Windows installer with a mind of its own?

[Neal Ferrier]

Dunno if anyone has heard of it but ive recently used a program called
ccleaner and i selected some of the advanced options. Now the windows
installer wants to install office xp again everytime i access microsoft
affiliated applications e.g MSN Messenger 7, IE6, Outlook Express etc. Don't
really know what is going on assuming its a registry problem of sorts could
someone please tell me where so i can fix it. Iam not really enamoured with
the windows registry. Thanks

 

[MAP]

Dunno if anyone has heard of it but ive recently used a program called
ccleaner and i selected some of the advanced options. Now the windows
installer wants to install office xp again everytime i access
microsoft affiliated applications e.g MSN Messenger 7, IE6, Outlook
Express etc. Don't really know what is going on assuming its a
registry problem of sorts could someone please tell me where so i can
fix it. Iam not really enamoured with the windows registry. Thanks

I just ran into this very same thing yesterday!
Run the edit on line 84 right hand side.
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

If no help their is another edit on line 94 left side.
Reboot when done.

These fixed the installer issue for me but...Windows took a good ten minutes
to boot up (I can't say that the two issues are related or not, I think not
though), And their was a problem with explorer.exe if this happens to you
running checkdisc with the fix block checked and a defrag seems to have
fixed it.

Please post back with your results, I am very courious about this and wiil
appreciate your feedback!
Good Luck!

 

[Kerry Brown]

Dunno if anyone has heard of it but ive recently used a program called
ccleaner and i selected some of the advanced options. Now the windows
installer wants to install office xp again everytime i access
microsoft affiliated applications e.g MSN Messenger 7, IE6, Outlook
Express etc. Don't really know what is going on assuming its a
registry problem of sorts could someone please tell me where so i can
fix it. Iam not really enamoured with the windows registry. Thanks

Don't mess with things you don't understand. Your example is a good reason
not to mess with "registry cleaner" programs unless you know what you are
doing. Never, ever allow them to run in automatic mode. Never, ever allow
them to make a change that you do not understand 100% what is happening and
why. If you didn't use the advanced option in ccleaner to make a backup of
your registry then you may be scr#w#d depending on what options you picked.

If the fix from

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

doesn't work then a combnation of running the Office installer choosing the
repair option and this tool from Microsoft to fix the Windows Installer
usually does the trick.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

If none of the above suggestions worked then restoring your last system
backup is the next option. If you don't have a backup then possibly a repair
install followed by a reinstall of Office is next. If that doesn't work then
a backup of your data and a clean install of Windows and your programs will
always work.

Don't blame the Windows registry. The blame lies with yourself and ccleaner.
Ccleaner is a valuable tool when used properly. It is also a dangerous tool
if you don't understand what it is doing.

Kerry

 

[bxf]

What Kerry said.

I'll add that from my experience, CCLEANER is one of the safer cleaners
out there, but even this one can get you in trouble, and it just goes
to show you the harm that some of these things can do. I use CCLENEAR
regularly to delete TEMP and other unrequired files. I only let it
delete Registery enries SELECTIVELY, if I know what the entry is.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Don't mess with things you don't understand. Your example is a good
reason not to mess with "registry cleaner" programs unless you know
what you are doing. Never, ever allow them to run in automatic mode.
Never, ever allow them to make a change that you do not understand
100% what is happening and why. If you didn't use the advanced option
in ccleaner to make a backup of your registry then you may be scr#w#d
depending on what options you picked.
If the fix from

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

doesn't work then a combnation of running the Office installer
choosing the repair option and this tool from Microsoft to fix the
Windows Installer usually does the trick.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

If none of the above suggestions worked then restoring your last
system backup is the next option. If you don't have a backup then
possibly a repair install followed by a reinstall of Office is next.
If that doesn't work then a backup of your data and a clean install
of Windows and your programs will always work.

Don't blame the Windows registry. The blame lies with yourself and
ccleaner. Ccleaner is a valuable tool when used properly. It is also
a dangerous tool if you don't understand what it is doing.

I missed using System Restore as a possible fix.

Kerry

 

[Neal Ferrier]

well actually your talking about the issue fix part of the program and that
is not what i used even though i have used it hundreds of times and nothing
has went wrong. Iam talking about the cleaning portion of the program i
selected things in that like menu order cache and windows size and location
cache, user assist history, iis log files and custom files and folders. It
was only after i selected these options that this started happening. Now if
u would kindly explain to me how this could have f***ed the registry am all
ears otherwise don't say anything unless u can fix my problem.
thanx neal.

 

[Neal Ferrier]

Ok MAP i tried line 84 but it didn't work and the cleanup utility option the
page didn't exist anymore. As for line 94 with the notepad status bar, where
is that supposed to be, in the registry editor? Like i said iam not exactly
enamoured with it basically i can only navigate it as for actual editing i
don't know where to start! As for my problem after line 84 fix the problem
still appeared but not immediately so minor improvement but still not fixed.
Also i forgot to mention in my original email that the windows firewall
alert icon in the system tray appeared telling me my firewall wasn't on. Now
i knew that cos i turned it off because i do not need it but i cannot get
rid of the damn thing dunno how that is related to my installer issue, hope
you might know. I appreciate your help with this.
Thanks Neal

 

[Kerry Brown]

well actually your talking about the issue fix part of the program and
that
is not what i used even though i have used it hundreds of times and
nothing
has went wrong. Iam talking about the cleaning portion of the program i
selected things in that like menu order cache and windows size and
location
cache, user assist history, iis log files and custom files and folders. It
was only after i selected these options that this started happening. Now
if
u would kindly explain to me how this could have f***ed the registry am
all
ears otherwise don't say anything unless u can fix my problem.
thanx neal.

I have posted a total of five possible fixes for your problem. Someone else
posted two. Have you tried any of the fixes? Two of my possible fixes are
admittedly drastic but it may take drastic measures if the simple ones don't
work.

Ccleaner has an option to create a backup of your registry. Ccleaner makes
changes to the registry. That is why this option is available. Even though
you have used the program hundreds of times something went wrong this time.
That is the danger of using this type of program. Whenever you make any
changes to the registry or any system files a backup of some sort should be
done first. If you had taken the precaution of doing any kind of backup you
would not be in your present predicament.

Kerry

 

[bxf]

well actually your talking about the issue fix part of the program and that
is not what i used even though i have used it hundreds of times and nothing
has went wrong.

The statement in your original post "ive recently used a program called
ccleaner" tends to make one think that this is a relatively new thing
for you.

...Iam talking about the cleaning portion of the program i
selected things in that like menu order cache and windows size and location
cache, user assist history, iis log files and custom files and folders. It
was only after i selected these options that this started happening.

Clever of you to include all these details in your original post.

...Now if
u would kindly explain to me how this could have f***ed the registry am all
ears otherwise don't say anything unless u can fix my problem.

Perhaps if you had provided all relevant information up front you
wouldn't receive replies that don't apply to your situation.

 

[MAP]

Hi Neal,
You were looking at the wrong line on 94,Look on the Left hand collum,
"Windows installer fix-Winnt for Windows"
Also on line 84 just click on the word "Logging" both of these links are
valid I just checked them.
If you are still having troubles downloading the registry edits feel free to
e/mail me at the hotmail account and I will send them to you.

Mike Pawlak
WWindows Installer Fix - WinntWinnt for Windows

 

[Neal Ferrier]

Ok well i tried both of them then and they didn't work still getting
problems. I will not be able to reply to your next post till tomorrow but if
you can give me any more help it would be much appriciated. thanks Neal

 

[Neal Ferrier]

Ok i don't think you are listening to me. I know my way around the windows
OS and i hate when people patronise me. I DID NOT USE THE "ISSUE FIX" PART
OF THE PROGRAM WHICH YOU WERE AGAIN INDICATING IN YOUR LAST POST KERRY. THIS
PROBLEM OCCURED WHEN I USED SOME OF THE ADVANCED OPTIONS IN THE CLEANING
PART OF THE PROGRAM WITH WHICH YOU SHOULD ALREADY BE AWARE IN MY LAST POST.
Just to give you a description of why i used these options was because i did
not think they would affect my OS like this. The things i messede about with
was just Cache stuff and log files now if you can explain to me how that
would affect my system in such a drastic way. I will appreciate your
feedback on this.

 

[Neal Ferrier]

Thanks by the way the cleanup utility worked. For some reason i could not
view your original post until now. And yes it may be my own fault but at the
end of the day its my system and i can do what i want with it. And for the
other person that was kind enough to offer a suggestion i do know what i was
doing and aware of the consequences. Ccleaner was yes a new program that i
downloaded recently because i heard good things about it and its good for
dealing with anti spyware stuff by cleaning certain folders. thanks for the
help.
Neal

 

[Kerry Brown]

You don't have to yell. I understood you the first time. I don't have a copy
of ccleaner so I don't know exactly what happened but can only guess. To
clean some of the items you indicated some registry changes would have to be
made. I have seen the problem you describe many times. It is fairly common.
The fix I posted in my first reply i.e. run the Office installer, pick the
repair option, then run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility almost always
fixes this problem. Did you try this? If you did and it didn't work did you
try a System Restore to a point before you had the problem? If both of those
don't work then it's time to consider either restoring a backup or if you
don't have a backup then making a backup then a repair install. I have seen
occasions where a clean install was the only fix.

Kerry

 

[Kerry Brown]

Glad you got it fixed.

Kerry

Thanks by the way the cleanup utility worked. For some reason i could
not view your original post until now. And yes it may be my own fault
but at the end of the day its my system and i can do what i want with
it. And for the other person that was kind enough to offer a
suggestion i do know what i was doing and aware of the consequences.
Ccleaner was yes a new program that i downloaded recently because i
heard good things about it and its good for dealing with anti spyware
stuff by cleaning certain folders. thanks for the help.
Neal

 

[MAP]

Did you reboot?

--
Mike Pawlak

Ok well i tried both of them then and they didn't work still getting
problems. I will not be able to reply to your next post till tomorrow
but if you can give me any more help it would be much appriciated.

 

[Neal Ferrier]

Yeah i just removed it with the cleanup utility. Couldn't really be bothered
fixing the installation or anything. Doesn't matter don't use office anyway
and i always have a copy of that if a want to reinstall it so.
thanks anyway
Neal

 

[Neal Ferrier]

Its ok i used the cleanup utility. The link on the site didn't work on line
94 but got a link from kerry anyway so its fine now. However if you have the
same problem follow her instructions in the post she gave me if you want to
keep using office. I didn't but it doesn't matter anyway.