Vista Default Programs corrupted by Nokia Software

[Colin]

A recent release of Nokias Video Manager software (v1.6) has been causing
chaos for myself, and a number of users according to posts I have seen on
their forums.
It has managed to destroy the Default Program settings in Vista causing the
following problems:

- All program entries in 'Default Programs / Set Default Programs' removed
(except for Windows Mail).
- IE7 cannot be set as the Default Web Browser using the Make Default button
in the Programs tab of Internet Options (It seems to work, but as soon as
you close and reopen Internet Options it is no longer default).
- Clicking on a media link in a webpage brings up an 'Internet Explorer
cannot display the webpage' error message instead of starting WMP11.

It has clearly wiped out some registry settings. I have spent all day trying
to rectify this as follows:

- Reset IE7 from the advanced tab in Internet Options
- Disabled (and then re-enabled) all Add-Ons
- Ran System File Checker (which found corrupted entries, but did not fix
the problems)
- Tried a Repair Reinstall ('Upgrade Install' over the top) of Vista (which
failed at the last minute of setup and I had to rollback - caught a glimpse
of the word 'Corrupted' on the blue screen when it was trying to start up!).

I can't easily do a fresh install as my copy of Vista is an Upgrade Version
from the OEM version of XP that came on my Dell when it was delivered.
I did try reinstalling a clean copy on a blank NTFS formatted second drive,
but Windows Installer will only work on the system partition I am currently
using (and I know you can't set up two system partitions without causing
system failure).

So I think I have exhausted all of the standard work-arounds, and I am left
with Registry Hacking (unless someone can come up with a better idea). Can
anyone give advise on the Keys I should look at changing?

Finally, is it likely that SP1 will fix these problems itself when it
becomes available, and is it worth waiting for that?

Thanks,

Colin

 

[Colin]

A recent release of Nokias Video Manager software (v1.6) has been causing
chaos for myself, and a number of users according to posts I have seen on
their forums.
It has managed to destroy the Default Program settings in Vista causing
the following problems:

- All program entries in 'Default Programs / Set Default Programs' removed
(except for Windows Mail).
- IE7 cannot be set as the Default Web Browser using the Make Default
button in the Programs tab of Internet Options (It seems to work, but as
soon as you close and reopen Internet Options it is no longer default).
- Clicking on a media link in a webpage brings up an 'Internet Explorer
cannot display the webpage' error message instead of starting WMP11.

It has clearly wiped out some registry settings. I have spent all day
trying to rectify this as follows:

- Reset IE7 from the advanced tab in Internet Options
- Disabled (and then re-enabled) all Add-Ons
- Ran System File Checker (which found corrupted entries, but did not fix
the problems)
- Tried a Repair Reinstall ('Upgrade Install' over the top) of Vista
(which failed at the last minute of setup and I had to rollback - caught a
glimpse of the word 'Corrupted' on the blue screen when it was trying to
start up!).

I can't easily do a fresh install as my copy of Vista is an Upgrade
Version from the OEM version of XP that came on my Dell when it was
delivered.
I did try reinstalling a clean copy on a blank NTFS formatted second
drive, but Windows Installer will only work on the system partition I am
currently using (and I know you can't set up two system partitions without
causing system failure).

So I think I have exhausted all of the standard work-arounds, and I am
left with Registry Hacking (unless someone can come up with a better
idea). Can anyone give advise on the Keys I should look at changing?

Finally, is it likely that SP1 will fix these problems itself when it
becomes available, and is it worth waiting for that?

Thanks,

Colin

Should have also mentioned:

- Tried a System Restore to before the Nokia Software was installed, but the
problem was still there afterwards.

I have reinstalled some programs (such as Firefox, Quicktime, iTunes) and
they have re-appeared in the Set Default Programs menu. However you cannot,
of course, just reinstall IE7 and WMP11 :-(

 

[uvbogden]

Take a look at your Repair Vista Options. I would first try a system
restore. Next, if SFC has identified corrupt system files that it could not
repair, you can copy good system files from your Vista Install DVD to replace
the corrupt files.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/101393-repair-vista-options-preferred-sequence.html

 

[Colin]

Hi uvbogden,

As I omitted to mention in my original post (but remembered just after
pressing send) I did try a System Restore but it did not work.

SFC seemed to repair the corrupt files without problems, but I ran it again
a few hours after first trying and it found corrupt files again (so I don't
quite know whats causing that).

For info, I have just tried using the regsvr32 command to reinitialise the
WMP dll and it has fixed the problem of media links from Webpages.
Now, which DLL do I need to reinitialise to fix the IE7 default program, and
get IE & WMP back into the default program lists?

Thanks,

Colin

 

[Colin]

I can't quite believe it, but thanks to this article:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb776873.aspx#RegisteredApplications

I have managed to edit the registry and manually added IE7 & WMP11 back as
registered programs. Phew!

I just added two subkeys to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\RegisteredApplications

as follows:

Name: Internet Explorer
Type: REG_SZ
Data: Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Capabilities

Name: Windows Media Player
Type: REG_SZ
Data: Software\Clients\Media\Windows Media Player\Capabilities

Most of the rest of the software that has gone missing can be reinstalled to
restore its registration - it was just those two that were problems!

It has been a long day, but at the end of it I have self-learnt how to edit
the Windows Registry

Colin

 

[Filios]

Thanks Colin.
At least a solution.

I can't quite believe it, but thanks to this article:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb776873.aspx#RegisteredApplications

I have managed to edit the registry and manually added IE7 & WMP11 back as
registered programs. Phew!

I just added two subkeys to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\RegisteredApplications

as follows:

Name: Internet Explorer
Type: REG_SZ
Data: Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Capabilities

Name: Windows Media Player
Type: REG_SZ
Data: Software\Clients\Media\Windows Media Player\Capabilities

Most of the rest of the software that has gone missing can be reinstalled
to restore its registration - it was just those two that were problems!

It has been a long day, but at the end of it I have self-learnt how to
edit the Windows Registry

Colin