Looks like a JavaScript problem...but...

[Wm. Scott Miller]

I've got a WinXP Pro SP2 with IE 6.0 SP1 machine that I have been using for
several years. Everything works great on the machine for me and I haven't
had any problems with it. I just got married and I've created an account
for my wife. Under her account, strange things happen when surfing the web.
First, Windows Update has dark blue bars of differing colors (about 3
different sections on top and one section on bottom) instead of the light
blue gradients. When checking for updates, instead of the yellow background
for the items, I get a dark blue background. Then, if she logs into her aol
account to check her mail, she can log in and get to the list of messages,
but clicking on one doesn't open it up although it will move to old mail
saying it was read. Writting a new message fails to work as well (POP-UP
BLOCKER IS TURNED OFF DURING THIS ROUTINE). Additionally, the "help" button
actually causes a javascript error all the rest just don't do anyting. Oh,
and what is even more interesting is that everything works under my account
but her's messes up as above.

Have done:
1) regsvr32 JScript
2) sfc /scannow
3) went to a browser sniffer and both accounts come up with same results,
even in the javascript area
4) MBSA shows same results on both accounts
5) Call AO(hel)L and their advice was to set the browser security to LOW
after explaining this wasn't a good idea the Indian guy named George refused
to help further even when I explained that XP SP2 refuses to go lower than
medium. Additionally, set browser security to medium to test.
6) Made the account an administrator account instead of limited user.

Only "problem" that is showing up is that the new account is wanting my
Office 2000 disk which has gotten lost somewhere in the move. When I find
it I'll fix that little issue but that shouldn't cause IE to be messing up,
should it?

So, how do I fix my wife's account?

Scott

 

[Wm. Scott Miller]

More info...

Tried to install Sun Java last night. Found the Office 2000 disk and tried
that. Tried to do the steps in kb article 281679. That is where I ran into
problems. All goes well under my account, but under my wife's account, the
"regsvr32 oleaut32.dll" fails with a "DllRegisterServer in oleaut32.dll
failed. Return code was 0x80029c4a" Can't seem to find any info on what
that means and how to fix it.

Any ideas?

Scott

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE]

Go to Start/run, and type SFC (msconfig for Win2K or WinXP).
Choose 'Extract One File From Installation Disk'.
Type oleaut32.dll, not worrying about its location. Then, click Start.

Next to 'Restore From', type in or browse for the file's location, which is
probably in the Win98 folder of your installation CD-ROM (typically
D:\Win98), or in your Windows\Options\Cabs folder, as the case may be.

Then, next to 'Save File In', enter C:\Windows\System, and click OK. System
File Checker looks for the file, saves it as you requested, and then tells
you that 'the file has been successfully extracted'.

You may need to reboot.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

More info...

Tried to install Sun Java last night. Found the Office 2000 disk and tried
that. Tried to do the steps in kb article 281679. That is where I ran into
problems. All goes well under my account, but under my wife's account, the
"regsvr32 oleaut32.dll" fails with a "DllRegisterServer in oleaut32.dll
failed. Return code was 0x80029c4a" Can't seem to find any info on what
that means and how to fix it.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=424879

(Google web search for
0x80029c4a
)


The suggestion to use depends.exe is a good one.
FYI depends.exe is available on the XP Support Tools
or from www.dependencywalker.com

Here is a relevant quote for you from that site's FAQ:

<quote>
The best way to debug a module that fails to register is by opening
REGSVR32.EXE in Dependency Walker rather than your DLL.

Any ideas?

Does your wife's account have administrative authority too? <eg>


Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle
---

 

[Wm. Scott Miller]

Robert:

Thanks for the reply. I will try to run your depends tonight and see what
happens. Yes, my wife's account was increased to an administrator but
interestingly she cannot run "sfc /scannow" as it errors out saying it can
only be run by an administrator. Have looked and she is a member of the
Administrators group. Originally the account was a limited user account and
it doesn't appear to have upgraded her properly. I'm also thinking of
deleting her account totally and creating a new one and then downgrading it
to a limited user account after I log in and see if everything is working.
May just need to hose the system and start from scratch, but I'm not looking
forward to doing that.

Scott

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

Yes, my wife's account was increased to an administrator but
interestingly she cannot run "sfc /scannow" as it errors out
saying it can only be run by an administrator.

Does it get started or just refuse to run?
If it gets started I would suspect a problem with file permissions;
otherwise I guess it would be more likely to be something in the
registry.

In the first case perhaps depends in its trace mode might be able
to tell you why that command is failing as well.

Alternatively running FileMon to monitor the command (being Run...
normally) might show if the problem is based on file permissions.

I suppose a concurrent trace of its registry accesses using RegMon
wouldn't hurt either.

Auditing might be another possibility but I haven't used it myself.
It seems feasible to use as a diagnostic tool but not nearly as
usable as the others.

BTW have you checked the Event Viewer to see if the symptom
is given a different sense there?


I wouldn't give up until you have tried to find out more about what
the symptom really means.


Good luck

Robert
---

 

[Wm. Scott Miller]

FYI:

The problem is fixed. The issue was that some install that I ran sometime
before I got married wrote a new STDOLE2.TLB and the ACLs became me and
system only. Thus, when OLEAUT32.DLL tried to register it ran STDOLE32.TLB
which then tried to run STDOLE2.TLB, which it could of course not do because
of the ACLs. In case you are wondering how I found this, Dependancy Walker
didn't give me very much to go on actually (maybe because of the unfamiliar
interface), so I turned to RegMonNT and FileMonNT from www.SysInternals.com.
Fantastic tools. Came up with an ACCESS DENIED error in STDOLE32.TLB which
itself had proper ACLs. I then went looking and found the STDOLE2.TLB file
and when trying to access its security settings it told me I couldn't
because I didn't own the file. Switched to my account and sure enough the
owner was me with custom ACLs set to me and system only. Switched owner to
Administrators group, deleted the custom ACLs and told it to inherit from
parent. I then just created my wife a new account (I was using a dummy
account for testing) and everything is working as expected.

Scott

 

[Wm. Scott Miller]

Robert:

Thanks for all your help. You were right and your suggestions got it
working. Appreciate your time.

Scott

 

[Guest]

I've had the same problem with my son's limited account and it only works
properly as an administrater but I need limits on this account as he is only
9 years old! Any help appreciated