any of the options, you only need to see what the CD will do.

 

Miz, jenae, and Newt,

The computer is well again. Thanks for all of your input. I attacked the registry edit as though I knew what I was doing. I guess I had the computer fooled as it didn't even hiccup. (I will keep that registry backup close at hand, though). I learned a lot about my machine, the system CDs, registry, etc. in thes exercise. You folks never cease to amaze me.