Windows 7 (build 7000) making my router go nuts!


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Just wondering if any Windows 7 Beta testers (official or otherwise) have encountered a problem with their LAN. I'm connected to the internet via a Netgear DG834GT router (wired not wireless) which works perfectly on XP and Vista. However, with this beta the router lights start flashing madly indicating constant internet/LAN access. That's even just sitting at a freshly loaded desktop with no applications running. When this happens internet access slows to a crawl as if there's just no bandwidth left.

I think I've ruled out Windows Update as a cause (since no updates are being downloaded) so this is presumably either a bug in the way the Beta connects to my router or there's some background task using up all the internet bandwidth :o . Perhaps it's a bug in the NIC driver?

I'm confident that my Beta install DVD is the same as everyone elses as it has been MD5 verified.

Anyone else have the same issue? Until I can track it down it's pretty much stopped me from testing the Beta any further.

Thanks.

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4

Radeon 4870

Intel E8400

4GB RAM

Just wondering if any Windows 7 Beta testers (official or otherwise) have encountered a problem with their LAN. I'm connected to the internet via a Netgear DG834GT router (wired not wireless) which works perfectly on XP and Vista. However, with this beta the router lights start flashing madly indicating constant internet/LAN access. That's even just sitting at a freshly loaded desktop with no applications running. When this happens internet access slows to a crawl as if there's just no bandwidth left.

I think I've ruled out Windows Update as a cause (since no updates are being downloaded) so this is presumably either a bug in the way the Beta connects to my router or there's some background task using up all the internet bandwidth :o . Perhaps it's a bug in the NIC driver?

I'm confident that my Beta install DVD is the same as everyone elses as it has been MD5 verified.

Anyone else have the same issue? Until I can track it down it's pretty much stopped me from testing the Beta any further.

Thanks.

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4

Radeon 4870

Intel E8400

4GB RAM

Did you setup Homegroup. Make sure workgroup name is the same as with your Vista machine.

Did you setup Homegroup. Make sure workgroup name is the same as with your Vista machine.

Umm, neither of those should have anything to do with his problem.

Have you reset the router? You're certain the problem only happens when you boot into Win7? As in, other machines on the network are affected if you boot that one into Win7?

Thanks for the replies. The network is setup correctly as far as I can tell. To be honest it's a small (two machine) LAN with only one way file sharing to my PC which is all that's needed.

The router works perfectly in conjunction with my PC (when running Vista) and my partner's (running XP). It's only when I run Windows 7 on my PC that the problem shows up. The DG834GT router is running some (terrific) custom DGTeam firmware as it helps me to get the most out of my poor telephone line but since I have no problems with Vista or XP I'd hesitate to point the finger at the router.

Looking at the router lights, it would seem that all the activity is between my PC and the internet with constant and total use of all internet bandwidth (admittedly a lowly 3Mbps ADSL connection). It's as if Windows 7 is running an invisible and constant background download which I can't see or disable. Since there's no obvious evidence of anything being downloaded I'm still wondering if it's a bug or NIC driver issue.

The only third party software installed thus far is Acrobat Reader 9 and Flash Player for Internet Explorer. I'll also try uninstalling those tomorrow.

A real head scratcher!

Hmmm, I think I've nailed it. It looks to be a problem with multiple instances of wermgr.exe (Windows Error Reporting) in task manager, each one taking up internet bandwidth and CPU resources. I've since disabled error reporting and the problem has vanished.

I've just checked the WER logs and I have over a hundred entries like this one:

WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER IN-BAND GUIDE LOADER - STOPPED WORKING

Description

Stopped working

Faulting Application Path: C:\Windows\ehome\mcGlidHost.exe

Problem signature

Problem Event Name: CLR20r3

Problem Signature 01: mcglidhost.exe

Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7000.0

Problem Signature 03: 49432923

Problem Signature 04: mcstore

Problem Signature 05: 6.1.0.0

Problem Signature 06: 49433d6d

Problem Signature 07: 549

Problem Signature 08: 53

Problem Signature 09: System.InvalidOperationException

OS Version: 6.1.7000.2.0.0.256.1

Locale ID: 2057

Extra information about the problem

Bucket ID: 416929834

I'm guessing that this is what's causing WER to go nuts. If so then others may not encounter the problem unless they use Windows Media Center with a TV card and use the Guide for TV listings.

Anyone else seen this issue?

Hmmm, I think I've nailed it. It looks to be a problem with multiple instances of wermgr.exe (Windows Error Reporting) in task manager, each one taking up internet bandwidth and CPU resources. I've since disabled error reporting and the problem has vanished.

I've just checked the WER logs and I have over a hundred entries like this one:

WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER IN-BAND GUIDE LOADER - STOPPED WORKING

Description

Stopped working

Faulting Application Path: C:\Windows\ehome\mcGlidHost.exe

Problem signature

Problem Event Name: CLR20r3

Problem Signature 01: mcglidhost.exe

Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7000.0

Problem Signature 03: 49432923

Problem Signature 04: mcstore

Problem Signature 05: 6.1.0.0

Problem Signature 06: 49433d6d

Problem Signature 07: 549

Problem Signature 08: 53

Problem Signature 09: System.InvalidOperationException

OS Version: 6.1.7000.2.0.0.256.1

Locale ID: 2057

Extra information about the problem

Bucket ID: 416929834

I'm guessing that this is what's causing WER to go nuts. If so then others may not encounter the problem unless they use Windows Media Center with a TV card and use the Guide for TV listings.

Anyone else seen this issue?

Yep I have, wondered what it was, found this through googling and did as you did and disabled WER, would have preferred not to but all my bandwidth was being killed, no wonder UT3 via steam was only getting 70kb/s max, back to 350kb/s now I disabled WER :D

Thanks :)

You're very welcome. I must admit, I've stopped playing with the beta for now because this (and other) issues were a little too annoying.

Windows 7 looks very promising. I just hope MS realise that with bugs like this and the rather worrying WMP issue build 7000 would not make a good "official" public beta.

Just goes to show how leaks and the BT community can be useful sometimes. ;)

Had the same problem. The repeated crashes of the guide loader (like multiple times per second) not only uses lots of internet bandwidth submitting the error reports, but the error dumps are quite large (~60MB) and quickly filled up all the free space on my hard drive. Nasty.

  • 2 weeks later...
Had the same problem. The repeated crashes of the guide loader (like multiple times per second) not only uses lots of internet bandwidth submitting the error reports, but the error dumps are quite large (~60MB) and quickly filled up all the free space on my hard drive. Nasty.

Same problem here. If I hadn't noticed the really slow internet, it'd have taken me over my traffic allowance.

I've previously disabled Windows Error Reporting Service, but when I booted this morning it still have many instances of the process submitting them. I hope they were just past logs, and it won't generate any more to send now I've deleted them.

I tried a fresh install of Windows 7 to see if the problem was still there and sure enough it was. It's present on both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions (as you would expect) and even if you turn off error reporting the application is still crashing away in the background. I've had instances of Media Centre not recording scheduled TV programmes. Indeed most of my issues with the beta have been related to Media Centre. I've also had audio issues burning WTV Media Centre recordings to DVD via Windows DVD Maker. The Guide itself doesn't work correctly for me either with missing data on one Freeview channel (Dave).

Given that most people will leave Windows Error Reporting enabled I see this bug as every bit as serious as the MP3 corruption issue (since it's hogging internet bandwidth and filling your hard drive continuously with multiple error reports) and yet no patch has been forthcoming from MS.

Does anybody close to MS know if this problem is going to be addressed in a QFE update? For me it's a total showstopper and since I don't have the hardware resources to run both Vista and Windows 7 I've basically had to abandon further tests of the beta.

Just wondering if any Windows 7 Beta testers (official or otherwise) have encountered a problem with their LAN. I'm connected to the internet via a Netgear DG834GT router (wired not wireless) which works perfectly on XP and Vista. However, with this beta the router lights start flashing madly indicating constant internet/LAN access. That's even just sitting at a freshly loaded desktop with no applications running. When this happens internet access slows to a crawl as if there's just no bandwidth left.

I think I've ruled out Windows Update as a cause (since no updates are being downloaded) so this is presumably either a bug in the way the Beta connects to my router or there's some background task using up all the internet bandwidth :o . Perhaps it's a bug in the NIC driver?

I'm confident that my Beta install DVD is the same as everyone elses as it has been MD5 verified.

Anyone else have the same issue? Until I can track it down it's pretty much stopped me from testing the Beta any further.

Thanks.

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS4

Radeon 4870

Intel E8400

4GB RAM

Same here... could see my Netgear modem/router going nuts.

At first I thought it was just when I was using Medica Centre, but I noticed it also happening after I'd been using Medica Centre but then closed it down but it makes sense if the WER service is trying to upload loads of reports, even after Media Centre has closed down.

I've just disabled the service and have noticed that my Netgear has finally stopped gobbling up all my bandwidth... thanks guys for the headup :)

Glad you found a solution. Does anybody else here see the irony in having to disable error reporting to make the beta useable?!?! :D

I know it's a pain, but if you can reproduce this, could you please allow WER to collect *some* crash dumps and submit them to us? When users send in crash reports we can perform crash dump analysis and figure out the cause of the crash.

I'm not in the product group, but I'll have a look. Is everyone who's reporting this problem from the UK?

Thanks,

Will (MS)

I know it's a pain, but if you can reproduce this, could you please allow WER to collect *some* crash dumps and submit them to us? When users send in crash reports we can perform crash dump analysis and figure out the cause of the crash.

I'm not in the product group, but I'll have a look. Is everyone who's reporting this problem from the UK?

Thanks,

Will (MS)

You should really pm the adins so you can get a special tag so people know you work for microsoft.

I know it's a pain, but if you can reproduce this, could you please allow WER to collect *some* crash dumps and submit them to us? When users send in crash reports we can perform crash dump analysis and figure out the cause of the crash.

I'm not in the product group, but I'll have a look. Is everyone who's reporting this problem from the UK?

Thanks,

Will (MS)

I'll enable WER on my machine again and see what happens but before switching it off, I was finding that WER was gobbling up all my bandwidth, even when I'd stopped using Media Centre :(

I'm in the UK and have submitted a report to Microsoft. As has been reported elsewhere in this thread, it does seem that large numbers of errors are generating BIG amounts of error reports when running Freeview (DVB-T here in the UK) tv in Media Centre. Funny thing is there is no indication of what the errors are and other than this problem, I'm finding that Media Centre appears to be working fine ; )

i have this problem too ever since setting up the media center, it renders my internet unusable for the first 10-15mins of use as its uploading crash reports constantly, ive tried disabling the error reporting from services but it still uploads them, am i disabling it in the wrong place?

thanks

something similar happened to me in build 6801, I fixed it by disabling ipv6.

On my laptop, whenever I was connected top wireless in windows 7 it would disable all internet access to every other computer int he house, as soon as I disconnected the win7 laptop from the network it would work fine.

Speaking for myself I can say that MS have received multiple error reports (dozens probably) from me. Given the amount of error reports this bug generates (over a short period of time) MS should have received literally hundreds of reports for this one bug alone.

I don't know if it's a significant factor but my TV card is a DVB-T/Analogue hybrid (Asus 7131). I'm using the driver built into Windows 7 which is automatically loaded upon installation (ASUSTek Tiger Capture Card).

For me Windows Media Center is the weakest part of Windows 7. I hope it gets as much attention as the OS itself before RTM.

It seems to me that the changes introduced in the TV Pack 2008 update need some more work. Not all of the problems I've encountered produce a WER error report...

Scheduled programme failing to record (and locking out the DVB-T tuner altogether)

Interface navigation problems/quirks when using a mouse scroll wheel

Seemingly random failures to playback Vista DVR-MS recordings (PlayReady issue perhaps?)

Unable to select correct audio track when burning WTV recordings in Windows DVD Maker

Guide failing to load programme data for Freeview channel Dave

For now I've had to stop running the beta. I'll go back to it when I can and submit any and all findings directly.

Edited by wiggly1uk2000
i have this problem too ever since setting up the media center, it renders my internet unusable for the first 10-15mins of use as its uploading crash reports constantly, ive tried disabling the error reporting from services but it still uploads them, am i disabling it in the wrong place?

thanks

My understanding is that reports (once generated) will still upload even if you disable WER. Once they're all uploaded then no more should be generated and your internet functionality should return to normal. I believe deleting the problem history would prevent existing reports from uploading but in the interests of MS squashing this nasty bug perhaps you ought to consider letting them upload.

I'll enable WER on my machine again and see what happens but before switching it off, I was finding that WER was gobbling up all my bandwidth, even when I'd stopped using Media Centre :(

I'm in the UK and have submitted a report to Microsoft. As has been reported elsewhere in this thread, it does seem that large numbers of errors are generating BIG amounts of error reports when running Freeview (DVB-T here in the UK) tv in Media Centre. Funny thing is there is no indication of what the errors are and other than this problem, I'm finding that Media Centre appears to be working fine ; )

If you check your WER logs you should find this is the culprit:

WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER IN-BAND GUIDE LOADER - STOPPED WORKING

Description

Stopped working

Faulting Application Path: C:\Windows\ehome\mcGlidHost.exe

Problem signature

Problem Event Name: CLR20r3

Problem Signature 01: mcglidhost.exe

Problem Signature 02: 6.1.7000.0

Problem Signature 03: 49432923

Problem Signature 04: mcstore

Problem Signature 05: 6.1.0.0

Problem Signature 06: 49433d6d

Problem Signature 07: 549

Problem Signature 08: 53

Problem Signature 09: System.InvalidOperationException

OS Version: 6.1.7000.2.0.0.256.1

Locale ID: 2057

Extra information about the problem

Bucket ID: 416929834

For me the Guide fails to load programme details for one Freeview channel (Dave). I don't know if it's significant to the crash but it certainly would appear to be Guide related.

I'm using Freeview (DVB-T UK) also, with a Hauppauge HVR-1300 (has analogue tuner also).

I'll be happy to leave it on whilst my internet isn't capped and then turn it off (though why does it launch so many WERMGR processes? If it did one by one, I'm sure Microsoft would have recieved some of my crash reports, as it is I have no idea if any got through).

The problem seems to be as soon as Media Centre goes to update the Guide Listings (EPG?) and once that happens, all I see is my router maxing out my bandwidth (in fact I had a real struggle to reach this forum and can see now that the internet connection LED on my Netgear modem/router is just continuously flashing away : (

It does look like multiple reports of this same error is being sent, over and over again and as it is, there is no way I can run Media Centre in Windows 7 if this is going to just grab all my internet bandwidth.

I'd agree with the original poster that Microsoft *should* have many reports of this error now so hopefully they'll get around to producing a fix real soon and plugging up our leaking bandwidth ; )

You should really pm the adins so you can get a special tag so people know you work for microsoft.

We haven't given MS employees special tags before (Spartan_X and Brandon Live come to mind (Brandon Live has an MVC tag for his site contributions, NOT because he works for MS)) but you can try if you want.

I know it's a pain, but if you can reproduce this, could you please allow WER to collect *some* crash dumps and submit them to us? When users send in crash reports we can perform crash dump analysis and figure out the cause of the crash.

I'm not in the product group, but I'll have a look. Is everyone who's reporting this problem from the UK?

Thanks,

Will (MS)

Oops, forgot to answer the question! Yes, I'm in the UK - picking up from the Tacolneston trasmitter. What about the rest of you guys?

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