Vista problems

[Franko]

Hello,

Since at this point I'm not sure what to search for in terms of help, this
is everything that has been happening that I know of, and I hope someone can
help.

We have had Vista since April. We use AOL, but when my daughter was home in
the summer, Internet Explorer was working. Now it is not, and when I click
"Diagnose connection problems" it says there is no problem with our internet
connection. Internet explorer not working affects other programs on the
desktop that attempt to update themselves.

Also with AOL, we have tried to upgrade to AOL 9.1 multiple times, but it
can never finish the download. AOL was shutting down and closing before the
download could be completed. At one point, the download was completed and
saved to the desktop, but errors in IE say that it cannot be opened.

Every time I start the computer, there is an error message from Symantec
that tpmain1 is not installed/not working (I can't remember which offhand).
I've discovered a start to solving this problem, but I cannot open Norton
Internet Security. I click on it, right click, any which way I try to open
it, nothing happens. Symantec could be part of the problem, but it's not
doing much good if I cannot even open the program to try and fix it!

What leads me to believe that this is a bigger problem than just AOL or IE
or Symantec is that today we tried to restore the computer to previous
settings with no luck. We tried from within 60 days and when that did
nothing, we went to as far back as we could go--September, before this all
started happening--with still no results. Everything is currently working
exactly the same as it has been.

Does anyone have any idea why this might be?

Thank you.

 

[Andre Da Costa[ActiveWin]]

I personally would carry your computer to a Computer Repair shop and let
them check it out for you. If you live near a Best Buy, you could let their
Geek Squad folks take a look at the system. Trying to sort it through this
current channel is not as effective and is not guaranteed to fix your
problem as a face to face support personnel would with hands on access to
the machine.

I would check some common locations such as Problem Reports and Solutions in
Control Panel > view Problem History to see if there are any information
there that can help to diagnose the problems.

 

[Charles W Davis]

If you have a Computer Club in your area with House Call technicians. Join
the club and ask for help. Out club has made over 390 House Calls this year.
$20 a pop to members. Look here for some possibilities.

http://www.apcug.net/

 

[XS11E]

What leads me to believe that this is a bigger problem than just
AOL or IE or Symantec is that today we tried to restore the
computer to previous settings with no luck.

First, see if you can rid your computer of malware (that's the kindest
description I can use for Symantec products), that's probably what
caused the problem. Did you disable the Norton (in)Security malware
before trying to upgrade AOL? If not, you may have to format and do a
clean install. I see Andre has suggested taking your computer into a
shop, that's what they'll probably do.

If you take it in or do it yourself, see if you can backup any files
you'd like to keep, you may not be able to but give it a try.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hello,

Since at this point I'm not sure what to search for in terms of help, this
is everything that has been happening that I know of, and I hope someone can
help.

We have had Vista since April. We use AOL, but when my daughter was home in
the summer, Internet Explorer was working. Now it is not, and when I click
"Diagnose connection problems" it says there is no problem with our internet
connection. Internet explorer not working affects other programs on the
desktop that attempt to update themselves.

Also with AOL, we have tried to upgrade to AOL 9.1 multiple times, but it
can never finish the download. AOL was shutting down and closing before the
download could be completed. At one point, the download was completed and
saved to the desktop, but errors in IE say that it cannot be opened.

Every time I start the computer, there is an error message from Symantec
that tpmain1 is not installed/not working (I can't remember which offhand).
I've discovered a start to solving this problem, but I cannot open Norton
Internet Security. I click on it, right click, any which way I try to open
it, nothing happens. Symantec could be part of the problem, but it's not
doing much good if I cannot even open the program to try and fix it!

What leads me to believe that this is a bigger problem than just AOL or IE
or Symantec is that today we tried to restore the computer to previous
settings with no luck. We tried from within 60 days and when that did
nothing, we went to as far back as we could go--September, before this all
started happening--with still no results. Everything is currently working
exactly the same as it has been.

Does anyone have any idea why this might be?

Thank you.

A major source of the problems will be the AOL. I'm afraid you'll
need to contact AOL's tech support for resolution of problems with (or
caused by) their product; Microsoft has no control over AOL's product
quality (or lack thereof). You best course of action would be to remove it.

Sadly, the only practical way I've ever found to completely remove
AOL from an operating system is to format the hard drive and perform a
clean installation. I absolutely loathe having to resort to a hard
drive format to fix what should be a relatively minor issue, but it
takes a lot less time than manually removing/replacing all of the
Windows system files that AOL replaces with their own versions and the
hundreds of unnecessary registry entries.

A second major cause of problems will be the Symantec products; these
should also be removed and replaced with less troublesome and less
resource-hungry alternatives.

I'll start by saying that I don't think any security "suite" is a
good choice. It'd be better to use smaller, less-resource-draining
stand-alone products. And, having had personal experience with
Verizon's business practices, I certainly wouldn't trust anything they
offer. Even if the product/service itself is fine, there'll be hidden
costs and "unadvertised" conditions and limitations associated with it.

I used, and recommended, Norton Antivirus and then Norton Internet
Security, for many years, on Win98, WinNT, Win2K, and WinXP, all without
any significant problems. I had used McAfee prior to that. But it's
been several years since I've been tempted to try McAfee products. Their
quality seemed to take a steep nose-dive after they were acquired by
Network Associates.

However, when my subscription to Symantec's updates for Norton
Internet Security 2002 came up for renewal (at a cost substantially
higher than the preceding year's subscription), I decided to try less
expensive solutions. I downloaded and installed the free version of
GriSoft's AVG (http://www.grisoft.com/us/us_dwnl_free.php ). It proved
to be easily installed, easy to use, and quite effective. Additionally,
I was pleasantly surprised to see a small but very noticeable
improvement in my PC's performance, once I'd replaced the Symantec
product. Another free (for personal use) anti-virus product is AVAST! 4
Home Edition (http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html), which is what
I'm currently using without problems on Vista Business.

For a recent comparison of anti-virus products:

Retrospective / ProActive Test
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

As for a firewall, Vista's built-in solution is more than adequate
for most consumers' needs. While it's not quite up to the ease-of-use
standards of Kerio or ZoneAlarm, it has been improved over WinXP's version.

There are two interfaces for Vistas built-in firewall:

1) A simplified one accessed through the Control Panel that is the only
one most people see. Sphinx's Vista Firewall Control
http://sphinx-soft.com/Vista/) is a piece of freeware that makes the
Vista Firewall much more useful to the average user.

2) And the more advanced "Windows Firewall with Advanced Security
(WF.msc), accessed via the Start Menu's Administrative Tools folder, for
the experienced user who wants more granular control.

If you prefer something a bit "chattier," Comodo Firewall Pro is
free for personal use.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[CB]

I personally would carry your computer to a Computer Repair shop and let
them check it out for you. If you live near a Best Buy, you could let their
Geek Squad folks take a look at the system. Trying to sort it through this
current channel is not as effective and is not guaranteed to fix your
problem as a face to face support personnel would with hands on access to
the machine.

I would check some common locations such as Problem Reports and Solutions in
Control Panel > view Problem History to see if there are any information
there that can help to diagnose the problems.

With all due respect for Mr. Da Costa, I would not let the Geek Squad
service my lawnmower. There are horror stories galore about the Geek Squad.
Many people have followed their advice and their systems have paid the price.

The first thing you should do is get rid of AOL and select another ISP.
Secondly, I would remove anything with the name Norton/Symantec associated
with it.

Since it is next to impossible to remove AOL or Norton/Symantec from your
computer, I would suggest backing up all your files and doing a reformat and
clean install. You really have no other choice.

Have a nice day.

C.B.

 

[uvbogden]

You are having some serious install/uninstall problems; you may indeed have a
corrupt registry from broken installs and incomplete uninstalls. Please see
these two tutorials for help with install/uninstall problems and your Repair
Vista Options. You will need to completely uninstall, reboot, and reinstall
AOL & Norton/Symmantec if you choose to continue to use these programs. If
this fails to help, you might need to run a good registry scanner/cleaner.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/87249-unable-install-latest-version-program-vista.html

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

http://www.ccleaner.com/

http://wisecleaner.com/download.html

 

[SupportWizard]

You are having some serious install/uninstall problems; you may indeed have a
corrupt registry from broken installs and incomplete uninstalls. Please see
these two tutorials for help with install/uninstall problems and your Repair
Vista Options. You will need to completely uninstall, reboot, and reinstall
AOL & Norton/Symmantec if you choose to continue to use these programs. If
this fails to help, you might need to run a good registry scanner/cleaner.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/87249-unable-install-latest-version-program-vista.html

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

http://www.ccleaner.com/

http://wisecleaner.com/download.html

AOL & Norton are known to be bullies that don't always work and play well
with others. Step 1: Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Computer
Management
Look for event viewer on the left - read the errors for clues as to which
program is causing the issues.
Step 2: Depends on what you find. AOL has in the past caused problems by
not deleting registry entries when uninstalling. Norton is so powerful that
a slight error is a major pain. You could trying using a product that MS
Sysinternals (free) to disable one or the other from running at start up and
see which way the computer starts to work again.

Hopefully this will start you in the right direction.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

With all due respect for Mr. Da Costa, I would not let the Geek Squad
service my lawnmower. There are horror stories galore about the Geek Squad.
Many people have followed their advice and their systems have paid the price.

Absolutely right!

I don't normally make "me too" posts, but that point is important
enough that seconding it is worthwhile. The "Geek Squad" (or any
similar service arm of one of the other big box stores) is probably
the *worst* possible place to have service done at. Their employees
are typically chosen for their willingness to accept something close
to minimum wage, not for their technical skills.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

You are having some serious install/uninstall problems; you may indeed have a
corrupt registry from broken installs and incomplete uninstalls. Please see
these two tutorials for help with install/uninstall problems and your Repair
Vista Options. You will need to completely uninstall, reboot, and reinstall
AOL & Norton/Symmantec if you choose to continue to use these programs.

So far, so good.

If
this fails to help, you might need to run a good registry scanner/cleaner.

No, no, a thousand times, no! The use of any so-called registry
"cleaner" can, at the very best, do no harm, but it will certainly do no
good and is likely to further exacerbate any existing problems.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot