The NTDVM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction

[SveNor]

Hi and good morning, this is my first posting here.

When starting up the computer and after Windows has lauched a popup appears related to updatemgr.exe stating that "The NTDVM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction" (and needs to close). I am given the option to Close or Ignore. Both ways work, in the sense that nothing happens afterwards and the computer runs fine.

I want to remove this error message. Why it came in the first place I dont remember.

Please help.

Asus AZN8X-E Deluxe, 256mb ram, AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.833GHz, NVIDIA Gainward GeForce FX5200 128mb DDR AGP, 120gb IDE ATA/100 8mb cache, Plextor IDE PX-708A DVD +/-RW, Win XP Pro sp1

[filipino]

Are you using win2k OS?

Retry the operation. If you still get this message, try to continue. If you are able to continue, you might want to check the results of the running application. Otherwise, terminate the application, then restart it.

[SveNor]

I am using Win XP Pro. There is no "opaeration". This is just en error message at the end of the PC startup routine. The PC works fine, I just dont know the reason for this error message nor how to solve the issue.

[Michael Chiew]

SveNor

What did you do before this happened? What were your last deeds on the machine before the pop-up appeared?

I think what you're referring to is NTVDM CPU, not NTDVM CPU. Am I correct?

What do you know about 16-bit and 32-bit applications? Well, 16-bit applications are those that must work within the DOS (Disk Operating System) environment, a real-mode arena. NTVDM stands for NT Virtual Dos Machine.

In Windows XP, as in Windows 2000, or Windows 98, there are 16-bit and 32-bit environments (real mode and protected mode respectively).

Windows XP can only operate in 32-bit mode. All 16-bit applications must work within its own theatre of operation, typically, the first MB of physical memory (ram). Conversely, 32-bit applications must function above the first MB memory line. If either of these applications happens to slip into "alien" territory, you get an error message like "something" has encounter an illegal instruction. In other words, the wayward application is trying to slip by the immigration checkpoint.

In your case, updatemgr.exe (I suspect updatemgr.exe is a 32-bit application) has in all likelihood wondered into the 16-bit arena. Hence, NTVDM CPU issues that warning.

Why do you continue to get the message. It's because updatemgr.exe incessantly misbehaves itself on start-up, always trying to load itself into a particular memory address where it is not welcome. Why the persistence? Updatemgr.exe has gone bonkers. It is either corrupted or damaged.

On the other hand, one cannot discount the possibility that NTVDM (NTVDM.EXE) is corrupted or damaged. So your problem lies with either updatemgr.exe or NTVDM.EXE, or both.

There are 2 things you could do.

First, establish who owns updatemgr.exe, Microsoft or some third-party owner. Second, rename updatemgr.exe and see whether the message goes away.

To establish ownership (and the function of updatemgr.exe), do a search for the file.

Click START, select FIND. In the FIND dialog box, type: updatemgr.exe. See the directory in which the file has lodged. In Windows Explorer, get to the file, right-click on it, select PROPERTIES. Who owns it? Is there an indication of its function.

Next, rename the file. Right-click it, select RENAME and rename it to, say, updatemgr.old. RESTART your computer. Do you still get the error message. Not likely.

To clean things up a bit, perhaps it is a good idea for you to replace the current NTVDM.EXE with a new copy. Find out where NTVDM.EXE is. Then, click START, select RUN. Type in the RUN dialog box SFC to run the System File Checker. Insert your OS CD, follow the prompts, extract a copy of NTVDM.EXE and send it to its place of residence. Of course, you should also replace a copy of updatemgr.exe.

That should eliminate your problem for good.

Michael Chiew

[SveNor]

Thank you Mike, you are the kind of person who makes these kind of webservices so helpful. I found UPDTMGR.EXE in C:\program files\common files\ so I presume it is a Windows program. I just renamed it to updtmgr.old and the error message was gone at startup. Now I wonder what risk I am running by doing so. Until the next problem arises I am now a happy man..

[Michael Chiew]

Oh, SveNor, don't worry. No risk involved. You'll be a happy man for quite some time to come, i.e., until you're about to update something. Updatemgr is obviously corrupted, or damaged. It isn't a key component, not to my knowledge, anyway.

Confirm who owns the file by right-clicking updatemgr.exe in C:\Programs\Common Files. Right-click and select Properties. Look at the details of the file. I have a feeling it is not a Microsoft file.

Enjoy yourself. You deserve it!

Michael Chiew

[malakaayo]

Hi guys, I encountered the error "The NTDVM CPU has encountered an illegal instruction" upon launching any program from my cd-rom drive

I also cannot access video and mp3 formats from my cd-rom drive without encountering the same 16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem error

I can find the NTVDM.exe in the win32 folder but not the updatemgr.exe

I have tried system restore even up to the point when my winxp sp2 was still 2 months old but to no avail( the computer said, system cannot be restored)

Please help me solve my problem without re-installing the OS, thanks...

[mariosoft]

hi i'm having the same problem using the xp, do you have any sugestion for me... tnx.

[jrsweger]

Do a Windows Explorer search for the following:
cmd.com
netstat.com
netstat.com
ping.com
regedit.com
taskkill.com
tasklist.com
tracert.com
bx.exe
xtc.tmp
attachement.zip

If you find any or all of these, go here Symantec and follow the directions, you may be able to do a manual removal that way.

You may also want to go to Trendmicro and run their free online virus scan.

[evestal]

1) Choose IGNORE to the error message (not close) as many times as necessary.
2) Launch a good virus scanner (I used Symantec v.10) and clean infected files
3) Reboot.

Note: on our infected machine, Yahoo.com was also behaving oddly.