Good call, Roger. Now, of course, I can't remember where I saw that explanation of what msgsrv32 does. Your question caused me to find out and this is what it really does:
Handle Plug and Play messages between various parts of the operating system.
Handle responses to and from setup programs.
Display the initial logon dialog box if a network is present or profiles are enabled.
Play the system startup and shutdown sounds.
Load the Windows drivers at startup and then unload them at shutdown.
Run the shell program
After seeing a MS support message, my gut feeling is power management. I had been tinkering a little with that in the hopes to get to a point where the PC shuts itself down after inactivity and then the Rio could do a WOL.
I've seen so many remarks on Windows Me being crap before, so I had almost been waiting for this one. I think most Windows versions are pretty crappy, but as often in life, thats the cards you are dealt and you gotta play with them. In this case, I dont see the point of spending the money to upgrade an old computer in my basement to XP. At some point, my Athlon 2GHz will become the basement music server probably and that DOES have XP, but thats a few years out (I hope). Personally, I experienced less problems with Me than with 98, so I'm not sure why everybody keeps blasting it. Is it a cse of the one-eyed being king amongst the blind?
Marc