Frequent Disconnects DCOM Errors - Please Help Me

May 4, 2013 11:44 AM

Hi guys, I've been going through this for a few months. It got better after I switched ADSL modems but the DCOM errors are just mounting in frequency - 2 an hour - seemingly at random.

Message: *DCOM got error "The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. " attempting to start the service gupdate with arguments "/comsvc" in order to run the server:
{4EB61BAC-A3B6-4760-9581-655041EF4D69}*

My OS XP-Pro SP3

ISP says everything is fine on their end.

I tried doing repeated network resets via CMD - no impact. I clean the machine regularly with a few programs - no malware (or is there?). What can I do at this point?

Thanks so much for any help!

posted by watercarrier to Computers & Internet (8 answers total)

So "gupdate" would indicate that it's probably Google Update, the thing that periodically checks whether any of the Google applications on your computer need to be updated in some form. I would uninstall them; and then if you don't actually use any of them, leave it at that, or re-install only the ones you need. Searching for the GUID - the long string of numbers and letters there - returns a whole bunch of web pages where people are asking how to purge all of the Google crap from their system, if the normal Add / Remove Programs control panel does not work.
posted by XMLicious at 11:54 AM on May 4, 2013 [2 favorites]

Of course, another possibility if these DCOM errors don't actually cause any practical problems is to just not do anything about it. As you may know Microsoft support for Windows XP will end next year hence there won't be any more security updates, so you should switch to a newer version of Windows or a version of Linux posthaste (or, if you're buying a new computer anyway, a Mac for example) - far better to put energy into that and learning about whatever new system you choose rather than into fixing obscure WinXP issues.
posted by XMLicious at 11:58 AM on May 4, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: All google updater services are disabled - did that a while back and msconfig confirms - disabled. Could it be there's a covert google updater service that I'm not aware of and if so, how do I find it and how do I disable it?
posted by watercarrier at 12:18 PM on May 4, 2013

Response by poster: Just did a few searches and might have found the culprit. There were google updates in Scheduled Tasks! Deleted them all. Hope this works. Will report in due time. :) Thank you so much for giving me the heads up on gupdate would not have made the connection otherwise.
posted by watercarrier at 12:23 PM on May 4, 2013

Response by poster: Spoke too soon. Got disconnected again. This time no DCOM error. Nothing in the Event Manager. Is there any program I can download that would monitor the system so I could pinpoint the issue?
posted by watercarrier at 12:57 PM on May 4, 2013

Do you have access to any other computers, or perhaps a smartphone that can connect to a network, to try so you can be sure it's actually a problem associated with the WinXP system itself?

And, how are you determining that you're disconnected? If you type "ipconfig" at the command line when you're disconnected, does it show if the computer still has an IP address? Do you know how to use "ping" to test whether or not you can connect to the router or the ISP's DNS server?
posted by XMLicious at 3:36 PM on May 4, 2013

Response by poster: Yes it still has the IP address. Pinged it. What happens is randomly I lose the signal, modem light starts blinking (connection is a constant light) - dialer starts to redial - have no other computer or smartphone. Was thinking it could be the network card.
posted by watercarrier at 11:06 PM on May 4, 2013

So, I've never used ADSL myself - can the modem be connected on its own without the computer, like a cable modem can? I'm taking it that you have a network cable (one that has RJ45 connectors, which look like larger versions of the connectors on telephone cables, if you live in North America at least) that goes from the computer to the box with the lights on it that is the modem - do the same lights start blinking if you unplug the network cable?

Because if there's a way you can observe this intermittent dropped connection happening without the computer involved at all then it's clearly a problem on the phone company's/ISP's end and nothing you can do with your computer will remedy the problem.
posted by XMLicious at 7:19 AM on May 5, 2013 [1 favorite]