Error 1618 or Error 1500 "Installation already in progress"

[bokee88]

Received a replacement phone today. Several of the items that I need to
install start with a .exe on the Laptop, they then run a cab file on the
phone itself. however, everytime I run one of the .exe files I get an error
saying there is something else that hasn't finished installing. I have
rebooted 3 times. No change. I go to the task manager and I notice there
are 2 msiexec's running at all times. I kill them and they immediately
reappear. I have Google searched for fixes and i have tried every one i
found (changing registry keys for the installer, using msconfig to stop
services, deleting the Temp files, etc.). I am at a loss. I don't know if
those 2 msiexec's are the culprits but I am pretty sure. However, I have no
idea how to permantly stop them or find out what program the error message is
referring to when it says there is another program being installed.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

-Brian

 

[Ron Badour]

Try doing a search on: Temp as there may be more than one folder
with that name. When found, delete everything in the folder.
--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[bokee88]

Ron,

Thanks for your help. I tried that but the problem is still happening.
However, I do want to note that 2 files could not be deleted from
C:\Windows\Temp. They are:

Perflib_Perfdata_708.dat
HPSLPS068.log

This might be a complete tangent, but, I noticed that every few minutes or
so there are MSI log files appearing. The most recent one (MSI8f5d6.LOG)
opened and inside it said:

"Error 1921. Service 'hpqcxs08' (hpqcxs08) could not be stopped. Verify
that you have sufficient privileges to stop system services.
=== Logging stopped: 9/17/2008 11:13:48 ==="

It might be nothing, but I wouldn't be surprised if some how the HP printer
was causing me grief. It always seems to be causing grief on one of my
computers.

Please let me know if you have another step to take. I'll try anything.
Thanks again,

-Brian

 

[bokee88]

I was playing around and have determined that those 2 "msiexec.exe's" that
are running are the problem. I opened Task Manager and killed the 2
misexec.exe's. They quickly reappear but I kept killing them over and over
and in between killing them I would try to install something. If I get lucky
with the timing, the installation makes it farther and farther because I keep
beating back the msiexec.exe programs. But, eventually my timing isn't right
and I get the 1618 error or 1500 error and the installation is unable to
finish. There has to be a way to find out what is starting those 2
msiexec.exe's and just kill them. Shouldn't there?

-Brian

 

[Ron Badour]

Why don't you take a look at what is being started at boot (msconfig,
startup tab) and see if there are any clues there.

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316434

There just isn't much help on your problem on the internet as you have
already found out.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[bokee88]

Ron,

I solved my problem... I think. I had already tried going into msconfig and
in the start up tab I disabled everything. Then rebooted. Still same
problem. In another chat web site, some one recomended going into the
Services tab of msconfig and disabling everything. I tried that a few days
ago also, but with no luck. Then, I remembered something. When I disabled
all of the Services, I was first instructed to check the box that says
something like "Hide all Microsoft related services" before I disabled
everything. So, when I tried that before I didn't disable *everything*. So,
I decided to look through the services that were Microsoft related. While
browsing through there I found a service named hpqcxs08. Its status wasn't
"Running" and it wasn't "Stopped". It's status was "Stop. Pending". No
other Service had this status.

Also, yesterday, remember when I wrote the following about clearing out the
Temp folder?


***************
I noticed that every few minutes or so there are MSI log files appearing.
The most recent one (MSI8f5d6.LOG) opened and inside it said:

"Error 1921. Service 'hpqcxs08' (hpqcxs08) could not be stopped. Verify
that you have sufficient privileges to stop system services.
=== Logging stopped: 9/17/2008 11:13:48 ==="
***************

What a coincidence. So, I changed that hpqcxs08 to "Stopped". I then had
to reboot. After the reboot there was only one instance of msiexec.exe in
the Task Manager. The second one was now gone. I have now installed 3 items
without a problem.

Now, what do I do with hpqcxs08 set to Stopped. What is that for? Do I
need that?

I searched around on the web and it is from HP and others have had trouble
stopping it because it was halting installations. However, I can't find
anyone who will tell me what it does. If you have any ideas, I'd appreciate
it. For now, I'll leave it as "Stopped" but eventually I wonder if I should
change it back to "Running".

Thanks,

-Brian

 

[Ron Badour]

File names starting with HP are usually Hewlett Packard files; however, I
found at least one source that says hpqcxs08.sys is malware:

http://spywaredlls.prevx.com/RRCABH44333440/HPQCXS08.SYS.html

You might want to check the file extension on your file to see if it is a
..sys file.

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[bokee88]

Ron,

Thanks for the tip. How do I determine its real file name? I did a search
on my computer for "hpqcxs08" and it only found one file: hpqcxs08.dll and it
was in this folder: C:\Program Files\HP\Digital Imaging\bin

Does that gaurantee it is an HP file and that it is harmless? It still
wants to cause problems and I believe I have to reinstall the HP software
because I did a have a trojan a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks again,

-Brian

 

[Ron Badour]

I am not sure what you mean by its real name--a file's name is what you see.
I would say that given the location and the fact that it is a .dll, your
file is probably a genuine HP file. Whenever I find a questionable file, I
right click it and scan it with my antivirus program (your AV program may
have a similar feature).

--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience