Jump to content

Welcome to Geeks to Go - Register now for FREE

Need help with your computer or device? Want to learn new tech skills? You're in the right place!
Geeks to Go is a friendly community of tech experts who can solve any problem you have. Just create a free account and post your question. Our volunteers will reply quickly and guide you through the steps. Don't let tech troubles stop you. Join Geeks to Go now and get the support you need!

How it Works Create Account
Photo

NO Windows Updates Install if Windows Installer Needed


  • Please log in to reply

#106
Macboatmaster

Macboatmaster

    7k

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 7,237 posts
OK

I am about to sign off, I am sure you realise that our colleague RKinner, made noticeable progress with this, and I feel it best, as he stands above me in this area, to leave more until he returns

I was just checking with you a few things I had noticed, to try and help.

He will of course see what has been done, when he comes back.

The reason I asked about MSE and Avast is , as I am sure you know, two AV programs with real time protection, is not a good idea.

By a somewhat surprising coincidence I have been researching the use of UAC and have prepared a precis of the problems that may be encountered in turning it off - here are two excerpts from that

Quote

Certain applications, which make lots of system changes can fail to work once you turn on UAC after their installation and they will work if you install them with UAC turned on. The failures happen because, when UAC is turned off, the virtualization techniques used by UAC for all applications are inactive. This causes certain user settings and files to be installed to a different place and no longer work when UAC is turned back on. To avoid these problems, it is better to have UAC turned on at all times.

Quote

The biggest non-security problem comes about because many users disable UAC when they're setting up their machines, when installing their software, many older applications will happily write to Program Files as they're running with full rights to the machine, they'll store their data, and config files there, or in system locations in the registry.

This is a disaster waiting to happen, when UAC is re-enabled the applications will suddenly lose all of its config information and whatever else it has saved into Program Files as UAC redirects them to where they should be writing their data, in locations writable by standard users, such as ProgramData or AppData. Many applications will however happily recreate their information with the default settings. Some however will break horribly, I've run into situations where applications won't uninstall or install because its state has gotten so muddled due to the user disabling and enabling UAC over and over. They had to be manually removed from the system and then reinstalled.




I just begin to wonder if this may have caused some problems.

It appears the generally accepted answer, but NOT the real solution is, if it was off when certain applications were installed and those will not now work when it is ON, turn it off again, however it is as you will see a double edged sword.

In summary, as I said previously, I wish you the very best of luck with it, you deserve to have a solution for your dedication.

My colleague may have a view on this when he returns, but I am NOT saying it is the problem, only that it could well have a bearing on it.

Also post 103 reveals a stange behaviour does it not, it seems that one time something will work and then not, and then suddenly it works again. eg. Programs and Features.
  • 0

Advertisements


#107
G_Woods

G_Woods

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 87 posts
Okay. I want to thank you for your time. I really appreciate all you have done. Everybody at this forum has been SUPER. I really did not know a place like this existed and stumbled on purely by accident. Even if I don't get the system repaired I can always reformat and reinstall. It is just a challenge to try to fix something that is broken before buying new.

Thanks and God Bless
G_Woods
  • 0

#108
rshaffer61

rshaffer61

    Moderator

  • Moderator
  • 34,114 posts

Everybody at this forum has been SUPER. I really did not know a place like this existed and stumbled on purely by accident

Oh no our super cloaking device is malfunctioning now. :lol:
  • 0

#109
RKinner

RKinner

    Malware Expert

  • Expert
  • 24,598 posts
  • MVP
cbs.log is sometimes hard to work with. Often it will let you copy the log so let's try that:

Start, All Programs, Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and Run as Administrator, Continue. Type with an Enter after each line:

cd  \windows\logs\cbs

(Prompt should show you are now in C:\windows\logs\cbs\ )

copy  cbs.log  cbs.txt

( 1 file(s) copied.)

findstr  /c:"[SR]"  cbs.txt  >  \junk3.txt 

Then if junk3.txt is not empty, attach it to your next post.
  • 0

#110
G_Woods

G_Woods

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 87 posts
I can't seem to get the "findstring" command to create the junk3.txt file. Do I need an argument after the command?

Dumb question. The /c:"[SR]" was the argument. Sorry

Edited by G_Woods, 19 August 2012 - 08:14 PM.

  • 0

#111
G_Woods

G_Woods

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 87 posts
Never mind. I think I had a space after "[SR]". It is taking a long time to run.
  • 0

#112
G_Woods

G_Woods

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 87 posts
Finally, I got it.



  • 0

#113
G_Woods

G_Woods

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 87 posts
When I try to uninstall any program that uses the Windows Installer, I still get this message:



  • 0

#114
RKinner

RKinner

    Malware Expert

  • Expert
  • 24,598 posts
  • MVP
move your msiexec.old to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ and rename it msiexec.exe I expect that will make SFC happy. That was the only thing it couldn't fix.

Normally if you right click on msiexec.exe in either C:\windows\system32 or in c:\windows syswow64 and Run As Admin it will start up and give you a new little window with a help message. Try them both and see what happens.
  • 1

#115
G_Woods

G_Woods

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 87 posts
SUCCESS!!!Posted Image

Windows update has succeeded. I don't know how or why the msiexec files got corrupted but they are now repaired and seem to be working fine.

I cannot say enough about RKinner, rshffer61, ComCav, rockfish and all the other experts at this site that put in countless hours of their time and effort to resolve this issue. When all you would have had to say was, Reformat and Re-install.

I will stay a member of this Forum and would like to help others anyway I can.

THANKS,

God Bless You All

Edited by G_Woods, 19 August 2012 - 09:48 PM.

  • 0

Advertisements


#116
RKinner

RKinner

    Malware Expert

  • Expert
  • 24,598 posts
  • MVP
Great. Since it appears we are done, I will give you my standard malware cleanup/goodbye. (I normally only do malware.) I didn't go back and check what programs CompCav had you run so some things may not apply:


We need to cleanup System Restore:

Copy the following:


:Commands
[CLEARALLRESTOREPOINTS]
[Reboot]

Right click on OTL and Run As Administrator. In the Custom Scans/Fixes box at the bottom, paste in the copied text (Ctrl + v) and then hit Run Fix.

That will get the last of the malware off the system.



You can uninstall or delete any tools we had you download and their logs.
To uninstall combofix, copy the next line:

"%userprofile%\Desktop\combofix.exe" /Uninstall

Start, All Programs, Accessories then right click on Command Prompt and Run As Administrator.
then right click, Paste, then hit Enter.

OTL has a cleanup tab if you go there it will remove itself and its logs.

To hide hidden files again (OTL may do it for you):

Vista or Win7

# Open the Control Panel menu and click Folder Options.
# After the new window appears select the View tab.
# Remove the check in the checkbox labeled Display the contents of system folders.
# Under the Hidden files and folders section select the radio button labeled Do not Show hidden files and folders.
# Check the checkbox labeled Hide protected operating system files.
# Press the Apply button and then the OK button and exit My Computer.

Also make sure you have the latest versions of any adobe.com products you use like Shockwave, Flash or Acrobat.

Whether you use adobe reader, acrobat or fox-it to read pdf files you need to disable Javascript in the program. There is an exploit out there now that can use it to get on your PC. For Adobe Reader: Start, All Programs, Adobe Reader, Edit, Preferences, Click on Javascript in the left column and uncheck Enable Acrobat Javascript. OK Close program. It's the same for Foxit reader except you uncheck Enable Javascript Actions.

To help keep your programs up-to-date you should download and run the UpdateChecker:
http://www.filehippo.../updatechecker/
(You don't need to download Betas and if there is a program you don't use you can just uninstall it rather than update it. Exception is MSN messenger which appears to be part of Windows.)
If you get a blocked program notice after installing updatechecker then change it to not run at start then manually run it once a week.
Seems to work best if Firefox is the default browser. You can also try Secunia PSI http://secunia.com/v...l/download_psi/ Same kind of info. You don't need both.
If you use Firefox then get the AdBlock Plus Add-on. WOT (Web of Trust) is another you might want to try.
The equivalent to AdBlock Plus for IE is called Simple Adblock and you should install it too: http://simple-adblock.com/
The free version only blocks 200 ads a day so another reason to use Firefox or Chrome.

If Firefox is slow loading make sure it only has the current Java add-on. Then download and run Speedy Fox.
http://www.crystalidea.com/speedyfox . You can run it any time that Firefox seems slow.

Be warned: If you use Limewire, utorrent or any of the other P2P programs you will almost certain be coming back to the Malware Removal forum. If you must use P2P then submit any files you get to http://virustotal.com before you open them.


If you have a router, log on to it today and change the default password! If using a Wireless router you really should be using encryption on the link. Use the strongest (newest) encryption method that your router and PC wireless adapter support especially if you own a business. See http://www.king5.com...-120637284.html and http://www.seattlepi...ted-1344185.php for why encryption is important. If you don't know how, visit the router maker's website. They all have detailed step by step instructions or a wizard you can download.


Ron
  • 1

#117
Macboatmaster

Macboatmaster

    7k

  • Member
  • PipPipPipPipPipPipPipPip
  • 7,237 posts
G_Woods

Fantastic news.
  • 0

#118
rshaffer61

rshaffer61

    Moderator

  • Moderator
  • 34,114 posts
This is great news!!!!! :thumbsup:
  • 0






Similar Topics

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

As Featured On:

Microsoft Yahoo BBC MSN PC Magazine Washington Post HP