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Windows SQM Consolidator stopped working error message
A few days ago my computer running Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 started displaying an error message with Microsoft Windows in the window's title bar. The message states "Windows SQM Consolidator has stopped working." When you close this window, a new
window (that appears to be from Problem Reports and Solutions) opens and suggests that an important update may not be installed and to run Windows Update. When Windows Update is run, it reports that there are no available updates and that my computer's updates
are current. This error does not appear to be affecting the operation of my computer otherwise, but it is annoying and persistent, occurring at least two or three times daily for the past five days or so (it started to occur just before Christmas, 12/25/2009).
Does anyone know of the reason for this problem or a solution to stop it?
Welcome to Microsoft Answers.
SQM Consolidator is used for the Customer Experience Improvement Program. This scheduled task runs the Wsqmcons.exe program when you install Windows Vista. This scheduled task also runs the Wsqmcons.exe program daily if the user consented to participate in
the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program. This program collects and sends usage data to Microsoft. The Wsqmcons.exe program is located in the System32 folder. However, do a clean boot to isolate the cause.
A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts.
The following link has steps showing how to perform clean boot.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135
1) Perform clean boot
i. Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
ii. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
iii. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box.
iv. Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
v. Click OK.
vi. When you are prompted, click Restart.
vii. After the computer starts, check whether the problem is resolved.
2) Enable half of the services
3) Determine whether the problem returns
4) Enable half of the startup items
5) Determine whether the problem returns
6) Repeat the above steps until you find out which service or program is causing the issue
After you determine the startup item or the service that causes the problem, contact the program manufacturer to determine whether the problem can be resolved. Or, run the System Configuration Utility, and then click to clear the check box for the problem item.
Note: Please ensure that the computer is set to start as usual by following the step 7 from the article
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135 . Reset the computer to start as usual
After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to reset the computer to start as usual:
i) Click Start, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
ii) On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.
