What I would do if possible is to first make an image of that computer
with
something like Norton Ghost so that no matter what you do you can get the
computer back to the original state for a quick restore because it will
become difficult to track things down as you make changes and try things.
You can uninstall the update though I have to wonder if it is related
since
it was installed a couple months ago unless the problem happened right
after
that. Since the application works in safe mode that tells me there is a
problem with a startup service, application [including malware/spyware],
or
maybe even a driver. You can use msconfig to do selective startup of the
operating system to try and track down what service/application/driver is
causing the problem and this can be tedious because it has to be done in
a
trial and error method. Look again in Add and Remove programs for any
applications that have recently been installed which could be suspect. I
would also do a full scan for malware and spyware because they can also
interfere with an application starting. AdAware SE is a pretty good
spyware
program and whatever antivirus program you use be sure to use the latest
virus definitions that are up to date as of today. Trend Micro Sysclean
should be used as a second opinion for malware and it is free. You can
use
Device Manager to check the status of and to test the modem. See the
links
below for more details. --- Steve
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html --- AdAware SE
http://www.trendmicro.com/download/dcs.asp --- Sysclean
http://www.trendmicro.com/download/pattern.asp --- virus pattern file
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434 ---
advanced clean boot troubleshooting using msconfig
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353
chuck said:
Steve,
Thanks for the reply.
Through a very fortunate circumtance, I was able to get hold of a
machine
that is refusing to run one of our applications. It's sitting right
here
in
my office.
This machine has XP Home ver 2002 service pack 1.
On Sept 3. 2005 "Update for Windows XP (KB898461)" was installed.
The machine has two problems.
1. The Modem disappeared from Windows' notice, disabling its dialup
connection.
2 Our app EasyMail won't run.
Both the modem and EasyMail had been working for a couple years, and
both
seemed to quit working at the same time.
The machine has two users: "Motorcycle Mike" and "Ruth the Sweet". Both
have
admin privileges. Neither can run EasyMail, except in Safe Mode.
EasyMail
will run in Safe Mode from both users. In Normal mode, the hourglass
flashes
for a couple seconds and then nothing.
I can't see any new entries in the Events log after trying to start
EasyMail
in Normal Mode.
Here I have the malfunction right in front of me, and I don't know the
best
way to go at this thing.
Should I uninstall "Update for Windows XP (KB898461)"?
--
Chuck
Home Plan Software
------------------------------------------------
:
First off I am not a programmer or developer so I could not say
exactly
what
the problem is but I would try to find some common ground with the
problem
as in did a specific event trigger it such as installation of SP2 or a
particular security update. SP2 tightened up security quite a bit
which
did
cause some applications to fail but that should not be something you
are
hearing about just now. You can use Add and Remove programs and select
show
updates to see what updates have been installed and when. I would also
check
the membership of the user who is having a problem compared to the
membership of the user that is not to see if there is a difference.
The
support tool whoami is probably best to do that with the /groups
option.
Also the logs you see with Event Viewer can show valuable information
though
you may need to enable more auditing such as privilege use, process
tracking, and object access for failure and enable auditing on all
folders/registry keys the application would use which is not a user
friendly
process. Of course you would want to duplicate the customers computer
configuration even if it means cloning their computer so you can see
firsthand what is going on and compare to installations that are not
having
the problem. SysInternals makes valuable and free tools such as
Filemon,Regmon, and Process Explorer that can track real time activity
of
an
application/operating system. Booting into Safe Mode and scanning for
malware/spyware should also be done. --- Steve
I hope someone can shed some light on a perplexing problem.
Our company has been developing and selling software for several
years.
In the last two weeks, we have had several reports from long time
users
that
our software no longer runs.
When they double-click on an exe file nothing at all happens.
If they create a new user with admin privileges, they can run the
application as that new user. This even though the previous user
had
admin
privileges.
These are XP users with sp2. I haven't been able to determine any
other
common thing that has changed on these machines.
These programs were installed over two years ago and have run fine
until
now.
What could have happen now to cause these machines to suddenly stop
running
our programs?
What can I do?
