Virus ? - or Windows problem ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter KK
  • Start date Start date
K

KK

Hi,

When I switch on my PC I get a message box appear ..... "Windows Installer
, Preparing to Install" . A moment later I get another box "Norton
Antivirus 2005 - does not support the repair feature, please re-install" . I
click cancel & all seems OK.

I get the smae problem whenever I try to start MS Word, or MS Excel ,
(sometimes the messages are repaeted 2 or 3 times). Again if I just click on
'cancel' all seems ok.

Is this a virus ?, or a windows problem ?

What am I supposed to re-install, the MS programs or Norton ?

I have Norton antivirus, spybot & adaware, all up to date and they do not
find any problems.

All advice greatly appreciated, & thanks in advance.

K
 
It's a Windows problem. Usually, if you have enough perseverance to keep
clicking all the way through the messages, it will eventually fix itself.
But you may get a lot of them.

-Frank
 
From: "KK" <[email protected]>

| Hi,
|
| When I switch on my PC I get a message box appear ..... "Windows Installer
| , Preparing to Install" . A moment later I get another box "Norton
| Antivirus 2005 - does not support the repair feature, please re-install" . I
| click cancel & all seems OK.
|
| I get the smae problem whenever I try to start MS Word, or MS Excel ,
| (sometimes the messages are repaeted 2 or 3 times). Again if I just click on
| 'cancel' all seems ok.
|
| Is this a virus ?, or a windows problem ?
|
| What am I supposed to re-install, the MS programs or Norton ?
|
| I have Norton antivirus, spybot & adaware, all up to date and they do not
| find any problems.
|
| All advice greatly appreciated, & thanks in advance.
|
| K
|

No. It is a Windows Installer problem and not a virus.
 
'Tis a problem with MSI, the Windows installer.
Download the Windows Installer Fix program described here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301/

Run the program, use care when doing so, and you can fix the problems you
describe. Fix one at a time, starting with Norton, until the messages don't
come back any more. Probably just fixing the Norton problem will solve the
whole thing.
 
KK took the hamburger said:
Hi,

When I switch on my PC I get a message box appear ..... "Windows Installer
, Preparing to Install" . A moment later I get another box "Norton
Antivirus 2005 - does not support the repair feature, please re-install" . I
click cancel & all seems OK.

I get the smae problem whenever I try to start MS Word, or MS Excel ,
(sometimes the messages are repaeted 2 or 3 times). Again if I just click on
'cancel' all seems ok.

Is this a virus ?, or a windows problem ?

What am I supposed to re-install, the MS programs or Norton ?

I have Norton antivirus, spybot & adaware, all up to date and they do not
find any problems.

All advice greatly appreciated, & thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I've gotten that message too. I just uninstalled/reinstalled.

--
trippy
mhm31x9 Smeeter#29 WSD#30
sTaRShInE_mOOnBeAm aT HoTmAil dOt CoM

NP: "To Live And Die In L.A." -- Wang Chung

"Now, technology's getting better all the time and that's fine,
but most of the time all you need is a stick of gum, a pocketknife,
and a smile."

-- Robert Redford "Spy Game"
 
I have another issue, was just wondering about this - programs are
taking forever to load (maybe 30-60 seconds for Word or Excel). I've
run several antivirus and spyware scans, nothing comes up except a few
cookies. Wonder if this is just XP grinding down after several
years...


--

Talent hits a target no one else can hit.
Genius hits a target no one else can see.

....Arthur Schopenhauer
 
Cal said:
I have another issue, was just wondering about this - programs are
taking forever to load (maybe 30-60 seconds for Word or Excel). I've
run several antivirus and spyware scans, nothing comes up except a few
cookies. Wonder if this is just XP grinding down after several
years...
Click to expand...

And during that 30-60 secs the whole system is locked up, can't do
anything until the program finally opens.


--

Talent hits a target no one else can hit.
Genius hits a target no one else can see.

....Arthur Schopenhauer
 
Cal said:
And during that 30-60 secs the whole system is locked up, can't do
anything until the program finally opens.
Click to expand...

I have had XP on this laptop for a few years with a host of programs
running at the same time. It's running like a top. Word or Excel start
in about 2 seconds or less. You sure you don't have something running
that's slowing things down you don't know about.

Duane :)
 
'Cal' wrote:
| >I have another issue, was just wondering about this - programs are
| >taking forever to load (maybe 30-60 seconds for Word or Excel). I've
| >run several antivirus and spyware scans, nothing comes up except a few
| >cookies. Wonder if this is just XP grinding down after several
| >years...
|
| And during that 30-60 secs the whole system is locked up, can't do
| anything until the program finally opens.
_____

* A description of your system hardware would help put the '30-60 seconds
for Word or Excel' to load in perspective.

* Also, what else is running when you get these long load times? Do you
ever get shorter load times?

* What do you do with your system, and have you noticed any other slowdowns
that involve disk activity?

* What file system do you use (NTFS or FAT32)?

* What is the total capacity of your hard drive(s)?

* How large is your page file and how much RAM is installed?

* Have you checked your hard drive(s) for errors?

* Have you check your hard drive(s) for fragmentation? What is the
fragmentation percentage reported?

***** Depending on the answers to the above questions, you may need to
** Check and repair disk errors
** Defragment.

***** Worst case, a hard drive is failing, and requires repeated reads to
retrieve a block of data.

***** Windows XP is much more robust than Windows 9X and does not tend to
accumulate errors to nearly the same extent over time.

Phil Weldon


| >I have another issue, was just wondering about this - programs are
| >taking forever to load (maybe 30-60 seconds for Word or Excel). I've
| >run several antivirus and spyware scans, nothing comes up except a few
| >cookies. Wonder if this is just XP grinding down after several
| >years...
|
| And during that 30-60 secs the whole system is locked up, can't do
| anything until the program finally opens.
|
|
| --
|
| Talent hits a target no one else can hit.
| Genius hits a target no one else can see.
|
| ...Arthur Schopenhauer
 
Phil Weldon AKA (e-mail address removed) in alt.comp.anti-virus on
9/16/2006,after much thought,came up with this jewel:
'Cal' wrote:
| >I have another issue, was just wondering about this - programs are
| >taking forever to load (maybe 30-60 seconds for Word or Excel).
I've | >run several antivirus and spyware scans, nothing comes up
except a few | >cookies. Wonder if this is just XP grinding down
after several | >years...
_____

* A description of your system hardware would help put the '30-60
seconds for Word or Excel' to load in perspective.

* Also, what else is running when you get these long load times? Do
you ever get shorter load times?

* What do you do with your system, and have you noticed any other
slowdowns that involve disk activity?

* What file system do you use (NTFS or FAT32)?

* What is the total capacity of your hard drive(s)?

* How large is your page file and how much RAM is installed?

* Have you checked your hard drive(s) for errors?

* Have you check your hard drive(s) for fragmentation? What is the
fragmentation percentage reported?

***** Depending on the answers to the above questions, you may need
to ** Check and repair disk errors
** Defragment.

***** Worst case, a hard drive is failing, and requires repeated
reads to retrieve a block of data.

***** Windows XP is much more robust than Windows 9X and does not
tend to accumulate errors to nearly the same extent over time.

Phil Weldon


| >I have another issue, was just wondering about this - programs are
| >taking forever to load (maybe 30-60 seconds for Word or Excel).
I've | >run several antivirus and spyware scans, nothing comes up
except a few | >cookies. Wonder if this is just XP grinding down
after several | >years...
Click to expand...

One more thing about hardware issues.
Is it slow right away or after it has been running awhile?
If so,you might have a heat problem. Dirt and dust accumulate around
the fans and airways over the years.

max
--
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My Pages:
Virus Removal Instructions
http://home.neo.rr.com/manna4u/
Keeping Windows Clean
http://home.neo.rr.com/manna4u/keepingclean.html
Windows Help and Tools
http://home.neo.rr.com/manna4u/tools.html
Change nomail.afraid.org to gmail.com to reply.
nomail.afraid.org is setup specifically for use in USENET
Feel free to use it yourself.
 
@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>, Duane Arnold <"Do forget
about it"@PleaeDo.BET> says...
I have had XP on this laptop for a few years with a host of programs
running at the same time. It's running like a top. Word or Excel start
in about 2 seconds or less. You sure you don't have something running
that's slowing things down you don't know about.

Duane :)
Click to expand...
Excel's slow to load on my win2k box with McAfee VirusScan
configured to check almost everything, when I start it by
doubleclicking a workbook - there's a scan by VirusScan that
seems a wee bit slow, and then an internal macro check of some
sort as well. Excel itself loads OK from the Excel icon.
I wouldn't say 30sec or more, though. Maybe you need a disk
defrag.
 
Befunge Sudoku said:
Excel's slow to load on my win2k box with McAfee VirusScan
configured to check almost everything, when I start it by
doubleclicking a workbook - there's a scan by VirusScan that
seems a wee bit slow, and then an internal macro check of some
sort as well. Excel itself loads OK from the Excel icon.
I wouldn't say 30sec or more, though. Maybe you need a disk
defrag.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I kinda wondered about that, I'll check it out. But I also
ran across this, which seems to indicate that defrag might not be the
answer -

http://www.techbuilder.org/recipes/59201471



--

Talent hits a target no one else can hit.
Genius hits a target no one else can see.

....Arthur Schopenhauer
 
Thanks, I kinda wondered about that, I'll check it out. But I also
ran across this, which seems to indicate that defrag might not be the
answer -

http://www.techbuilder.org/recipes/59201471
Click to expand...

Well... It may or may not make much difference: the way Windows
goes looking for files may be more of an issue than how the
file is stored on the hardware. Cleaning out your Temp folders
might be more useful. But I generally do a defrag at the and of
a virus cleanup, and it often seems to help.
Your link includes:
"Let's not forget Windows XP's ultra-efficient NTFS (NT File
System)."
I know a few people who would have a good chuckle about that.
 
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