Dreaded" Can't communicate with kernel error"

[k.crabbe 3]

Tried everything before I came here. Uninstall in safe mode then reinstall (2X). Made sure driver was uninstalled.  When uninstalled ran two online security scans (Kaspersky and Eset), found nothing. Ran Malwarybytes, Superantispyware, Hitman (found conduit), Rkill, Eset Rouge App Remover, Emisoft Emergency kit, Combofix, TDSS killer and Junkware Removal Tool. Found nothing. After a re-install Eset SS ran fine. Did an in depth scan and again found nothing. When I reboot I get the kernel error. ESET gui comes up blank. Enter services.msc and Eset is stopped and can't be started (error 1053). I've seen others have this problem occasionally.  I'm all out of ideas. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

[Arakasi 549]

Hello, sounds like you may have some services logging on incorrectly, or may be that your registry has been altered to the point repairing would be a nightmare.

Your best bet may be to backup your data and license keys, then reload your OS.

Certain versions of conduit can really break windows bad, including the version my office computer just ran into that after cleaning killed the ntldr or boot configuration.

I reloaded.

[k.crabbe 3]

Thanks Arakasi. Unfortunately  I was thinking the same thing. It's probably about time anyway. It's been a few years since I formatted the system and started over. It will give me a chance to clean up some . As you can tell I'm trying to look on the btight side.

[Marcos 5,074]

Perhaps a Process monitor boot log from a system start would shed more light.

[k.crabbe 3]

Good idea Marcos. I'll do that and see what I get.

[k.crabbe 3]

Well I did the Process monitor boot log. I spent a couple of hours looking and learning about what it told me. Then I realized that reinstalling Windows 7 would probably be easier. So that's what I did. I was up and running again in about 45 minutes. I love how easy Windows 7 is to install. Installed Smart Security and things are fine. I'm going to download all of the security updates from Microsoft and then back eveything up. I needed a clean install backup anyway. I'll start configuring and adding programs later. For anybody else that has this problem, a clean install may be the best solution. Try some malware and rootkit/virus software first and if they can't find a problem just reinstall. I spent a good 8 hours yesterday looking for solutions. In the long run a clean install was easier. Thanks for the suggestions from everyone. Hopefully nobody need this thread in the future.

[Arakasi 549]

Hello again,

 

I'm sorry for the frusterations, and hope migrating data and software wasn't too much trouble.

The reason i suggested what i did, was due to the history of myself standing over my tech bench fiddle farting with multiple machines with the same kernel issue, or similar with different products.

Rootkits were sometimes the problem, but in other times, the reinstall was always the fastest, less stressful choice to take.

[k.crabbe 3]

Thanks Arakasi. I don't blame ESET. I screwed up my system somehow. I have everything saved and will migrate slowly. I've got internet access, secutity software and some essentials loaded. The rest I can do during some free time or as needed.

[nmendes 0]

I'm having the same problem, reinstalled twice in safe mode and smart security refuses to run. ESET service doesn't run despite it's startup mode is set to automatic. When I try to start it manually it gives an error. KB article aldo doesn't solve the problem... Any other thing I should try?

[Marcos 5,074]

I'm having the same problem, reinstalled twice in safe mode and smart security refuses to run. ESET service doesn't run despite it's startup mode is set to automatic. When I try to start it manually it gives an error. KB article aldo doesn't solve the problem... Any other thing I should try?

 

Please uninstall v7 and install it from scratch. Then try to reproduce the issue. If the issue doesn't occur, enable pre-release updates, run manual update and try to reproduce the issue again.

Let us know about the result. Do you use Windows 7 32-bit ?

[k.crabbe 3]

Sorry to hear of your troubles nmendes. You can see what I did in the posts above. I just got tired of trying to track down the problem and did a clean install. I hope you can find out where your problem is. Good luck. I wish I had something more to offer you.

[tpcannon 0]

My brother lives halfway across the country from me and called me for help because he was getting this error (Can't communicate with kernel) . I googled the error, and this link came up above the link to this form thread: hxxp://techdows.com/2013/07/fix-eset-error-communicating-with-kernel.html 

He tried it and emailed me back a few minutes later that it fixed his trouble. I asked him to reboot to make sure that it started automatically and it did.

 

Can a moderator tell me if this is a permanent fix for the problem? 

He's running Win 7 32-bit with automatic updates. I've been running eset Smart Security for several years and sold my brother and his wife on your product. 

[foneil 342]

We have a Knowledgebase article with a few solutions for the error "Error communicating with kernel"

 

hxxp://kb.eset.com/esetkb/index?page=content&id=SOLN2280

 

As far as I know, the solution in the web page linked above was a workaround for a previous issue that has been resolved in later versions of ESET and as the article also indicates, this could be a symptom of malware (which is also addressed in SOLN2280)--I would also make sure that you are running the latest version of ESET Smart Security: hxxp://kb.eset.com/esetkb/index?page=content&id=SOLN758 

 

I recommend always starting with official ESET Knowledgebase content before third-party content for the reason stated above (i.e., could be malware), as it is possible that third-party workarounds could create a system security risk.