Error Message - 0xC004D401

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:20:29 Z

I had this error appear today after updating my iTunes and restarting. I've followed the steps indicated in other posts (Diagnostic report included at end of message), and the Reliability Monitor indicated that the only application installs I've had were Microsoft WSE 3.0 Runtime on 06/06, and NVIDIA Control Panel on 31/05. The iTunes/Safari/Bonjour update is the only one I've done today. I don't know whether it's related/relevant or not, but I have also lost access to altering user groups privileges in Internet Explorer, as well as the User Groups in Explorer. I've also lost access to my Restore functions, and every restore point I had previously created has been deleted, leaving me unable to create another. I would have considered just reinstalling Vista, except it came with the PC and I don't have any discs. I tried to request email help but when I try and access the page, it constantly freezes on the loading bar. When I ran the validation diagnostic tool on the MS website, it failed several ActiveX tests.

I'm not sure what I should do now, thanks in advance for help.

---

Diagnostic Report (1.9.0006.1):
-----------------------------------------
WGA Data-->
Validation Status: Invalid License
Validation Code: 50
Online Validation Code: 0xc004d401
Cached Validation Code: N/A, hr = 0xc004d401
Windows Product Key: *****-*****-27HYQ-XTKW2-WQD8Q
Windows Product Key Hash: U8YEZzymoD4DMyaMb32rPrNIS90=
Windows Product ID: 89578-OEM-7332157-00061
Windows Product ID Type: 2
Windows License Type: OEM SLP
Windows OS version: 6.0.6001.2.00010300.1.0.003
ID: {A612C7C1-E3D0-41FA-92EB-B18DD15DBADA}(3)
Is Admin: Yes
TestCab: 0x0
WGA Version: Registered, 1.7.69.2
Signed By: Microsoft
Product Name: Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium
Architecture: 0x00000000
Build lab: 6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612
TTS Error: M:20090630190001908-
Validation Diagnostic:
Resolution Status: N/A

WgaER Data-->
ThreatID(s): N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Version: 6.0.6002.16398

WGA Notifications Data-->
Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
File Exists: No
Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
WgaTray.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
WgaLogon.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

OGA Notifications Data-->
Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
WGATray.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
OGAAddin.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

OGA Data-->
Office Status: 109 N/A
OGA Version: N/A, 0x80070002
Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Office Diagnostics: 77F760FE-153-80070002_7E90FEE8-175-80070002_025D1FF3-364-80041010_025D1FF3-229-80041010_025D1FF3-230-1_025D1FF3-517-80040154_025D1FF3-237-80040154_025D1FF3-238-2_025D1FF3-244-80070002_025D1FF3-258-3

Browser Data-->
Proxy settings: N/A
User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Win32)
Default Browser: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
Download signed ActiveX controls: Prompt
Download unsigned ActiveX controls: Disabled
Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins: Allowed
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disabled
Allow scripting of Internet Explorer Webbrowser control: Disabled
Active scripting: Allowed
Script ActiveX controls marked as safe for scripting: Allowed

File Scan Data-->

Other data-->
Office Details: <GenuineResults><MachineData><UGUID>{A612C7C1-E3D0-41FA-92EB-B18DD15DBADA}</UGUID><Version>1.9.0006.1</Version><OS>6.0.6001.2.00010300.1.0.003</OS><Architecture>x32</Architecture><PKey>*****-*****-*****-*****-WQD8Q</PKey><PID>89578-OEM-7332157-00061</PID><PIDType>2</PIDType><SID>S-1-5-21-257013288-1516745200-417366416</SID><SYSTEM><Manufacturer>HP-Pavilion</Manufacturer><Model>GQ508AA-ABU a6202.uk</Model></SYSTEM><BIOS><Manufacturer>Phoenix Technologies, LTD</Manufacturer><Version>5.17 </Version><SMBIOSVersion major="2" minor="4"/><Date>20070824000000.000000+000</Date></BIOS><HWID>E0333507018400F6</HWID><UserLCID>0809</UserLCID><SystemLCID>0409</SystemLCID><TimeZone>GMT Standard Time(GMT+00:00)</TimeZone><iJoin>0</iJoin><SBID><stat>3</stat><msppid></msppid><name></name><model></model></SBID><OEM><OEMID>HPQOEM</OEMID><OEMTableID>SLIC-CPC</OEMTableID></OEM><GANotification/></MachineData><Software><Office><Result>109</Result><Products/><Applications/></Office></Software></GenuineResults>

Spsys.log Content: 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

Licensing Data-->
C:\Windows\system32\slmgr.vbs(1634, 5) (null): 0xC004D401

HWID Data-->
HWID Hash Current: NgAAAAIAAgABAAEAAwABAAAAAgABAAEAeqho0qSzFT+G6ZIADiAQMD4c8vR39g4rOBesVvAg

OEM Activation 1.0 Data-->
N/A

OEM Activation 2.0 Data-->
BIOS valid for OA 2.0: yes
Windows marker version: 0x20000
OEMID and OEMTableID Consistent: yes
BIOS Information:
ACPI Table Name OEMID Value OEMTableID Value
APIC   HPQOEM  SLIC-CPC
FACP   HPQOEM  SLIC-CPC
HPET   HPQOEM  SLIC-CPC
MCFG   HPQOEM  SLIC-CPC
SSDT   HPQOEM  SLIC-CPC
SLIC   HPQOEM  SLIC-CPC

Error Message - 0xC004D401

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:46:38 Z

Hello azondahi,

Vista is in, what we call a 'Mod-Auth' Tamper state. There are 2 types of Mod-Auth tampers.

1) A critical system file was modified On Disk - What this means is that the file, located on the hard drive, was modified in some way. This can be caused by a malicious program (spyware, malware, virus) or by manual file modification (by a user of the system). There is also a very small chance that an Update may fail in mid-update and cause this type of issue. As a safety mechanism, Updates are made so that if they fail, they roll back any updating that was done before the failure, but there is an off-chance that the roll back did not occur.

2) A critical system file was modified In Memory - What this means is the file itself (on the hard drive) is un-modified, but the code, from that file, running in the system, was modified in some way and is caused by a running program that is incompatible with Vista.

Because there is No Mismatched files listed under the "File Scan Data-->" line of your Diagnostic Report, we know that your issue is an In Memory Mod-Auth and therefore caused by an incompatible program. This means there is a program install and Running that is trying to access parts of the OS that Vista does not allow, which by definition, means it is incompatible with Vista.

NOTE: We have seen an increase in this type of issue and we believe it is unlikely that software writers are still making programs that are incompatible with Vista. Instead, we believe that a majority of the issues are being caused by Malware that are doing the same things (on purpose) as incompatible programs do (by accident).

In addition to why a Mod-Auth occurs, it's also important to understand how Vista detects a Mod-Auth event. There is a Service that runs in Vista that detects a Tamper to a Critical System file. But this Service runs randomly, so if you were to install an incompatible program and run it, Vista (most likely) would not immediately enter a Mod-Auth State and it could take some time for the Mod-Auth to be detected. The important point to note is that the moment Vista detects the Mod-Auth, you know that the program that is causing the Mod-Auth, is currently running.

Below I have provided a number of steps to help you identify the program that is causing the tamper:

First, go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931699/ and confirm that you do not have any of the programs known to cause this type of issue.

Second, in your Diagnostic report above, you can see the line that starts with 'TTS Error:' followed by a bunch numbers: M:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx- This is the Tamper Time Stamp and it breaks down like this:

(year) (month) (day) (time in 24format) (millisecond)
M:2009 06 30 1900 01908-

Now that you know the time of the tamper, you can now try to connect that time with a program.

1) Login to Vista and select the option that launches an Internet Browser

2) Type into the browser address bar: %windir%\system32\perfmon.msc and hit Enter

3) When asked if you want to Open or Save this file, select Open

4) In the left hand panel, click Reliability Monitor

5) Click on the “System Stability Chart” above the date 06/30

6) Below the chart, in the “System Stability Report” section look at the report titled "Software (Un)Installs for 06/30/2009 "

7) Look for any program that shows "Application Install" in the 'Activity' column.

8) Since the process that detects Tampers runs randomly, it can take up to 3 days for the process to detect the tamper and set Vista to a Tamper State. Because of this, please repeat steps 5) thru 7) for the dates 06/29/2009, 06/28/2009 and 06/27/2009 (or around the date the issue first occurred)

This could tell you what programs were installed on or around the Tamper date and should help you narrow down the possible programs that could be causing the issue. Unfortunately, if you installed the program at some time in the past, but didn’t run it till now, this process may not be helpful. The removal of any application you may have installed recently could go a long way to troubleshooting this issues.

Note: Since everyone has different programs installed on their computer, it is extremely hard for support to figure out what program is causing the problem, but if you still need assistance in identifying the Incompatible Program, please create a no cost support request at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52029

Also Note: it has been found that Malware, such as Viruses and Trojans, can also be incompatible with Vista and can cause an In Memory Mod-Auth. A number of users (that were experiencing your same issue) have confirmed that a Malware infection was the cause. If you follow the above steps and cannot find a program that is causing the Mod-Auth, you may want to investigate if a Virus, Worm or Trojan may be to blame. You can contact PC Safety, which is a Microsoft group, which provides free assistance with Malware infections. I encourage you to use the ‘Windows Live Safety Scan for Windows Vista’ (http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/whatsnew.htm) before contacting PC Safety.

PC Safety:

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/support/default.mspx

http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/whatsnew.htm

Thank you,
Darin MS

Error Message - 0xC004D401

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:16:57 Z

Hello.
I'm new here and just found out about this website when I'm searching for answers to guide me with the same prob Azondahi had.
The problem with my Vista PC is, when i try logging in, there's a notification saying "An unauthorized change was made to Windows" and there's two options whether to "Learn more online" or "close". But to my disappointment, when i tried to "learn more online", i can't get connected. It's not just that, my PC is black and blank without any access to any programs,files, and the windows itself. Just a black background with that window's software protection's warning (even when i ran with a Safe Mode). Most of the solution to troubleshoot the problem requires an internet access or even a simple step of clicking the Windows Start button which i'm unable to do with the state my PC is in.
Thanks in advanced for your help.