Major Software Problems on Windows XP

Hi

My computer has recently started behaving strangely. I thought it was a malware problem at first, so I posted this message to the Malware group, but I have since been advised that it is more likely to be a simple software problem.

Windows Installer
I first noticed that my computer was taking a long time to start up. More recently I have noticed that my Windows Installer msiexec.exe will hang when trying to install or uninstall any programme. In particular, when I try to uninstall any of the items which use Windows Installer from the Add/Remove programs section, the installer just sits at Preparing and then after about 20 minutes it says Installer Server is not Responding.

Internet Explorer
In addition to this problem, Internet Explorer is will not open a web page when I open it, instead just looking like it is about to go to the home page (although not in safe mode where it works).

Foxfire
Foxfire sometimes will not open at all, yet when I look in the Task Manager it is in the list (although in the list of Task Manager there was no Username next to most of the items). This is an intermittent problem.

Norton Internet Security 2007
My Norton Internet Security started complaining a month ago that the subscription had expired, yet I had only upgraded to 2007 version in December 2006. Now Norton Internet Security doesn't start up at all and it hangs when I try to open it manually. I am only able to run a scan in safe mode which doesn't detect anything, although I haven't been able to get LiveUpdate working.

Quicken
Quicken hangs when trying to connect to the internet to download stock prices (although not in safe mode).

I followed all of the steps in the Malware Removal Guide as closely as possible, although some were not possible because of the Windows Installer problem.

I look forward to any advice anyone can offer.

Thanks

Garrad

 

Try the steps here for the Windows Installer issue, http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;555175

The other problems might be a result of Norton Internet Security not working properly. Tell us exactly what happens and any error messages you are getting.

An example, http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...=2001081613132246&nsf=custserv.nsf&view=docid

Steve

 

Hi, thanks for the advice. I've tried fixing the Windows Installer issues by following the recommendations on the site, as well as reinstalling the installer, but it has not helped. When I try to uninstall any programme Windows Installer just hangs before it even starts the uninstall process.

As for Norton Internet Security, I don't get any error messages, since it doesn't actually appear either in the system tray upon startup, or even when I manually try to start up the application. If I select Norton Internet Security from the menu nothing appears. It's as if I never pressed anything at all.

Is it possible that doing a Windows repair could resolve all of these issues?

 

I would remove Norton Internet Security thru Add/Remove in the control panel, then run this tool http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4749

Restart and see if that helps anything. I would avoid a repair if possible.

Steve

 

I agree with Matacumbie- remove Norton. Recently I was working on a PC that would NOT go online no matter what I did; it would ping OK and ipconfig reported that everything was OK. There was no malware. Since I had the Norton install software, I decided to uninstall it just to see what would happen. It worked! The minute Norton was gone, Internet Explorer worked perfectly. There's a quick-n-easy Norton removal tool you can download for free; get it right here from 'the Geeks' or from Symantec. The removal tool does a better, more complete job of removing ALL the Norton crap-ola than trying to uninstall thru Add/Remove Programs....

hopperdave2000

 

OK, well I tried to uninstall Norton Internet Security through Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs but it wouldn't run. Would it be best to force the removal with the tool from Symantec?

 

Yup. It should get enough of it to see if that is what's causing the problems.

Steve

 

OK, another stumbling block. I tried to run the Norton Removal Tool but it detects that PC Anywhere is installed on the machine and requires that it be uninstalled before proceeding. When I try to uninstall PC Anywhere I encounter the usual problem with Windows Installer where it just hangs. Therefore, it appears that I need to force a removal of PC Anywhere without using Windows Installer. Any suggestions?

 

Uninstall it from safe mode.

Steve

 

Hi, it seems that each avenue I try to go down there is another obstacle in the way. I tried uninstalling in Safe Mode, but of course Windows Installer doesn't work in safe mode.

I then found an article on the Symantec site which supposedly explained how to manually remove PC Anywhere. I followed all of the instructions and then tried to run the Norton Internet Security removal tool. Unfortunately it still detects PC Anywhere as being present on the computer.

Is there anything I can delete in the registry which might trick it into thinking that it doesn't exist on my computer? It is really annoying that the only thing stopping me from proceeding is the fact that I have other software on the computer (I would have thought unrelated to Norton Internet Security).

Any ideas?

 

Run the edit on line 94 left-hand side: Windows Installer Fix http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

If that doesn't work, try the steps below.

Go to Start > Run and type in msiexec /unregister [click ok]

Then Start > Run and type in msiexec /regserver [click ok]

Steve

 

OK, I have tried a few more things since the last post. I tried running the registry script that you suggested and it made no difference. I get the same issue with any kind of Windows Installer installation hanging.

I also went tried to remove Norton Internet Security forcibly using the Norton Removal Tool. I had to first get the system to think that PCAnywhere was not installed on the computer, so I basically went through most registry keys which mentioned "Anywhere" and removed them (also backing up each key so I can reapply them if necessary).

After finally removing one key from the Installed Programs section of HKLM (I had to remove it in safe mode) the system no longer thought that PC Anywhere was installed and so I could run the Norton Removal Tool.

Unfortunately when the Norton Removal tool ran it eventually hung also at the stage of unregistering Live Update group (one of the first things it tried to do). I let it sit there for 30 minutes before interrupting it.

Anyway, I am now at a complete loss as to what I should do, and I am thinking I should just reinstall Windows and start from scratch. Unless someone has something else to suggest that is what I will probably do, although unfortunately I've moved countries since purchasing my computer and I don't know if I have all my original software.

Anyway, any other suggestions?

 

Download and run this: http://www.majorgeeks.com/Dial-a-fix_d4899.html

On the main screen on the bottom left corner you will see a button with double green checkmarks on it. Click this button and let the program run through.

When it is finished try removing Live Update through Add/Remove programs in your control panel. It might tell you that live update is part of norton and cant be removed with out removing the norton security pack.

Now run the Norton Removal tool again and see if it helps.

 

Hi again. Thank you very much for your assistance. I wish I could say that it had resolved the problem.

The Dial A Fix program only got to the second step of trying to Fix Windows Installer and just sat there for a long time. I had to stop the process manually.

This caused me to try to look at the Windows Installer service in Control Panel. The service is set to start Manually, which is the correct setting I believe. As a test, though, I thought I would try to force it to start. Unfortunately it eventually failed with Error 1053, which complains about the service being unable to start in a timely manner. I have searched the internet for this error and I have found lots of postings about it, but interestingly I never found someone who said that the suggested solution had resolved the problem. This makes me very sceptical about whether it will be possible to solve this problem. My feeling is that there is probably a corrupted file or registry setting which is going to prevent this from being resolved.

Do you have any further suggestions?

 

Download and install Windows Installer again. Over write the existing files.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=889482FC-5F56-4A38-B838-DE776FD4138C

 

I've reinstalled Windows Installer (version 3.1) and still no luck. Any other ideas?

 

While you were searching did you see this problem related to the .Net Framework from microsoft not being up to date?

Do you even have .Net on your comp?

 

Hi, finally I decided to backup everything on my computer and attempt a clean reinstallation of Windows. Before trying that, though, I wanted to see whether a repair of Windows would work to resolve the problems. Sure enough, the problems have gone away (albeit I am now using an outdated version of Windows). I now have access to Windows Installer, all the processes contain a user name in Task Manager, Firefox and Internet Explorer work properly, Norton Internet Security comes up (although I think there might be some problems which would be resolved by a reinstallation).

I will still do a clean install of Windows, but I wanted to test whether the problem would go away and it did.

Thanks for your help.