Windows cannot find dstsvc.exe after a disk copying

Question

I have upgraded the HDD on my XPS 1710 to a WD 320GB.

I used Paragon software's DiscCopyto clone the (3) partitions from my old disk.

It all worked, or appeared to, after a couple of initial BSODs.

But I am unsure / skeptical / distrustful of it because....

I am now getting, every time I log in, an error message from windows in a neat dialog box telling me that:

Windows cannot find 'C:\Program Files\Creative\Shared Files\dstsvc.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file.... etc etc

I've scoured my old disk and the file does not exist, so something in Creative has broken and it is trying to fix it with this non-existent file. Oh, but it gets worse than that, Jim.

If I click on the OK button of this dialog, my CPU soon after rockets to 50% (dual processor), and ProcMon tells me that there are ... well, from start-up I get 10-20,000 commands listed as executed in ProcMon ... once I hit the OK button, it runs into the millions within seconds -- I guess that explains the 50% -- and every one of them is an attempt to create the dstsvc.exe file, albeit unsuccessfully.

I've scoured the web using google, and I have scoured this forum. This filename is probably the rarest filename in all of human history. I think only xtbrzquv.fjq is less common. Atop which, even in here, apparently no one has solved the issue.

So, I post in hope someone figured this out and just forgot to document it.

judsinspiron · Answer

Hi   Why not run MSCONFIG from Start > Run and find the startup entry for it and remove it, or even better find the program in add/remove and uninstall it, hey presto no more nag at bootup.   Regards

Aragond · Answer

Because it's not in the startup entries.

Because the program DELL is trying to create does not exist, nor did it ever.
Because the program that is attempting to run it does not identify itself.

But thx for telling me about msconfig. That's interesting.

ericbc7 · Answer

I have a very similar problem: I installed a 250 gig drive on my inspiron E1705 and same results - processor constantly running at 51+ percent and error on boot up.  Have you found a fix?   Thanks

kenelias · Answer

I'm getting the same thing after upgrading to a larger disk.  I don't have a solution yet, but I noticed that in Windows Task Manager-Processes, there is something called rundll32.exe using 50 percent of the cpu, and that .dll is listed twice. When I End Process for the 50 percent one, the system speeds up, and so far I haven't noticed a downside.

ericbc7 · Answer

The problem for me was related to my sound blaster software (creative labs).  uninstall all your sound blaster stuff and reinstall and you should have your resourses back.

ericbc7 · Answer

Actually, I never reinstalled my sound blaster sofware.  The computer seems to work fine without and I also use tune up utilities -09

SteveM732 · Answer

I can confirm that removing (and reinstalling) your sound card software will remove this error.  I upgrated my Inspiron E1505 from 120GB to 320GB and was not able to resolve this error and at the time no one had any suggestions on how to fix it.  Two days ago I decided to remove all Creative software (in 'add/remove programs') and the error window went away.

scubasnowboarde · Answer

I can also confirm this error and resolution. I run Windows XP Media SP3 on an E1705. I upgraded from 100Gb to Western Digital 320Gb drive using Seagate Diskwizard Image and restore.

Since it's now uninstalled, I can't remember the exact program that was causing the issue, but it was under "S" for Soundblaster , not "C" for Creative. 2nd of about 4 Soundblaster programs in the list I think. The uninstall itself actually caused the same error to appear twice for me and then froze after the uninstall appeared to be complete. A hard reboot brought things up and issues were fixed.

Note that I have not reinstalled the Soundblaster software. I left only the drivers installed. My system actually seems a bit faster at boot-up now and I haven't (at least yet) run into any negative side effects of this. I wasn't using the advanced graphic equalizer settings, etc. Not sure what else it was doing. Please reply if you think there's something important I'm not seeing yet.

Thought I'd also share other experiences I had during this clone -

I had to re-activate my Adobe CS2 install (apparently a drive change was enough to invalidate it)
I had to re-install my Office Professional 2003. It was no longer listed as installed. However, after the install, no activation was needed. It said "product already activated"
My CD-ROM was behaving oddly. The icons were wrong and not reflecting actual folders or files correctly. Everything appeared as an internet explorer icon.
- After uninstalling and re-installed the CD/DVD-ROM and updating it's firmware, nothing.
- I found and tried an old program on the internet called "Refreshem" v1.0 by Camtech. This program runs and refreshes the Windows cache of folder / file icons. This seemed to fix the issue immediately.

Thanks for you all who found this ahead of me! I was lost.

Storage, Drives & Media

Windows cannot find dstsvc.exe after a disk copying

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