Windows Installer gone crazy!

[Yankee fan]

Strange problem I may have caused for myself (as usual)...

I have a new DELL system; 3.4 GHZ, 1 GB RAM, 250GB HD, Windows XP Pro (all updated). I also have Earthlink DSL. The system is a month old and was working fine. I was trying a new program (Advanced System Optimizer by Systweak), and after cleaning some files, etc., and a reboot, the system seemed to go wild.

After the reboot, the WINDOWS INSTALLER window popped up and it was trying to install Earthlink's Total Access "Core Components", but then errored because it couldn't find a certain file. (Like I said, everything was running fine, including Earthlink Total Access before this). After several restarts and panic, I thought I would just try to uninstall and then reinstall Total Access. This just caused other WINDOWS INSTALLER windows to pop up, so I decided to try a SYSTEM RESTORE to a point just before I ran the Advanced System Optimizer.

This worked somewhat, but, to make a real long story short, after several attempts to uninstall Total Access and SEVERAL System Restores, here is what I am getting...

When I boot up, restart, or try to access MY COMPUTER, CONTROL PANEL, and some other items, it kicks off the WINDOWS INSTALLER, trying to install Earthlink Total Access. It errors out and tells me that something is missing, and a "reinstall" of the program will solve the problem. When I try to reinstall it, it tells me that there is a "later version" of "Total Access" already on my system, and the install is cancelled. So, on the one hand it tells me to reinstall the program, and, when I try, it tells me it is already there. Seems like I need to do something to clean out all remnants of Earthlink Total access. (I tried to delete the left over folders for Earthlink that are there, but the system wouldn't let me!)

Anyway, I hope I didn't really mess up my new system. tell me there is hope... I am not very high on the "technical level", but I am willing to try....Thanks...

[tempus]

try booting into safe mode and get rid of "advanced system optimizer" first. then delete all references to earthlink total access. In safe mode it should be possible.

[Yankee fan]

Tempus -- Thanks for the response....Now this will probably sound like I really don't know what I am doing, but ... on this new DELL, I don't know how to boot into SAFE MODE! When i hit "F2" on Startup, it boots me into "bootable options", but SAFE MODE isn't an Option. There are options there, which I look at, but SAFE MODE isn't one. Is there a trick on DELL's to get into SAFE MODE...

Now, when you say get rid of any trace of Total Access, do you mean uninstall everthing and then delete any folders that are left on the hard drive?

Thanks for listening to these basic questions...

[tempus]

Originally Posted by Yankee fan Tempus -- Thanks for the response....Now this will probably sound like I really don't know what I am doing, but ... on this new DELL, I don't know how to boot into SAFE MODE! When i hit "F2" on Startup, it boots me into "bootable options", but SAFE MODE isn't an Option. There are options there, which I look at, but SAFE MODE isn't one. Is there a trick on DELL's to get into SAFE MODE... Now, when you say get rid of any trace of Total Access, do you mean uninstall everthing and then delete any folders that are left on the hard drive? Thanks for listening to these basic questions...

safe mode should be possible by pressing F8 during boot up. You should then have a number of options available. Yes uninstall everything and start from the beginning. I would also run scandisk. It will repair any problem with the system files.

[Yankee fan]

OK --- I ran home at lunch and verified that F8 gets me to SAFE MODE --- thanks for that. I also looked for SCANDISK but did not find it. Was it replaced by CHKDSK in Windows XP?

At home tonight I will 1. Boot into Safe Mode 2. Delete Earthlink Total Access 3. Delete and leftover Earthlink folders from the Hard Drive after the uninstall. 4.PRAY 5. REBOOT 6. PRAY...

I will update you afterwards...

Thanks, again...

[tempus]

Originally Posted by Yankee fan OK --- I ran home at lunch and verified that F8 gets me to SAFE MODE --- thanks for that. I also looked for SCANDISK but did not find it. Was it replaced by CHKDSK in Windows XP? At home tonight I will 1. Boot into Safe Mode 2. Delete Earthlink Total Access 3. Delete and leftover Earthlink folders from the Hard Drive after the uninstall. 4.PRAY 5. REBOOT 6. PRAY... I will update you afterwards... Thanks, again...

yes it is chkdsk in windows xp. sorry for that. But if worse come to worse a complete reinstall from systwem restore will do the trick too. since its only a month old you could save your personal files to another partition.

[Yankee fan]

Yesterday, I did about 6 different "SYSTEM RESTORES" try to get things back to normal. Will that be a problem?

[tempus]

Originally Posted by Yankee fan Yesterday, I did about 6 different "SYSTEM RESTORES" try to get things back to normal. Will that be a problem?

that likely won't matter if you go into safe mode and make the deletions.

[Yankee fan]

Well --- Here's the update with the final fix in case it ever happens to anyone else:

The uninstall in SAFE MODE did not work and also, even in SAFE MODE, I was not permitted to delete the files of Total Access on the C-Drive. Told me they were "in use"...

Earthlink had me try to do a "manual registry" uninstall, but that did not work either. I was able to delete all the registry entries for Earthlink, but I, again, was not allowed to delete the folders.

Finally, they had me download the "Windows Installer CleanUP Utility" from Microsoft. They thought that since the Windows Installer was kicking in each reboot, that this would be the tool to use. They were correct. It was simple to use and it worked like a charm. After I used it on each EARTHLINK item in its list, I was able to easlily reinstall the current version of Total Access and all is working just fine now.

If you are interested, here the address to the WINDOWS INSTALLER CLEANUP UTILITY at Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;290301

As always --- Thanks for the help...It kept me on the right track...