[Tbird24]

Its certainly got me baffled. Icome back to thee, PC World, because you solved my other major computer problem, and I am grateful.


First I would like to say, you guys changed the forums, I don't know why, this one is so much more confusing.





Anyway, so absolutely randomly, I will occasionally get an error message that says "A required source was". Yes. Thats all. And its not even a Windows error message, I don't know what the heck it is. A picture is below. I am running a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop. If you want my specific specs, let me know.











So, anybody have any suggestions? As you can see, I have BitDefender AntiVirus, and my computer is 100% clean. I like to keep it that way.

[mphenterprises]

Hi TBird. First, I have changed your Discussion title to give a clearer indication of your question. For future reference, please be as descriptive as possible in both the heading of your Discussion as well as the post itself.

Now, to be very honest, if BitDefender is the only security application you have, your computer may not be as clean as you think. Before we delve into possible security breaches, can you answer some questions:

- Even though you mention it happens randomly, what activity are you doing most often when this error message appear? (immediately upon startup? after using an application?)

- For how long have you had this error message problem?

- What application installations coincide with the onset of this error message problem?

- What are the exact specifications of your computer? (If you are not sure how to find this information, Right Click on My Computer and select Properties

- Do you happen to have any telephony applications like Vonage or Skype?

[Tbird24]

Hey MPH, not sure if you remember me, but you helped a lot with my last problem.



OK.

Well, I am always running Firefox and AIM at the same time. Thats usually all I do. The error message never occurs on startup, only after the computer has been running a while. By a while I mean 7+ hours. I turn it off at nights.

The problem has been ocurring for a few months now probably, and I do not believe it coincided with any downloads. I do have Skype, though. But I d/l'ed that only very recently, well after the problem started.

My specs are as follows: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, T7500 @ 2.2 Ghz, 2.19 Ghz 2GB RAM, physical adress extension.

[mphenterprises]

Ah yes. I remember. You had the CPU Spike issue. Sorry to see you back here with another problem but let's see what we can do for this situation.

From what I see, you have plenty of system resources. This is a shot in the dark but check your Page File. You have 2GBs of memory. The typical Page File should be 1.5 times the total memory of your computer. This error message may be, in a very vague way, to indicate that your Paging File is low.

To view your Paging File size:

- Right Click on My Computer and select Properties

- Click on the Advanced tab

- Under the Performance section, click the Settings button

- In the next window, click the Advanced tab

- Under the Virtual Memory section, you will see "Total paging file size for all drives: (some number)" If this number is lower than approximately 3072MB, click on the Change button

- In the next window, you can manually set the Paging File size. The only drive that should have any Paging File information is the C: drive. Towards the middle of the window, you will see:

Custom Size:
Initial Size (MB): (some number)
Maximum Size (MB): (some number)

You can change those two numbers to 3072. Click Apply and OK to close all the windows. You may need to restart your computer. There really is no way to tell if that worked until you see another error message but this is a start.

[Tbird24]

The Initial size is 2046, the maximum size is 4092. Should I still change both or only the initial size, to 3072?

[mphenterprises]

That is very interesting. I have that exact same Paging File size and I do not get that error message. Granted, I have the new DDR3 memory and probably do a lot more with my computer than you do with yours but both of our settings are the same. This makes me think that the Paging File size may not be the problem. However, as a test, change the initial size to 3072. This setting is easily reversible and will not adversely affect your computer. Since this error message comes up randomly, use your judgment when determining if this works for you.

While you are doing that, I will do a bit of research on this end. I would also consider the fact that this may a viral issue.

[Tbird24]

Done.



It could be a while before I see the error message again, I can go weeks without seeing it.

[mphenterprises]

Okay, in the meantime, I found something very interesting. The vast majority of sites referenced this exact error message; however, there was always some sort of application associated with it. I have seen one explanation that could explain your situation other than a malicious file:

"He doesn't run out of memory, but of GDI resources. It is possible to encounter a situation, where (let's say) 500 MB of memory are free, but no further GDI objects (icons, fonts, brushes, DCs, etc.) can be allocated. At this point it's possible that menus don't open anymore, icons disappear, toolbars disappear, texts are written with wrong fonts, etc. ...or even worse...

This is usually due to an application which allocates GDI objects, but doesn't free them correctly. Because GDI objects are limited and managed globally (not locally for each application), a buggy application can affect the whole system."





That being stated, this may come down to either an application conflict or a malicious file. Since you stated that you primarily only you AIM and Firefox, do you have the latest versions of each application? Firefox's latest version is 2.0.0.12. AIM's latest version is 6.5. You can click on each hyperlink in the previous sentence to download the latest version of these applications if you do not already have them.

It appears that you are using a Desktop Theme, not just a Desktop Wallpaper but an entire theme. If you revert back to the original Windows XP Theme, does this problem go away?

Since it can be weeks between pop ups, there is really no way to determine if any of these suggestions work until you get another pop up. Keep us posted.

[SpiritWind]

:D Hi :


Concerning "AIM" : I consider this to be the most security-vulnerable of all Instant Messengers . IF you

are going to continue using "it", I strongly encourage you to use the FREE program at

jayloden.com/aimfix.htm on a "regular" basis .

AND as to your BitDefender AV : the latest Nov 07 "Retrospective/ProActive" Test done by the

INDEPENDENT [http://www.av-comparatives.org] resulted in ONLY a "Standard" rating ( 9 Other programs

had "Advanced" or higher ) with a 44% rate; it was One of the few with an excessive amount of

"False-Positives" . At a minimum you should use at least One antiSPYWARE/antiTROJAN program and

the Recommended Choice would be the FREE Version of "SUPERAntiSpyware" from

[http://www.superantispyware.com] .

[Tbird24]

Firefox is on "automatically update" so im fairly certain I have the latest version. Also whenever AIM prompts me to update I do so, and I believe I had to do so pretty recently actually.

And when you say Desktop Theme, I do not have object dock or WindowBlinds or anything. Windows XP comes with the option to change from the blue bar to the silver bar.

[mphenterprises]

Okay, well I am starting to lean more towards some sort of malicious infection...sorry to say. The next suggestion I have, prior to scanning for any potential security issues is to check your Add/Remove Programs Utility and remove any applications you do not use or do not recognize. Now, the catch here is that there may be some applications that you do not recognize that are essential to the healthy existence of your computer. If you see anything in that list that does not sit right with you, please post that application and we can research whether or not that application is crucial for your Operating System.

Okay, now to the ugly part. As SpiritWind mentioned, AIM is not a very secure application. However, this does not mean your issue is directly caused by AIM. Since you only use BitDefender, I would second Spirit's suggestion about SuperAntiSpyware. I would like to add several other applications you should add to your arsenal:

- AVG Anti-Virus

- AVG Anti-SpyWare

- Eusing Free Registry Cleaner




I would download and install these applications within Windows and then run them all, including BitDefender, in Safe Mode. If you run these three security applications and registry cleaner in Safe Mode and the error message still comes back, we can investigate other options. Unfortunately, as you mentioned, since this is so sporadic, there may not be a true resolution for some time but at least you have some options.

[Tbird24]

I was under the impression that having more than one anti-virus software can be catastrophic to your system.

[mphenterprises]

That is a very common misconception. You can have as many security applications as you wish. The thing one has to remember is to only have one of any kind actively protecting your computer.

For example:

in Windows XP I have:

- two registry cleaners

- four anti-spyware applications

- two anti-virus applications

- one anti-rootkit application

- one firewall



in Windows Vista I have:

- one firewall

- one anti-virus application

- two anti-spyware applications


Only one of any type of security application will either be actively scanning my computer or providing real-time protection of my computer. Now, there are always the applications that just do not play well with others. McAfee and Norton are two of the big ones. No one within this forum, well...at least none of the regular forum members, recommend either of these applications.

[Tbird24]

Ok, I just got the error message again. YAY!


anyway, here are a few things i took note of, and am still taking note of. The only programs I was running was Firefox and AIM. When the error message popped up I closed both programs. I got the error message again. So I believe that rules out AIM as a potential problem.

Some of the things I noticed:

I noticed that occasionally when I would minimize a window, like part of the graphic might stay at the top of the screen or something.

And finally, one of the error messages also had a header that said something like "bmdcom" or "bdmcom" or something like that ending in "com", but I pressed OK before I could copy it down.

How shall I proceed?

[paranoidandroid]

Hi, your error message with "bdmcom", or whatever, might be related to BitDefender, because bdmcon.exe is for the bitdefender management console, so maybe there's a confliction there. Good luck.