When Windows starts I get an unhandeled exception in tagsrv.exe, twice.

[JDSTC]

Just installed MS 8.1.2.  when windows restarted the Visual Studio Just In Time Debugger is displaying a message that Tagsrv.exe has an unhandeled exception.  There are two of these windows displayed. 

[DRock]

Hey JDSTC!

I'm sorry that you're experiencing this problem.  I'm not immediately sure of the cause, but I have a couple of follow-up questions for you.

1. What other National Instruments software do you have installed on the machine (LabVIEW, DSC module, etc.)?
2. Which version of Visual Studio are you using?  Which Windows operating system are you running?
3. Is this the first instance of the problem occurring?  Am I correct that it occurs only at the startup of your machine?  Does it occur at every startup of your computer?
   
4. What happens when you run Services.msc and look for the "National Instruments Variable Engine?"  Is this service started?  If not, what happens when you start it?
5. What happens when you repair the installation (re-run the .MSI)?
   

[JDSTC]

Hi Derrick,

Here are the answers:

1) Per the software section of MAX the following is installed:

LabViewRun Time 7.1, Labview Run Time 8.0.1, Labview Run Time 8.2.1, Labview Run Time 8.5.0, MAX, measurement Studio for VS2005, NI-DAQmx 8.5.0f5, NI-PAL, NI-USI.  Why is there four versions of LABview installed?  I do not use LABview and I never told either of the installers (measurement studio and DAQmx) to install it.

2) I have .net 2005 with Windows XP

3) Only occurs at start up, every time I start the computer.  My VB apps with Measurement Studio run just fine...  I do not see the error any where else except start up.

4) National interment Variable Engine was set for Automatic

5) tried to repair measurement Studio and it did not make the error go away.

Can I get a credit for all the incoviounance I have had with NI software?  Measurment Studio is giving me tons of grife... I updated Measurment Studio from Standard to Professional I had to unistall the standard version to put the Professional in.  My laptop did not restart after the unistall.  It would not even start in safe mode.  I had to format the hard drive and reinstall all my applications (that took about 2 days).  I also recieved a USB device for a clinet of mine and installed the DAQmx driver that came with it, which happened to be 8.3.  It then killed my clients computer trying to run my app that was developed using DQmx8.5.  This took about 2 days to resolve where I had to unistall DAQmx 8.3 and reinstall DAQmx 8.5.   This was all in the last two weeks.  That does not include what has happened to me with NI software over the last few months...

[JonathanN]

Hi JDSTC,

I'm sorry that you haven't had the best experience installing NI software. We try to make the installation experience easy as possible for you.  If you have any suggestions of how we can improve your installation experience, please let me know.

To address your question about "I do not use LABview and I never told either of the installers (measurement studio and DAQmx) to install it", the reason we install the LabVIEW RTE is because certain DAQ components use the LabVIEW RTE underneath (i.e. MAX for example uses several LabVIEW RTE components). You as the user don't have options in the Installer Tree to not select the components since they are required by drivers and some underlying components in our NI framework.

To address your unhandled exception, this shouldn't have happened at all so I apologize for that.  To help characterize the issue, the first thing to check is the Windows Event Viewer found under Control Panel >> Administrative Tools. If you then click on the Application category, you should see a bunch of entries on the right-pane. Look for anything related to tagsrv.exe. You probably will see the tagsrv.exe entry in the Source column.  Whatever you find there, post the information.

The next thing we want to double-check is if the issue is related to a new protocol we included in Measurement Studio 8.1.2 that is related to the network variable.  In this case, we want to disable LogosXT by opening up the Registry Editor (Start >> Run and type regedit). Then navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\National Instruments\LogosXT\ .  In this registry location, add a DWORD value named DisablePSPXT and set the value to 1.  Then restart your computer and see what happens.  If the issue still occurs, then delete that key and try the next step.

For this step, is to create another registry entry in the location HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\National Instruments\Common\DSC Shared\.  In this registry location, add a DWORD value named ShowReleaseAsserts and set its value to 1.  Then restart the computer. This will display a modal dialog when certain unexpected conditions occur, which may help narrow down the issue.

Thanks

Best Regards,

[JDSTC]

Hello Jonathan,

First let me say thank you for your assistance, the DisablePSPXT entry in the registry stopped the unhandled exception error when my computer starts.  Also, my VB app that uses Measurement Studio is still working.  I am still curious if this will create problems as I distribute my app to my clients.

I do have a suggestion to National Instruments in terms of improving my software instillation experiences; I wish to have a rebate for my recent purchase to upgrade Measurement Studio or give me a life time service contract for free, below are points for my argument:

1)      I am self employed.  Thus when NI software gives me trouble with installation I have to eat that cost.

2)      NI has very good products and software.  I exclusively rep NI software/hardware to all my clients.

3)      Please refer to my reply for this thread of 12-17-05 at 5pm.  I sure am going to keep track of the versions of NI software that are shipped with each piece of hardware I use along with the most current software available on-line.  More work for me.

4)      Why should I have to pay for a service contract and pay good money for software and hardware when, per NI’s web site  “virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs for test, control, and design applications through easy-to-integrate software” (http://www.ni.com/virtualinstrumentation/),  I am not finding it easy right now.

5)      I do not see myself as having much of a chose when it comes to DAQ. NI has bought everyone else that I know of.  I have used NI products for years and I always have had some kind of trouble when installing NI software. Things go good for a few years and then something new is introduced that gives me grief.  

6)      NI’s email dated 12-17 with the subject: “Notification of potential Real-Time software corruption”.  Thank you for the notification but obviously NI is having some trouble…

Again, Jonathan, thank you for your help and thank you NI in advance for your consideration.

Jeff

 

[DRock]

JDSTC,

May we have your permission to contact you offline in regard to your concerns?

[JDSTC]

Hi Derrick,

Yes, please do.  I am assuming that NI has my email address per the acknowledgments to this thread of messages.  Also I am not totally convinced that my problem has gone away.  I did not notice it before (maybe had sound turned down) but when windows starts I get three beeps before the desk top appears.  I used to get two beeps and then the unhandeled error messages would be displayed when the desk top appears.  At this point it does not seem to be adversly effecting my computer and I have too much other work to start more debug into this matter. 

Thank you,

Jeff