Generic Host Process error Unresolved.

Hello all, I'm Kevin
Unfortunately i got the notorious "Generic host process for win32 services has encountered a problem and needs to close" message along with a delightful disconnection from my sound drivers and a shift from the WinXp style windows to the classic. I didn't lose any internet connectivity, so maintaining correspondence shouldn't be a problem.

This error started occuring a very long time ago, and various things helped fix it for a varied amount of time. The 2 main reasons i need resolution are i use my computer as an alarm clock because i'm a heavy sleeper, with the sound not working this creates a problem. My other reason is i've recently been having trouble with connectivity to limewire, where only the "starting connection" bar will be dislayed indefinitely even though it is not hindered by my Avast on access scanner, to this i installed frostwire, which had the same problem, and finally resorted to my plan B, uTorrent, but for some reason that won't find any connectivity either. So with these problems blaring in my face i've decided i need to fix this once and for all, i nearly reformatted my hard drive thinking that was a cure all but apparently people have had the problem occur even after that. I've installed no programs recently, other than frostwire which was after the problem started.

Things that have worked for some span of time:
Disconnecting my HP Printer while starting up
Turning off the on-startup mechanism on My sygate firewall
Installing the Microsoft Hotfix
Installing SP3 (worked for the longest time, 4-6 months)
-After nearly thinking i had rid myself of my problem with SP3 it came back, and now the Hotfix which had worked to some degree won't install because Sp3 is more recent than it is.

Honestly, i don't think i have a malware issue, call me crazy but i think i'm too careful about what i download, and this issue has occured a varying points in time not specifically correlated to when 'questionable' things were downloaded. I Use Avast for Viruses, Sygate for a Firewall, Spybot for Spyware, and Ad-aware for Adware.

I believe my problem is centralized around SVCHOST, thats where it supposedly takes place, and i have tried to rename entapi.dll which was mentioned elsewhere, but could not find it. i think my problem has some variance from the other cases solved in that it has different syptoms, no internet loss and what have you.

One thing of note, i've always had issues with my printer, it doesn't like to print from our wireless network through my computer, but i've rebooted it to reset the drivers and though that works for a short time. the problem always comes back.

I'm usually pretty adept at fixing this beast, finding resources online, calling my tech buddy, or just knowing what to do. so i find it hard to swallow that all the typical resolutions for this problem that seem to work for everyone simply will not work for me, any help you can offer would be appreciated.

~Kevin

 

Update

The Frostwire connectivity is no longer a symptom, after turning my sygate firewall back on, it began to connect. Go figure. The worst part of my dilemma is that the generic host process error occurs sporadically. In fact it hasn't happened in the last 2 days, but if i wait a week i'm sure it'll be back. What does that even mean, how can an error only occur every once in a while?

 

Next time it occurs ill go through your services thread, i did not actively update all my drivers once i installed SP3, so that could be the culprit. Apparently the error is based around startup, it supposedly occurs when windows had a problem while booting up. Every once in a while, after i have an 'attack' and i restart i'll get error messages that instead of saying Generic Host Process had an error and needs to close, it'll say "This error (the Generic Host Process one) occures at XX:XX on [whatever the date is.]" i think those usually correspond to times that i shut my computer down.

 

will do, thanks for the advice

 

Okay. so low and behold, the problem is back. I read the error report over and apparently the application with the error is Svchost and the dll is Wuaueng.dll.
After i click don't send report. it loads something for a second. then the windows turn to classic for a few seconds. I lose connection to my sound. and then the windows switch back but the sound stays broken. Any suggestions?

 

Another Update, i just installed new audio drivers, as well as video card and mouse drivers. And sound is restored, so i'll post when i know if the actual error occurs again. Perhaps the symptom was the problem and the loss of audio connection was part of the actual error's catalyst.

 

i played with the services a little but i don't like the potential for programs not being able to access the services if need be. Perhaps it's best if left alone. I'm hoping the audio driver update did it. It may also be connected to windows update. because the updates always appear, and then they disappear just as the error occurs. it's usually just the (Malicious software removal tool) update that gets released every so often.

 

I restarted after updating the drivers, and it did basically the same thing that it did when i first updated to Sp3 and used the Hotfix. Instead of having the error, it displays the post-error message about the error happening at an earlier time and none of the debilitating effects occur, we're good so far.