Re:Uninstall/deletion Issues

MrEd

Posts: 70   +0
I previously posted this at the referenced link in malware but admin said post it here as no resolution was reached. Thought I would try to see if anyone else has an idea how to delete two desktop files and uninstall programs from the registry that are executable and run but are not found in add/remove programs. The programs are old and cannot be reinstalled.

Tried revo uninstaller but it doesn't do the trick. My original post is below with the link to the troubleshooting that was done although unsuccessful. I did have a shutdown issue where my pc would hang on shutting down after running "OTL" as prescribed. The tech said it was coincidental. I'm sure he did what he could but am posting this again to see if a different person can address it here.Thank you!

https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic173222.html

Re:Uninstall/deletion Issues...

I have two files on my desktop that I cannot delete:
Name: An oldie but goodie_ Hands....
Size: 0 bytes
Location:C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop
Fire Waterfall
Size: 0 bytes
C:\Documents and Settings\User\Desktop

Have tried file assassin in Malware Bytes and CC Cleaner's file deletion tool but no go.


Also, I cannot uninstall the following programs as they are not found in add/remove

programs.

This irider has a wise uninstaller but it calls for the "install.log" file which is nowhere

to be found.

Irider by Wymea Bay
"D:\Program Files\iRider2.48\iRider.exe"

Cannot uninstall this one either....same issue...not in add/remove programs. No unistaller.

"D:\Program Files\PC Linq\Mdi.exe"

Can I edit out these files from the registry? I don't have the original programs or files to

reinstall and then uninstall them again. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
The Kitchen Sink.

After all the work you and Broni did on this, may I suggest throwing everything at the problem, including the kitchen sink? You've made so many changes to your system, including three (?) System Restores that, IMHO, any tracking-down-of-the-original problem will be very difficult.

-- Perhaps finding the offending programs online, installing with FULL UNINSTALL http://www.chemtable.com and then uninstalling will overwrite-and-remove any leftovers from the original installation. I like this better than Revo Uninstaller because it immediately shows you what-and-where program installers put things.

-- I had a weird, super-hidden, Chinese-language-named folder that was "supposedly" on my Desktop but I could not navigate to it in Explorer. I ran Trojan Remover http://www.simplysup.com/ which found and allowed me to delete the offending Registry entries. Publisher's Description: "Trojan Remover is designed specifically to disable/remove Malware without the user having to manually edit system files or the Registry. The program also removes the additional system modifications some Malware carries out which are ignored by standard antivirus and trojan scanners."
Among other things, it will also check and correct, if necessary, any Windows Explorer policies that may have been maliciously changed and that are preventing those files from being deleted.

-- Mark Russinovich's MoveFile : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897556 "(A)llows you to schedule move and delete commands for the next reboot." This is the guy Microsoft "stole" because of his knowledge of their kernel. So, if anyone's tool can "kill" those immortal files on your desktop, his probably can.

-- This has also worked for me in the past: http://www.killbox.net/
"KillBox is a tool to delete in-use files. If the file is running, KillBox will attempt to end the process (close the running file) and delete it. For more difficult files that have loaded .dll's or are services, Delete on Reboot will use the native Windows function of deleting or replacing in-use files."

-- Microsoft offers a FixIt for install/uninstall problems.
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/Program_Install_and_Uninstall
"Automatically diagnoses problems that can prevent installing and uninstalling programs on your computer. Assists with programs that will not uninstall correctly and programs blocking installation of new programs." This Tool is meant to replace the good old Windows Installer Cleanup (which I don't think would have helped with a Wise Install, anyway.)

Hope this helps.

EDIT: http://www.brothersoft.com/irider-download-82763.html
http://pc-linq.software.informer.com/
 
Hello,

Was able to uninstall PC Linq but not Irider 2.48 (as the download was for 2.52) after reinstalling them both and using Full Uninstall. Nothing came up on Trojan Remover...it was clean. Movefile and Pending files (Both from 2006) would not open when I clicked run. Tried to delete those desktop files in real time and on reboot with Killbox but it said not file found. Microsoft Fixit didn't find those Irider. Thanks for your help!
 
did you bother to verify the ownership & permissions? should be the first thing to look at.
 
Echoing the above and assuming you have verified ownership and permissions for the subject files, did you grant Administrator privileges to EACH of the programs (iRider, Full Uninstall, MoveFile, etc.) before running them?
-- Shouldn't be, but, Is there another User whose Proflie may be interfering with your control of these files?
User Profile Hive Cleanup Service: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=6676
-- Perhaps your own User Profile is corrupted? http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/Windows7/Fix-a-corrupted-user-profile
-- Is there another program (Image editor, screensaver, browser, etc.) that may have the file(s) in its internal database? That would "lock" the files.

A wild guess: Perhaps some of the info relating to the files and their paths is/was stored in a damaged/corrupted part of your hard drive. If so, this may fix that: Start>Programs>Accessories>right-click-on Command>Run As Administrator; then, in the window that opens, type: chkdsk /f . Type "Y",Press ENTER , Type "exit", Press ENTER, reboot and try deleting those files again, perhaps in Safe Mode by pressing F8 as the system begins to reboot.

-- I would think that a newer version of iRider would have done the trick, especially as its install folder was manually deleted. Please try again making sure it and Full Uninstall are set to run with Administrator rights.
-- jv16 PowerTools http://www.macecraft.com/ includes powerful Registry Search and Registry Clean tools. If uninstalling with Full Uninstall still does not work, perhaps it will help to, First, search by name for remnants with jv16; and, Second, to search with jv16's Registry Cleaner, which will return LOTS of "registry errors". I recommend that you manually select for deletion ONLY those entries you SPECIFICALLY can relate to iRider. Registry cleaners scare me.
-- Finally, Windows Installer Cleanup Utility may, might, could possibly help. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4459
 
Clarification pls.

Hello-Please forgive me is some of these questions and information seem irrelevant and burdensome. Thank you!

"did you bother to verify the ownership & permissions? should be the first thing to look at."
"Echoing the above and assuming you have verified ownership and permissions for the subject files..."

I didn't seeing the instructions to verify ownership and permissions for the subject files. Did I miss that somewhere? My apologies if so....In any event, thanks for your patience!

Prior to starting, I did check that I was logged into my user account which shows "administrator" and have never been stopped for installing or uninstalling programs prior to this.

did you grant Administrator privileges to EACH of the programs (iRider, Full Uninstall, MoveFile, etc.) before running them?"

If I am logged into my usual account and it says "Administrator", do I still have to specify EACH programs admin privileges? I checked properties on the Irider.exe file and didn't see anything relevant so could you please tell me how to grant these privileges to individual programs if still needed? FYI...I have the following information for accounts on my "C" Drive...I only have the choice on the login screen of "user" which an administrator and "Bubba" which is not. I use the one called "User" exclusively. All the other ones are pretty empty. Let me know if these are a factor.Thanks!

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.VALUED-7B9600FA
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users
C:\Documents and Settings\Bubba
C:\Documents and Settings\Bubba.VALUED-7B9600FA
C:\Documents and Settings\Owner
C:\Documents and Settings\User

RE: User Profile Hive Cleanup Service:
When my computer would hang on shutdown (after we ran OTL), I dug out the above and ran it. It shut down once without hanging but then started doing it again and it has been intermittent.

-- Perhaps your own User Profile is corrupted?
Read the link which says, "If you tried to log on to Windows and received an error message telling you that your user profile might be corrupted, you can try to repair it."

No issue logging on to Windows. Is there any other way to tell or do you still suggest I creating a new user profile anyway?

"-- Is there another program (Image editor, screensaver, browser, etc.) that may have the file(s) in its internal database? That would "lock" the files."

I do have Adobe Photoshop/Image Ready 7.0 and Adobe Reader 10 installed. Browsers are IE 7 and Google Chrome. I did notice that some duplicate favorites both in Irider browser and IE were "locked" and could not be deleted. The error message on the two desktop "Phantom" files (when I attempt to delete them) are "cannot read from source file or disk" and the file size is zero bytes.

RE: Checkdisk.Ran it back in malware forum.
[I"]If so, this may fix that: Start>Programs>Accessories>right-click-on Command>Run As Administrator;[/I]"
Administrator doesn't show as a user. I input it but apparently don't have the correct password. Will try and figure it out. Will try safemode as I can log on as administrator there if you indicate I need to...

"Please try again making sure it and Full Uninstall are set to run with Administrator rights." Please advise how to do this unless you already did earlier. Thx.

RE: -- jv16 PowerTools. Will try it.

RE: Windows Installer Cleanup Utility
Link states "Project has been abandoned. You can now use Microsoft FixIt for this problem." Already ran Fixit for this. Thank you!
 
Irider

Was able to uninstall Irider when using a backup install.log file found on another driver. Booted to safe mode under administrator and the two desktop phantom files were not to be found. Ran Jv 16 and didn't find them either.Thx.
 
Had a few questions from msg. 6 if you wouldn't mind addressing pls.. I did complete system scans with Malware Bytes, Spybot Search and Destroy, Avast antivirus and the trojan remover you recommended which gave what seemed to be a false positive calling my Jawbone uninstaller a probable trojan. Nothing else came up as I recall. I ran CC Cleaner for registry and now have the following problems. Was tinkering with JVI 16 tools but didn't do registry cleaner there. Restored registry from backup but problems still exist.Ran sfc /scannow.Rebooted to last known good config.

Quicken 2006-When I try to update file or restore backup, Windows Installer (quicken2006.msi) keeps popping up asking for disk which I no longer have. Is there a way I can change registry so it points to executable and stops asking. This was the event log:
Event Type: Warning
Event Source: MsiInstaller
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1001
Date: 11/23/2011
Time: 12:32:15 PM
User: NA\User
Computer: NA
Description:
Detection of product '{2818095F-FB6C-42C8-827E-0A406CC9AFF5}', feature 'ProgFilesCommon' failed during request for component '{B9EB7765-32AF-4F50-A57A-BA452070B9EE}'



IE 7 won't launch-inetcpl.cpl missing.IE 8 auto downloaded then uninstalled it. Don't see IE 7 in add/remove programs but didn't uninstall that one yet windows update wants to update IE 8. When I click on explorer icon or iexplore.exe it just flashes. Ran Microsoft Fix it tool but didn't correct. Just reinstall IE 7?

System Restore-All my restore points are gone. Box blank.

Windows update: Keep getting nag message to reboot and when I do there is windows update asking to reboot.

Never had a problem with CC cleaner prior to this. Is it safe or should I not clean registry? Thx.
 
Sorry to hear you're still having problems.

-- IMO, at this point, I believe your system has been so badly compromised by all the Restores, FixIt's, scans & deletions, etc., etc., that you will have cascading issues from here on. For example, I believe the IE7 - IE8, System Restore, Quicken 2006 and Windows Update issues most likely have been caused/exacerbated by CCleaner's Registry Cleaner and possibly by Microsoft's own FixIt, which I recommended. Sorry.

-- There may be a way, but I don't know how to redirect Windows Installer to the existing(?) quicken2006.msi .

-- Re above #6: Even tho' logged on with an Administrator account, for a variety of causes, you may encounter permissions and privileges problems and limitations. Making ad hoc changes to those settings is less straightforward in XP Home than in Pro. I have very limited experience with Home. This discussion is very informative: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic9924.html

-- Is it feasible to backup your files, reinstall Windows and restore those files? Ie., besides Quicken 2006, would you "lose" any installed programs?
-- I believe you can do an "in-place" upgrade from WinXP Home to Vista which would obviate your losing installed programs, files, settings, etc. Is this a viable option for you?
Either option would give you a clean system and recover disk space now being consumed by those unused User Profiles.
 
Thanks so much for all your help! Couldn't get logged into this account so I posted a new thread as my PC totally crashed and won't boot (caught in an endless loop).What I posted is below. You can delete the other under my "twotix" account..You are a nice guy! Appreciate all your help again!
------------------------

Hello,

RE: Windows XP Home, SP 3

Computer was hanging when trying to reboot. Hangs at “Computer is shutting down” so I installed Microsoft user hive fixit repair to it would shut down. Restored an old registry file from a couple weeks ago because of other issues including Internet explorer 7 not starting, windows update problem etc. Computer would not reboot as it was hanging again. Forced a manual shutdown.

Upon reboot, computer in endless reboot loop loading bar going across then flashes of the following: windows screen, flash of blue screen, no input signal, Sony screen, XP system options. Hit f8 to windows advanced Options Menu. Tried last known good config twice but same loop. Tried reboting to safe mode, safe mode with command prompt, safe mode with networking but still same loop. Booted to windows recovery console and ran chkdsk /f /r but still same loop problem. Selected disable automatic restart then Microsoft Windows XP and get BSOD. I power down and manually reboot and the endless loop starts again.

This is an old Sony Desktop but I have a lot of software etc. without original disks so I would like to avoid wiping it clean if possible. I do have the original Sony recovery disks but not the serial number. Since the Windows recovery console is available, are there any suggestions to rebuild or replace needed boot files or others to try and get this thing back up?Any suggestions? Thank you!

Here is the BSOD message:

“A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you’ve seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0XF8A0C528, 0xc0000034,0x00000000, 0x00000000).
 
Wow! You are now well beyond my abilities, especially as that last registry restoral is, I believe, irreversible and almost certainly what's causing this latest series of problems.

Besides booting from your WinXP Home installation CD and trying an in-place repair (which will lose all your installed programs and possibly some of your Documents), perhaps a recovery tool, like Partition Table Doctor http://www.ptdd.com/ or [QUOTE]Software reference Removed[...his thread and, perhaps, offer better advice.
 
I had all those problems though before my last reg restore like windows update, quicken, hanging on shutdown.....that one is persisting since Broni had me run a program. This was why I tried the user hive again although it didn't work so I had to manually shut it down which could have caused the meltdown.

Thanks for your help in any event.
 
-- I think your use of CCleaner's Registry Cleaner per #9 was problematic. What backup did you then restore? Was it the one from that CCleaner run or some other?

-- Re #11: What Registry backup did you restore? Was it generated by CCleaner or some other application?

Computer was hanging when trying to reboot. Hangs at “Computer is shutting down” so I installed Microsoft user hive fixit repair to it would shut down. Restored an old registry file from a couple weeks ago because of other issues including Internet explorer 7 not starting, windows update problem etc. Computer would not reboot as it was hanging again. Forced a manual shutdown.

Upon reboot, computer in endless reboot loop loading bar going across then flashes of the following:

-- If I understand the above, it appears that the most recent Registry-backup restoral is the immediate problem that is causing the BSOD. Prior to this restoral, your system was booting, at least, though it would not shutdown properly. Even though it appears CCleaner's Registry Cleaner caused problems with IE + Quicken + Windows Update + System Restore , its use did not prevent you from booting. The last Registry restoral does. Therefore, it seems likely that, if you run CCleaner's Registry Cleaner again then, you will be back to a bootable system with the IE + Quicken, et al problems.

There is a bootable version of CCleaner on the legal version of a popular Boot CD, whose name is omitted here because that Boot CD is often re-worked to include proprietary, licensed Software.
P.S.: Here is a How-To that may be the best solution to your problems:-- From XP-to-Vista- back to-XP: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2287700,00.asp
 
Thanks!

Just sent you a message but it said I exceeded the character limit so not sure if it went through. I didn't realize that I could upgrade to Vista than downgrade back to XP. I would be open to that if I can't get this thing working but it would be up to you.Wouldn't want to do anything that wasn't ethical.I don't have a cd burner right now.I do appreciate the gesture

In response to your registry restore question, I had restored a full registry backup from early November. It was not a CC cleaner registry backup file.

Wonder if I could run cc cleaner boot version from a thumb drive as I have no burner right now? Appreciate the info. and links!

Thanks!.
 
-- The private messages were complete, thank you.
-- Yes. You can run CCleaner from a USB/thumb drive. There may be other ways but I've never used them.
-- My "gesture" was made via private-message only because it would be unseemly and crass to have made it publicly. As therein stated, the "gesture" was based on my "legal" and "proper" ownership of the offered item. Afterall, 'private message' or otherwise, everything we say and do here is actually more public than private; and I am averse to any legal or ethical infraction, even for as nice a Stranger as yourself.
-- Lacking an CD/DVD burner, why not give a bootable version of CCleaner a try?
[[ Software Reference URL ]]
 
Thanks! I know some of the newer mobo's support booting from a thumb usb drive. Will have to see if mine does.Appreciate it.!
 
Hey Buddy-I backed up the registry from the windows recovery console and restored the registry to a bootable conguration.Windows started, logged onto my "user" account and got a blank blue screen with a blinking cursor. Started task manager, put in explorer.exe in run command and nothing. No applications running. I can do reg edit and get to the registry. I also did the command to pull up system restore but have no point there to restore to. I logged off that account and onto my other account called "Bubba" and actually had a wallpaper generic windows beach scene which was odd. Anyway....emailed your friend Hiram and he said to run Registory restore from miniexp but he doesn't have any search box on his site so have to go thru almost 50 pages of freeware....haven't found it yet.....not sure if I need it. ....that is the update for now.Thx.
 
Tough problem; tougher person.

Good news. Appears you're making progress. There MAY be a wrinkle, though. I believe Mini Windows XP is based, in part, on proprietary code. There may be a charge.

Thanks for the update. I'm cheering for you.
 
YW....just was wondering something...I ran sfc /scannow and it was okay but my explorer.exe is gone. I have xp on this laptop so I could copy that file I suppose and transfer it but thought SFC was supposed to rebuild. Also when I safe booted into Administrator account, I couldn't run sfc ...got the error O
0x....6ba (The RPC server is unavailable)....maybe it didn't load in safe mode. Let me know if you have any more ideas please. Thanks for your support! .
 
SFC

SFC in WinXP relies on two services: RPC and RPC Locator; the latter finds the database/cache of "good" files that SFC needs to reference in order to compare/replace, as necessary.

The Locator service does not run in Safe Mode.

Since you were able to get into the system using another User Account, perhaps it's best to recover whatever you can from this hard drive and rebuild clean. The system is 10 years old, right? All the CHKDSK, SFC, etc., activity takes a toll on any hard drive and, especially if yours is as old as the system itself, you are taking a huge risk of total failure.

Tenacity is a virtue, up to a point. But, if, for example, explorer.exe has gone missing, then certainly there are many more files that have been corrupted/deleted and you will presented with unending problems.

I know they are not my files, my data, my programs but, respectfully, I suggest your time is better spent reconstructing on a solid foundation.

If I can be of assistance....
 
Hello

Hey,

What can you my friend? Or do you prefer to fly stealth?LOL. Thanks for your insight and it makes a lot of sense. I am getting close though. I can navigate around with task scheduler but have no explorer.

When I run explorer.exe, it flashes for a microsecond like it is trying to open but can't. It is not running in task manager processes or programs.Nothing is running in task manager programs.

I realize that when I tried to restore the registry from that .reg file backup I nuked it. Read that it is not wise to do that kind of restore. Wanted to do a system restore but have no restore points but when I run ccleaner system restore, there are several. How can that be? If so where are they so I can do a system restore?

Before the meltdown, my IE7 would not open or run. I had downloaded IE 8 but uninstalled it. So the question is....Doe explorer need internet explorer to run?

I see my IE 7 files in the Wndows ie7 folder with ie7 in blue (20.4 mg folder). Does that mean compressed or hidden?When I click on properties of that folder, read and hidden was checked so I unchecked them both, went back and read was still checked so I unchecked it again and hit apply to "folders, subfolders and files".
Would uninstalling IE 7 help?

Let me know if you can help me with any specifics before I throw in the towel, Thanks!
 
Oops

Meant to say what can I call you my friend above. Are you in NYC hanging out in a skyscraper working a computer jog and doing this a a volunteer or do you work for the company that runs this site? BTW....I can run ERUNT from the windows folder and restore the registry back to 8-2-11. There is like 7 mg of hive files in a folder. What do you think?

I put almost all processes in automatic in case that was stopping things. Lastly, any program suggestions I can download and run from USB that might fix it? Their has got to be one of your world famous diagnostics that can show exactly what the problems are.

I know you think I should pack it in but I don't have another desktop which is where I do most of my computing so want to fix it. I have an interest in computer rehab so it is a challenge also that I would like to get the victory over. Thanks again!
 
Even Yogi Berra says...

"It's Over."

I still wear a pair of riding boots I had made... in 1982! So, I empathize completely.

-- Back up what you can and restore the system with your Recovery Disk. I don't think you will need serial numbers or product keys. You'll need to make a bootable USB drive to do this, as the desktop has no optical drive, right?. HP has a nice tool for this.

-- Does your laptop have a CD/DVD drive?

-- With a final nod to your tenacity and since I am an enabler :) , please look for a link to another tool which will be useful, if not in this instance then certainly later.
 
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