Explorer Closes if logged on to Administrator: please help

[Uncle John]

If I switch to Admininistrator from Default User and open explorer I get a
pop-up dialog
Validation failed for

VSINIT.DLL ...(several files)
You are probably missing the necessary root certificates

Windows would not let me run SFC /scannow from Administrator but I switched
back into default user and ran it. However the problem is not fixed.

Searching the System disk reveals that VSINIT.DLL exists as on version in
windows\System32 and a newer version In the ZoneAlarm Folder.

Any thing else I can do? I do not want to undertake a heroic repair install
as the system runs perfectly in normal user mode.

Uncle John

 

[Galen]

In Uncle John <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

If I switch to Admininistrator from Default User and open explorer I
get a pop-up dialog
Validation failed for

VSINIT.DLL ...(several files)
You are probably missing the necessary root certificates

Windows would not let me run SFC /scannow from Administrator but I
switched back into default user and ran it. However the problem is
not fixed.
Searching the System disk reveals that VSINIT.DLL exists as on
version in windows\System32 and a newer version In the ZoneAlarm
Folder.
Any thing else I can do? I do not want to undertake a heroic repair
install as the system runs perfectly in normal user mode.

Uncle John

Well, I don't know how to fix your problem, I did search and came up with
this:

http://forum.zonelabs.com/zonelabs/board/message?board.id=win_za_msgs&message.id=11043

If worse comes to worse you can always make a spare admin account to keep
handy via the normal methods. For the most part you'd follow the directions
for a corrupted user profile. You just probably will have issues if you try
to delete the existing admin account. I can't say that I've ever tried to
delete one but it just seems logical that it'd be tough to delete. I'd like
to think you can't delete it easily at any rate.

Corrupted Profile: Windows XP :
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/corruptprofile.html

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

Please note that if you're reading this in a browser and the domain is
not owned by Microsoft then this work is being used without permission.

Access MS Newsgroups :
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/general/msnewsgroups.html

 

[Uncle John]

Hi Galen,

I think you are right and I will leave the Administrator account alone!

I have run sfc /scannow in Administrator mode and this has restored the
original Microsoft versions of the referenced files. So I can run as
Administrator with the SP" firewall

Although this gives only inward protection it should be enough as in
accordance with the Microsoft dogma I do not browse the net while logged on
as The Administrator.

[I had switched to Administrator to try and fix a problem with hard drive
icons in Windows Explorer when I ran into this ZA problem which caused
Explorer.exe to crash.]

 

[Uncle John]

Hi Galen

I have been able to fix most of the problems with "The Administrator"
account. However when I attempt to access a website like Windows Update the
IE 6 browser blinks on the site and does not log on. However "The
Administrator" can log on OK with Firefox.

You are right that "The Administrator" cannot be deleted from with in
Windows. I was wondering if I could use follow the process for repairing a
corrupted user profile and I tried it out on my backup disk* copying from
the default user to "The Administrator" The copy stopped because some file
was not allowed to be copied.

So I can logon to "The Administrator" but no access the internet with IE 6
and will have to leave it like that.

 

[Galen]

In Uncle John <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hi Galen

I have been able to fix most of the problems with "The Administrator"
account. However when I attempt to access a website like Windows
Update the IE 6 browser blinks on the site and does not log on.
However "The Administrator" can log on OK with Firefox.

You are right that "The Administrator" cannot be deleted from with in
Windows. I was wondering if I could use follow the process for
repairing a corrupted user profile and I tried it out on my backup
disk* copying from the default user to "The Administrator" The copy
stopped because some file was not allowed to be copied.

So I can logon to "The Administrator" but no access the internet with
IE 6 and will have to leave it like that.

I'd make a brand new account, name it something fancy like "RealAdmin" or
something, give it admin rights, log on to it once, copy any shortcuts to it
that you think you might need, and then try to update. There's the repair
install option that we might need/want to look into as well, that will
enable you to keep your applications and the likes and you'd need only do
the updates again. I'd definately try the first option before trying the
repair installation...

Repair Installation of XP :
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/general/xprepair.html

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

Please note that if you're reading this in a browser and the domain is
not owned by Microsoft then this work is being used without permission.

Access MS Newsgroups :
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/general/msnewsgroups.html

 

[Uncle John]

Galen

I think the duplicate Administrator you suggest would not respond to the
Recovery Console; as I see it, whether the Console is Installed or run from
the Windows CD it looks for the built in Administrator Account? If the spare
would, that is certainly the way to go using the copy profile method in
Microsoft's Article ID 811151.
If not I am minded to try the Repair Install on my backup installation using
the in place method, suggested by David Karp in his book "Windows XP
Annoyances for Geeks".

That is, you start Windows and when it is running you insert the OS CD and
manually start the install and follow it through as a repair at the
appropriate point. My CD has SP 2 incorporated so it might not be too
painful.

I would really like to use the copy method if the account is available from
the Recovery Console at Boot.

 

[Galen]

In Uncle John <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Galen

I think the duplicate Administrator you suggest would not respond to
the Recovery Console; as I see it, whether the Console is Installed
or run from the Windows CD it looks for the built in Administrator
Account? If the spare would, that is certainly the way to go using
the copy profile method in Microsoft's Article ID 811151.
If not I am minded to try the Repair Install on my backup
installation using the in place method, suggested by David Karp in
his book "Windows XP Annoyances for Geeks".

That is, you start Windows and when it is running you insert the OS
CD and manually start the install and follow it through as a repair
at the appropriate point. My CD has SP 2 incorporated so it might not
be too painful.

I would really like to use the copy method if the account is
available from the Recovery Console at Boot.

I strongly suspect that, as you're not entering the OS, you'd still be able
to do everything you might normally do in recovery console that you'd do
anyhow. Having no idea why the ZA app is messing up the explorer instance,
and I'm guessing you still haven't found a fix from them, isn't going to
have a drastic effect as the explorer shell isn't being loaded in recovery
console. You'd still need to log on to it and I can't say as I've ever come
across this before but I strongly suspect you'd be able to use it just fine.
It won't hurt anything if you want to try it.

On the other hand... You have SP2 on your XP CD which means that you're in
good shape for doing a repair install. That's generally pretty painless -
more so if SP2 is slipstreamed - and doesn't require a lot of additional
tweaking. You can even manage to get past the whole activation process again
if you'd like. Here's some information on doing that...

Never Reactivate:
http://kgiii.info/windows/XP/advanced/never_reactivate.html

Of course, well, you could make an alternative admin account for your own
use. When there's a problem you can try recovery console if it's needed. If
it's able to work then you're good to go. If it does not then you do the
repair install. The results are the same though the time saved is more
immediate and hopefully permanent. I don't get a lot of use out of the
recovery console actually so I spent way too much on a handy dandy
application that enabled me to build a special boot CD... Ah well...

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

Please note that if you're reading this in a browser and the domain is
not owned by Microsoft then this work is being used without permission.

Access MS Newsgroups :
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/general/msnewsgroups.html

 

[Uncle John]

Galen

I did try a repair install on my backup OS disk but though it restored the
Administrator account it corrupted some applications so it was not a
solution.

I will now try your suggestion of renaming the default Administrator
account, creating a new User Account and pasting in the profile from Default
user.

I too have spent time and money on fancy recovery tools, BART PE and
Winternals, but find them very difficult to work with and not worth the
money. With my clients I do not spend much time trying to repair systems
that will not boot. I ask them to make scheduled daily backups with Acronis
True Image version 9 on to an External hard disk which makes disaster
recovery easy and fairly quick, about 1 minute per gigabyte of the backed up
system.

 

[Uncle John]

Galen

The copy existing user profile failed because USERCLASS cannot be copied.

So I will just stick with what I have got.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Uncle John]

Hi Galen

I despaired too soon!

I had a last thought and instead of the tricky copy and paste method of
transferring settings from one user account to another I used Microsoft's
SyncToy.

Using Windows Explorer > Documents and Settings I set the "My Name" ( My
Name = my default user name) as the left hand folder and Administrator as
the right hand folder set the mode to contribute, named the folder pair as
Administrator repair.
I ran SyncToy in preview mode first and there were no errors and then
committed.

Afterwards I was able to log off "My Name" and on to Administrator via quick
user switching without any problems. As Administrator I logged on to Windows
Update which found nothing to add.

I am really pleased to have found a fix, thanks again for your help because
you pointed the way! Uncle John

 

[Galen]

In Uncle John <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hi Galen

I despaired too soon!

I had a last thought and instead of the tricky copy and paste method
of transferring settings from one user account to another I used
Microsoft's SyncToy.

Using Windows Explorer > Documents and Settings I set the "My Name" (
My Name = my default user name) as the left hand folder and
Administrator as the right hand folder set the mode to contribute,
named the folder pair as Administrator repair.
I ran SyncToy in preview mode first and there were no errors and then
committed.

Afterwards I was able to log off "My Name" and on to Administrator
via quick user switching without any problems. As Administrator I
logged on to Windows Update which found nothing to add.

I am really pleased to have found a fix, thanks again for your help
because you pointed the way! Uncle John

Excellent and I'm glad that it worked. I'd not thought of using SyncToy to
do it... Hmm... Now THAT has me thinking... <g> Probably I shouldn't be
allowed to think too much but sheesh that's an interesting idea. If you can
save a sync job (and I'm not sure about the application really) then...
Hmm... Anyhow... Yeah, True Image is the epitome of butt-saving software.
For each computer I own I keep incremental compressed backups going back 6
months and one from a bare metal install with all the current updates at
that time. For each of my clients I do the same thing only my license with
Acronis would have been too expensive so I use Ghost and burn the copy to
DVD as well as offer to leave a copy here for them. Most people would think
that would mean less business (in fact I try to do no business these days)
but over the years I've found that it enables them to feel more confident
about returning to me for alternative troubles, custom build solutions, etc,
all of which I enjoy much more than doing a simple re-installation and
update.

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

Please note that if you're reading this in a browser and the domain is
not owned by Microsoft then this work is being used without permission.

Access MS Newsgroups :
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/general/msnewsgroups.html

 

[Uncle John]

Galen

Yes you can save the SyncToy pair. The advantage of using SyncToy is that
you get a preview of what is going to do and though it will not copy files
in use by another user it just skips them and does not abort the whole copy
like it a normal copy/paste operation.
I use True Image much as you do. However I had a nasty reminder that it is
not fool proof when on my own system due to some conflict with Windows
Update it wiped out is own Acronis secure zone and weeks of backup.
Fortunately my old fashioned practice of archiving the whole system to tape
enabled me to restore most of it

 

[Galen]

In Uncle John <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Galen

Yes you can save the SyncToy pair. The advantage of using SyncToy is
that you get a preview of what is going to do and though it will not
copy files in use by another user it just skips them and does not
abort the whole copy like it a normal copy/paste operation.
I use True Image much as you do. However I had a nasty reminder that
it is not fool proof when on my own system due to some conflict with
Windows Update it wiped out is own Acronis secure zone and weeks of
backup. Fortunately my old fashioned practice of archiving the whole
system to tape enabled me to restore most of it

Bah, seeing as we're on another subject I'll snip... I do a backup to DVD-R
(I buy 'em by the 1000 lot so they're dirt cheap and why I don't bother with
RW) every second Friday. I date it and give it the code for the machine. All
PCs in the house are set to write to a networked storage unit (actually just
a 2k box with lots of drive space) and do their backup automatically with
scheduling. I never verify burns or anything like that, I just move stuff
over and burn it on a separate PC with two DVD burners in it. It's a slow
process - it takes probably about 6 hours of my time to do them all but it's
been effective. Once (and this is a lie - really) every month I go through
the fireproof box and make one single copy of the second newest archive for
each PC and bring that to a third location - namely my parent's house. At
that point (also a lie) I throw out anything older than 6 months and once
every few months I clean out the old copies at my parent's house. (All
lies... That's what I really truly MEAN to do but I never get there...
Really there's lots and lots of them all in cases and kinda sorta
organized.) I do have an old DAT machine <g> but nothing that's fast enough
to bother with the massive backups that I tend to do. I have been looking
into the newest Sun server or there's a killer NAS device that has my eye...

Do not take this as a statement of the products values (either one of the
above) please but rather my own personal interests being manifest in the
midst of our digression.

http://www.anthologysolutions.com/products/index.htm

Later this month or early next I'll make my choices I guess. I'm more likely
to go with the Sun server and load a bank of drives to it. It's not nearly
as expensive as one might think. From there I'll keep the backups
automatically and start making copies on DVD once a month or so. When you
play with betas and the likes it's important. Too many hours go into setting
up to waste it. Virtual PCs are nice but they're not capable (in my opinion)
of providing an experience of true use of hardware and maximum potential.
That'd be like putting roaming profiles (sorta done actually) and thin
clients into my house so that I can use a PC while I'm in the bathroom.
Actually that is an interesting idea... Wireless keyboard with the touchpad?
Sitting in the tub? Hmm... Wow... I gotta get a life...

--
Galen - MS MVP - Windows (Shell/User & IE)
http://dts-l.org/

Please note that if you're reading this in a browser and the domain is
not owned by Microsoft then this work is being used without permission.

Access MS Newsgroups :
http://kgiii.info/windows/all/general/msnewsgroups.html

 

[Uncle John]

Galen

Sounds like you have an ideal system. I find burning to DVD's so slow, worse
than tape, that I use one time tapes and two external hard disks for True
image. It is true that tapes are more expensive than DVD's but I do not have
big volumes to look after like you. I am supposed to swap the EHD's into
fireproof storage but, like you I sometimes (!)forget.

It would nice to have online backup for the whole system but even then it is
not fool as has been demonstrated by Microsoft.
What I see coming down the road is large solid state drives. I have read
that 34 GB plug-in solid drives will soon be on the market, and next year 70
Gb. If that happens and the "drives" become available at a reasonable place
backup with True Image will be as easy as pie.

It is a fascinating subject. Some years ago I was managing IT for a
multinational company in Europe. We had online backup via our own private
broadband network to USA and another EU country. Tape copies were taken
weekly and flown by private jet to be stored in bomb proof storage under the
mountains in Dakota.This was very expensive, very safe but in my time never
used. But preventing fraud by in-house techies, we were at it 24/7!!