Sorry It took so long to reply!!
I can tell you that I’ve checked my site and changed settings on the hit counter options screen on my site with no troubles ( the episenhauer version ).
There is two things I can think of:
1. You have another plugin conflicting with the hit counter. Maybe try disabling all plugins EXCEPT the hit counter and see if the problem persists.
2. Your web server or PHP has a setting the hit counter isn’t liking. You might want to ask the support desk for your web host for help.
If I think of anything else, I’ll post it ASAP!