Can't open any browser in Windows 7...

[andysjunkmale]

I'm not sure what happened, but I can no longer open any browser (FF, Chrome, or IE). For example, when I try to run IE, a window pops up that says "Internet explorer has stopped working".

I tried doing a system restore from a week ago (when I know things were running smooth). No change.

I tried removing Chrome and FF. No change.
I tried running Avast-no problems found.
I tried running Malwarebytes - it found six issues. I deleted those, rebooted. No change.
I booted into SafeMode. IE will run there no problem.

I'm running Adaware right now, but I have doubts that will pick up anything. Any ideas on how to fix this problem?

The PC has been up and running Windows 7 for over a year.

Thanks,

Andy

 

[Char Jackson]

I'm not sure what happened, but I can no longer open any browser (FF, Chrome, or IE). For example, when I try to run IE, a window pops up that says "Internet explorer has stopped working".

Have you tried running IE in its "No Add Ons" mode?
What errors do you see when you try running Firefox or Chrome?
Are you having any other problems with this computer?

 

[hikerguy]

Char, how do I run IE in "No Add Ons" mode? I'll re-install FF and provide the error message (I can't re-install Chrome, as Chrome does not download an exe file. It installs it directly. I just tried it on another computer).

This is the only problem I'm having on that computer. I can open and run any other app (Word, Notepad, Camtasia, etc.)

Thanks,

Andy

 

[glee]

Char, how do I run IE in "No Add Ons" mode? I'll re-install FF and
provide the error message (I can't re-install Chrome, as Chrome does
not download an exe file. It installs it directly. I just tried it on
another computer).

This is the only problem I'm having on that computer. I can open and
run any other app (Word, Notepad, Camtasia, etc.)

Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Internet Explorer (No
Add-ons)

 

[Char Jackson]

Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Internet Explorer (No
Add-ons)

Thanks, Glen. I don't have an XP system handy, so I would have tried
to recite that path from memory.

 

[glee]

Thanks, Glen. I don't have an XP system handy, so I would have tried
to recite that path from memory.

You can also start IE without add-ons via a command line.
Click Start> Run (OR press WinKey+R), type the following and click OK:

iexplore.exe -extoff

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks, Glen. I don't have an XP system handy, so I would have tried
to recite that path from memory.

It's the same in Windows 7.

Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP

 

[hikerguy]

Char, when I try to start FF, the message box says "Firefox has stopped working" and the "Problem Event Name" is BEX. For IE, the Problem Event Name is APPCRASH.

I tried running IE with no Add Ons. No change

I even took the drive and stuck it in another PC for grins (just to rule out any possibility of a hardware issue. No change.

It's definitely something on the drive.

Any other ideas?

 

[Paul]

Char, when I try to start FF, the message box says "Firefox has stopped working" and the "Problem Event Name" is BEX. For IE, the Problem Event Name is APPCRASH.

I tried running IE with no Add Ons. No change

I even took the drive and stuck it in another PC for grins (just to rule out any possibility of a hardware issue. No change.

It's definitely something on the drive.

Any other ideas?

It's a buffer overflow. Whatever that means.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/51690/vista-bex-error

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc738483(v=WS.10).aspx

You would also want to note the parameters, such as the "C0000005" thing.
Apparently there are a few different flavors.

If I had to guess, it's not Firefox necessarily, but something that
has screwed up Firefox. Malware or add-on...

Paul

 

[hikerguy]

Well, here's my problem now. I tried doing the reinstall, but after it went through a few steps and downloaded the latest updates, it came back with a window that said:

The following issues are preventing Windows from upgrading. Cancel the upgrade, complete each task, and then restart the upgrade to continue:

Your current version of Windows is more current than the version you are trying to upgrade to. Windows cannot complete the upgrade.

I'm guessing that the disc I'm using has Windows 7, but her PC is running Win7 with Service Pack 1. Is there anyway to get around this? I'll poke around the Internet, but if anyone has a workaround for, let me know.

thanks,

Andy

 

[Paul]

Well, here's my problem now. I tried doing the reinstall, but after it went through a few steps and downloaded the latest updates, it came back with a window that said:

The following issues are preventing Windows from upgrading. Cancel the upgrade, complete each task, and then restart the upgrade to continue:

Your current version of Windows is more current than the version you are trying to upgrade to. Windows cannot complete the upgrade.

I'm guessing that the disc I'm using has Windows 7, but her PC is running Win7 with Service Pack 1. Is there anyway to get around this? I'll poke around the Internet, but if anyone has a workaround for, let me know.

thanks,

Andy

Read the instructions here.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Repair install creates a Windows.old folder, and installs fresh in
a new Windows folder. So it's not really a "repair in place" as such.

You can get copies of Windows 7 SP1 from Digital River. They're
a company that sells electronic copies of Windows 7. Various
web pages have lists of URLs for the DVD image. It'll be two and
a half gig or so for x86 (32 bit) version of Windows 7. And
three gig or so for x64 (64 bit).

The image I snagged a while back, in case the laptop needs to be
reinstalled, was this one, at 3,319,478,272 bytes. And that
came from some Digital River address. You can run the MD5SUM or
SHA1 checksum, for further confirmation that the copy you got,
matches what others are using. Just run the checksum through
Google, and see what description of the download, pops up.

X17-24209.iso 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 (bootable)

The idea is, I have Windows 7 Home Premium OEM version, while
that could well be a Retail disc. But apparently, the license
key still works when you install with that.

The thing is, once I install SP1, it kinda invalidates any
tools I might have to do repairs. And that's when I need to
download the 3,319,478,272 byte file. Then I'm ready to repair,
when the time comes.

If you're happy with the final result, at some point you
can delete the Windows.old thing. Don't be in too much
of a rush to do that, because issues might show up some
days later. Windows is not supposed to have any links
to the contents of Windows.old, so it should delete
when you want it to.

One thing to remember about "uninstall and reinstall" as
a methodology, is when software uninstalls, it hardly
ever removes settings. Then, on a reinstall, the old
settings could well be preserved. And that's why, so
often, users are not able to restore sanity to a thing
they're working on. In the case of the whole OS, a
"clean install" should stop that. Whereas a "repair install",
will be copying gobs of stuff from the old folder. If a
problem is related to some thing that gets copied, then
the same problem could well show up.

They should really have more options in software, to
control the discarding of things known to be defective
(from the user's perspective). Having to go to the trouble
of a "clean install", is a pretty heavyweight solution
to a situation like that. And in the case of cleaning up
after uninstalled programs, we don't really want to
go sniffling around a gazillion folders, trying to
erase all remaining bits of a program, or going on
a delete spree with Regedit. You'd think they could
have come up with a better solution, after all these
years.

Paul

 

[hikerguy]

Thanks for that link Paul. I'm downloading it now and will give that a go. If that don't do it, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and do a clean install. I agree with you. There should be a better way to repair things likethis.

Here's a rundown of what I did tonight:

I uninstalled SP1, rebooted, and although the SP1 entry was gone from the list of installed updates, when I right-click Computer and choose Properties, it still shows it running SP1.

I did some Googling and some people said to try installing, then uninstalling SP1 again. So, I went to Microsofts website and downloaded SP1 (making sure it was the service pack specifically for Windows 7 64-bit, and not any of the ones that included debugging. I definitely had the correct one for this computer).

When I try to install it, I keep getting an error message saying "Error: ERROR_NOT_FOUND(0X80070490"

I found one link saying to look through the CBS log (windows\logs\CBS\CBS.log. I did see a lot of failure messages pointing to only KB976932 and KB976902 (the last one seems to be a mystery update from what I've read, and it can't be removed).

I went back in to confirm KB976932 was not in the list of installed updates, and it was not. I then went into the registry and deleted all entries butone for this update. The one I couldn't delete was:

Package_for_KB976932~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.1.17514

thanks,

Andy

 

[Paul]

Thanks for that link Paul. I'm downloading it now and will give that a go. If that don't do it, I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and do a clean install. I agree with you. There should be a better way to repair things like this.

Here's a rundown of what I did tonight:

I uninstalled SP1, rebooted, and although the SP1 entry was gone from the list of installed updates, when I right-click Computer and choose Properties, it still shows it running SP1.

I did some Googling and some people said to try installing, then uninstalling SP1 again. So, I went to Microsofts website and downloaded SP1 (making sure it was the service pack specifically for Windows 7 64-bit, and not any of the ones that included debugging. I definitely had the correct one for this computer).

When I try to install it, I keep getting an error message saying "Error: ERROR_NOT_FOUND(0X80070490"

I found one link saying to look through the CBS log (windows\logs\CBS\CBS.log. I did see a lot of failure messages pointing to only KB976932 and KB976902 (the last one seems to be a mystery update from what I've read, and it can't be removed).

I went back in to confirm KB976932 was not in the list of installed updates, and it was not. I then went into the registry and deleted all entries but one for this update. The one I couldn't delete was:

Package_for_KB976932~31bf3856ad364e35~amd64~~6.1.1.17514

thanks,

Andy

Some people, when they install SP1, go off and read about
how "Disk Cleanup can remove a gigabyte of stuff after SP1
is installed". But, if they listen to that advice, they
destroy the ability to uninstall SP1.

It could be, that's what has happened to the machine
you're working on.

If it really is running at SP1 level, the SP1 pack should
refuse to install. As the system keeps records of what's been
installed, and there would be a record of the service pack
being there.

In the thread here, there is mention of the System Update
Readiness Tool. I've not heard of this fixing things for
a lot of people, but you never know.

http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-updates-activation/146366-sp1-fails-install-code-80004005-a.html

(Downloads are hidden on this page - select x86 for 32 bit, or x64 for 64 bit)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821#method3

Wow, amazing. I ran your error number, and the System Update
Readiness Tool gets mentioned again. What a coincidence

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958044

Looks like that one, wins the "hammer of the day" award

Hammer away...

(With the usual warnings about "make backups before doing
anything dangerous etc etc".)

Just for fun, before I installed SP1, I ran that tool, and
nothing happened that I could see. Took at least ten minutes.
I must have made around six backups as a tried various things,
just so I'd be able to unwind the process. And at one point,
I did go back a couple steps, just because I could. It was
probably the most care I've ever taken with any service pack.
(Oh, I remember the reason now. The idea was to check how
much space was wasted after each step - the "bloated winsxs"
problem. The backup is the best way to get a true measure of
file system size.)

Paul

 

[hikerguy]

I can't catch a break. I was able to grab a copy of Win7 64-bit SP1 from Digital River and tried upgrading from that disk. It went through the whole process and I watched the progress on the screen. The checks it went throughwere:

Copying Windows Files
Gathering files, settings and programs
Expanding Windows files
Installing features
Transferring files, settings, and programs...

The first four completed fine (and had green checkmarks beside them). However, the last one is where it bombed out.
At the end of that statement is showed (71%), which to me indicated how farit had gotten in that step. The error
message was:

"Not enough disk space. The previous version of Windows will be restored. Try freeing up more space and restart."

Well, I have this disk set up with three partitions. The C: drive showed 80Gb FREE!!! How can this not be enough to do the pseudo-upgrade (I say pseudo because I selected the Upgrade option, which isn't supposed to wipe out the drive, but instead re-install Windows).

So, just to eliminate this again, I repartitioned the drive (using a free program called EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition, which is a very easy to use program if you need to repartition your drive!). I ended up with a C: drive of 200 Gb and a D: drive of 264 Gb. Should have been plenty, right?Same damn problem, and it again choked at 71% on the last step, so I thinksomething else is happening here.

Any ideas why it keeps dying like this and telling me I have to free up more space when I have 160Gb free on the C: partition?

Thanks,

Andy

 

[Paul]

I can't catch a break. I was able to grab a copy of Win7 64-bit SP1 from Digital River and tried upgrading from that disk. It went through the whole process and I watched the progress on the screen. The checks it went through were:

Copying Windows Files
Gathering files, settings and programs
Expanding Windows files
Installing features
Transferring files, settings, and programs...

The first four completed fine (and had green checkmarks beside them). However, the last one is where it bombed out.
At the end of that statement is showed (71%), which to me indicated how far it had gotten in that step. The error
message was:

"Not enough disk space. The previous version of Windows will be restored. Try freeing up more space and restart."

Well, I have this disk set up with three partitions. The C: drive showed 80Gb FREE!!! How can this not be enough to do the pseudo-upgrade (I say pseudo because I selected the Upgrade option, which isn't supposed to wipe out the drive, but instead re-install Windows).

So, just to eliminate this again, I repartitioned the drive (using a free program called EaseUS Partition Master Home Edition, which is a very easy to use program if you need to repartition your drive!). I ended up with a C: drive of 200 Gb and a D: drive of 264 Gb. Should have been plenty, right? Same damn problem, and it again choked at 71% on the last step, so I think something else is happening here.

Any ideas why it keeps dying like this and telling me I have to free up more space when I have 160Gb free on the C: partition?

Thanks,

Andy

Well, now you've got to find the log file the installer uses.

setupact.log ???

This one says

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975253

C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther\setupact.log

A Windows 7 install, can use one or two partitions. In the two partition
case, a 100MB (small!!!) partition called SYSTEM RESERVED is used to
hold boot files, and that partition also has a System Volume Information
folder. If the SVI happened to accumulate only a few files, it might well
fill the 100MB thing up, leaving no room for the repair to finish. The
SVI on my W7 laptop, has about 30MB of files right now.

Later attempts by Microsoft, they make that tiny partition, just a little
bit larger.

If things were normal, the SYSTEM RESERVED partition would not grow
in terms of fill. But I've heard of problems on Windows 7, causing
that partition to fill right up, then W7 complains. And something
to do with SVI would be my guess there, as there's really nothing
else of note in that partition.

Just a guess,
Paul

 

[Paul]

C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther\setupact.log

Note - if you find that log, the event in the log
file that caused the failure, will be half way up
the file. The end of the file will be filled with
"rollback" events. So you have to start from the
end of the file, skim through the rollback stuff,
until eventually you find something that looks
like the real fail event. And it likely won't be
in English, or state in a useful way what happened.

So just finding the line with the failure in it,
is a significant achievement for the user.

But that's why they make logfiles like that, to
annoy and entertain. They don't seem to have another
purpose :-( Like solve a problem or anything.

Paul

 

[hikerguy]

Paul, I never could find a log file with that name (or close to that name).

Just got through going through the "upgrade" again. This time I first tried increasing the System Volume to 1Gb. Crapped out again at 71%. Went back and gave the System Volume 80Gb and it died again!!! (again at 71%). WTH

This thing is killing me. Any other thoughts?.

Thanks for all the input so far.

Andy

 

[glee]

Paul, I never could find a log file with that name (or close to that
name).

Just got through going through the "upgrade" again. This time I first
tried increasing the System Volume to 1Gb. Crapped out again at 71%.
Went back and gave the System Volume 80Gb and it died again!!! (again
at 71%). WTH

This thing is killing me. Any other thoughts?.

Thanks for all the input so far.

Andy

The Windows.old folder will contain a copy of the old Windows folder,
Program Files folder, and Users folder. If you have done more than one
unsuccessful installation, there will be multiple Windows.old folders
(Windows.old.000, Windows.old.001).

How much disk space does your original Windows installation take,
including the Windows folder, the Program Files folder (or folders, if
it's 64-bit), and the Users folder? You will need enough free space on
the drive for the new Windows, Program Files and User folders PLUS for
the size of the old folders.

 

[Paul]

Paul, I never could find a log file with that name (or close to that name).
Just got through going through the "upgrade" again. This time I first tried
increasing the System Volume to 1Gb. Crapped out again at 71%. Went back and
gave the System Volume 80Gb and it died again!!! (again at 71%). WTH
This thing is killing me. Any other thoughts?.

Thanks for all the input so far.

Andy

This article discusses the location of log files, during various
activities (clean install, repair install). You can see the
named file is mentioned in here.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927521

Someone with the "71% problem" here, but no resolution. Since
they mention CheckSUR in this thread, that would be the System
Upgrade Readiness tool.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com...f/thread/71b77645-cbc0-476c-aef4-b5ecd568b8c1

"it stopped at the exact same place (71%) and it appears it
stopped at the same file (file 708,632 of 726,550 files).
The installer was at the "Transferring files, settings, and programs"
when it stopped."

That would suggest the installation as such, is done, and now
the installer is copying stuff from one Windows folder to another.

And don't be afraid to look for .log files. I look all over
for those, when something breaks, just in case there's one
with a valuable lead stored in it.

Another one here, no answer. And not exactly the same degree of progress.
Got a little further (1% worth).

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...sk-space/6a90f7bc-008f-4836-93ee-56338bc97d4c

"Transferring Files, Settings, & Programs (72%)

12:57 am Not Enough Disc Space. Your previous version of Windows
will be restored. Try freeing up more space and re-start
the upgrade."

Paul

 

[hikerguy]

Well, I finally threw in the towel last night. Last thing I did was the clean boot and it made no difference. I couldn't dedicate any more time to it,so I just re-installed Windows. All is good now (although it is a headache reinstalling all the motherboard drivers, application software, and otherdata such as photos, music, etc.). But, at least now she has a clean PC and hopefully I won't see this problem again.

I REALLY appreciate all the help everyone has provided on this forum. Can'tsay we didn't try, right?

As a side note, if you're looking for an easy and powerful partitioning tool, check out EaseUS Partition Manager. It's FREE. I used it several times and it's extremely easy to use and is reliable.

http://www.partition-tool.com/?gclid=CNCx1cmP27ICFQSe4AodhQ8A4A



Andy