With Norton 360 installed, the Intel Storage Middleware Service crashes at pc startup. This service is needed to run the related Intel RST app and manage the RAID system outside the BIOS.
Strangely the problem, which was already present in the oldest versions of Norton, long time before the restyling introduced by version 25.x, had disappeared a few months ago after a live update of Norton app. Now with the latest version of the app (25.2.xxxx or 25.3.xxxx, i don’t know exactly), starting with the live update the last month of march or so, the issue has returned. The Windows service RstMwService.exe (Intel Storage Middleware Service), set to automatic, crashes at every pc startup with error 1067, exception code 0xc0000005 and offset error 0x0000000000152726.
Uninstalling Norton resolves the issue. Just reinstall and the problem is here again. I tried to change various settings in OS or in Norton 360 app but nothing works.
Can anyone among the developers fix this? Thanks
Den nyeste version er 25.3 bare husk at patch noten er elendig jeg hved vad kommer i næste måned og meget bliver gjort klar til næste måned eller den efter hvis ikke alt norton utilities norton 360 nok også communety site bliver updatet jeg er ikke sikker på noget men som betaer kommer er alt snart klar da jeg får betaen til de produckter
Ikke communety site men ellers
@FAGIANI_FRANCESCO Please give us a bit more information to fill in the gaps:
My reference article is here: RstMwService stops and won't restart, prevents running Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management - Intel Community
-What is the version and build of Windows 11?
-Are you using RAID on SSD’s or spinning HD’s or a mix of the two? Are you setup to run JBOD, RAID 0/1 etc.
-What motherboard and chipset are installed on the computer?
*I suggest downloading and installing these drivers and a restart/retest. Please check your installed version beforehand.
SA
The Intel topic offers no solution. I contacted Intel and tried all suggestions. Uninstall, reinstall, update or downgrade rst drivers, change BIOS option, nothing works at all. The problem is Norton. Or maybe a whql signature in Intel drivers, who knows. Uninstall Norton, Intel rst works. Reinstall Norton, Intel rst does’nt works, even disabling all options in exploit protection, ransomware portection, kernel protection etc.
I had asked a few questions in my last post for more info. Specifically what RAID setup you’re using. What if anything is showing in your Norton history and Windows event viewer? Those screenshots would also help.
Understanding Norton is causing it, that isn’t why I am asking for more info. I’m asking to try and determine WHY Norton may be causing this.
SA
I use raid 0 with two nvme ssd. The configuration is locked in HP bios. Anyway, you can see all my specs in the second page of the Intel topic you linked. I was in there with the nickname AlanSmithee.
See also this topic in Norton Community forum:
I’m going to escalate this to an Admin for team action. Personally, I have the thought process that Norton isn’t playing nicely with the RAID 0 setup because. In that setup there isn’t any redundancy. One drive fails, the entire array fails. RAID 1 would be a suggestion from my experience. Redundancy may in fact be the issue with the latest Norton releases. You have mentioned in the Intel forums that older hardware didn’t have this issue.
@Gayathri_R Please escalate to the development /support team for action. There is also a second older thread where this same issue also exists. Anwendungsfehler, RstMwService.exe Nicht mehr funktionsfähig
SA
Thanks SoulAsylum for your help and interest in solving the problem.
Today I disabled the raid in bios, reinstalled windows 11 24h2 and restored the system from a backup I made with Macrium free edition. Now the two nvme disks are not linked: OS is on disk 1 only (the other one contains some data files). Unfortunately the problem is unsolved. The Rstmwservice service, installed with the latest Intel RST VMD driver (version 20.2.4.1019.4 WHQL), does not start if Norton 360 is installed even with the RAID completely disabled and the two independent nvme disks (error 1067, exception code 0xc0000005 and offset error 0x0000000000152726 in event viewewr).
I uninstalled Norton with NR&R tool and the service starts at reboot; after reinstalling Norton the service remains on running but if I reboot the laptop the service stops with the above errors.
Hope the Norton team can find a solution.
Thanks again
You’re most welcome!! The only other thing is, we could disable with versions BEFORE these latest releases was the boot time scan. Some were accustomed to having it set and aggressive. I have always kept mine at normal. The setting, the best of my knowledge is not present in the latest release. Norton needs to get with the program of not allowing system services to run and not allow the user to be queried about it for interaction. I HOPE this is taken seriously and not swept under the rug as just another bug that will fix itself somewhere down the road.
Regards,
SA