unauthorized change/ windows not genuine issue

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  Hello

   

    Vista is in, what is called 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 random file corruption, a malicious program (spyware, malware, virus and so on), by manual file modification (by a user of the system) or thru random file corruption.  

   

  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 usually caused by a running program that is incompatible with Vista.

   

  Because there are No Mismatched files listed under the "File Scan Data-->" line of your Diagnostic Report, Your issue is am In Memory Mod-Auth.  Basically a program that wasn't writen for Vista, is trying to access areas of the OS that Vista does not allow. 

   

  In addition to why a Tamper occurs, it's also important to understand how Vista detects the Tamper 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 Tamper State and it could take some time for the Tamper to be detected. The important point to note is that the moment Vista detects the Tamper, you know that the program that caused the tamper, 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:2008        02      19           1916               12079

   

  Note, I also see a "K" type Tamper Time Stamp. The K stands for Kermel Mode tamper. This is a minor tamper and is most likey directly related to the Mod-Auth tamper. Once you remove the program that is causing the Mod-Auth tamper, I believe that the Kernel mode tamper will stop as well.

  
  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 02/19

  6) Below the chart, in the “System Stability Report” section look at the report titled "Software (Un)Installs for 02/19/2008"

  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 02/18/2008, 02/17/2008 and 02/16/2008

    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 (say) on 09/01/2007, but you didn't run (and, hence, prompted the tamper state)  till 02/19/2008, 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 as well since it may fall outside of the 3 day time frame described above.

  
  

  Lastly, I just received a confirmed report that PC Tools Firewall Plus version 3.0.0.52 (with Anti-Injection Protected option enabled) has been found to cause this type of issue. PC Tools has fixed the problem.  On the PC Tools forums (http://www.pctools.com/forum/showthread.php?s=7e262d016b2a208f58a2d03143ba90a0&t=49501&page=2), they state:

   

  In order to make sure you have the latest version, you can make a simple test after installation.
  Test 1:
  a. Restart the machine
  b. Try to perform Smart Update (if no files appear then you have the latest)
  
  Test 2:
  a. Go to the FW directory (normally C:\Program Files\PC Tools Firewall Plus) and check that:
  FirewallWrapper.dll version is 3.0.0.53
  FWService.exe version is 3.0.0.53
  FwHook.dll version is 1.0.44.0
  sdwvhlp.dll version is 1.0.0.2
  
  If the files version does not match try to Smart Update.

   

  So if you have PC Tools Firewall Plus version 3.0.0.52 installed on your computer, please follow the above directions for updating to the most recent version.

   

  Thank you,

  Darin Smith

  WGA Forum Manager

   

  p.s. You do not need to use the software that came with your computer, just be sure that the software that you do use, is compatible with Vista

  Wednesday, February 20, 2008 5:57 PM
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  thanks for all the info. i've checked that it's not caused by any hardware problem. but i have one problem that is i failed to install the monitor driver on my pc,which in suspect,it's because it's all HP products, i don't really need to install.

   

  The changes i've made to the software is that i uninstalled NORTON and installed another product. I didn't have PC tools for FIREWALL before, so as you recommended, i just installed that a moment ago. I don't know if this is gonna help or not. I know it might be a compatibily probelm with my ANTI-VIRUS software, but that's a genuine product that i purchased internationally. I love to use that since it's been working very well. I hope WINDOWS is not trying to make its users to use all their partner's produts to make it's compatible with VISTA................

   

  I don't know if the installation of the Pc tools is going to help me solve this issue, i'll need to see for couple hours so that i know what i can do with it. Another thing is that i think PC TOOLS has a newer version today than the one that you told me. which is 3.0.0.62.......... which is higher than the 53. i wonder this should work right????

   

  Thank you!

  Thursday, February 21, 2008 7:09 AM
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  ok, i've just tested on the windows genuine website, that it still has the same issue~ my own copy of the anti-virus software is compatible with vista, i just checked it on the cover of the software~ i'm still trying to figure out what causes the problem~~~~

   

  Please HELP~~~~~~~

   

  Thursday, February 21, 2008 7:47 AM
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  just want to fix my computer wrote:

  thanks for all the info. i've checked that it's not caused by any hardware problem.

   

  I'm unsure what you mean by this, but I don't believe I suggested that the issue was caused by a Hardware problem. If you see my post, I tried to explain that there is a Incomatible program running in Vista that is causing this issue.

   

  just want to fix my computer wrote:

  but i have one problem that is i failed to install the monitor driver on my pc,which in suspect,it's because it's all HP products, i don't really need to install

   

  I am unsure what you mean...is this related to the issue?

   

  just want to fix my computer wrote:

  The changes i've made to the software is that i uninstalled NORTON and installed another product. I didn't have PC tools for FIREWALL before, so as you recommended, i just installed that a moment ago. I don't know if this is gonna help or not.

   

    First off, Please re-read my post.  I specificly said "if you have PC Tools Firewall Plus version 3.0.0.52 installed on your computer, please follow the above directions for updating to the most recent version"

  I Never "recommended" you install Any software.

   

   

  just want to fix my computer wrote:

  I know it might be a compatibily probelm with my ANTI-VIRUS software, but that's a genuine product that i purchased internationally. I love to use that since it's been working very well. I hope WINDOWS is not trying to make its users to use all their partner's produts to make it's compatible with VISTA................

   

    Microsoft does not care what programs you run on your computer. Long before Vista was released, Microsoft published the specifications (to everyone) on how to make programs compatible with Vista. but ANY program that was built before that, has a risk that it's not compatible with Vista and we highly recommend contacting the maker of that program and find out if there is any updates that make the program compatible.

   

  just want to fix my computer wrote:

  I don't know if the installation of the Pc tools is going to help me solve this issue, i'll need to see for couple hours so that i know what i can do with it. Another thing is that i think PC TOOLS has a newer version today than the one that you told me. which is 3.0.0.62.......... which is higher than the 53. i wonder this should work right????   Thank you!

   

    No, installing PC Tool is not going to help, I never said it would...again I never said to install it. If you read my post, it basically says that you need to identify the program that is causing the problem then unistall it. I provide you a link to a list of programs known to cause this kind of problem and I provide tips on how best to identify the offending program.

   

  Darin Smith

  WGA Forum Manager

  Friday, February 22, 2008 11:07 PM
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  i just re-read your post, and followed by this step

   

  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 02/19

  6) Below the chart, in the “System Stability Report” section look at the report titled "Software (Un)Installs for 02/19/2008"

  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 02/18/2008, 02/17/2008 and 02/16/2008

    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 (say) on 09/01/2007, but you didn't run (and, hence, prompted the tamper state)  till 02/19/2008, 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 as well since it may fall outside of the 3 day time frame described above.

   

   

  i found out that the failure could be possibly cause by the uninstallation of the NORTON program, and some of the components under norton.

   

  1. LiveUpdate (Symantec Corporation) was uninstalled....on 02/11/08

  2. Norton Antivirus was uninstalled

  3. Norton Antivirus says Application Configuration Change

  4. Norton Confidential Core was uninstalled.

  5. Norton Internet Security was uninstalled.

  6. Norton Protection Center was uninstalled.

  7. SPBBC 32bit was uninstalled.

  8. SymNet was uninstalled.

  9. Symantec Real Time Storage Protection Component was uninstalled.

  10. ccCommon was uninstalled.

   

  Then, there were couple application failures on 02/11/08

  1. PurblePlace. exe ( which is a window game)

  2. drm70to71.exe ( i don't know what this is )

  3. wmplayer. exe

   

  I guess the issued could possibly be affected by these changes. I didn't include all the applicaitons, but i think these might give me an answer.

   

  Please advise.

   

  Thank you!

  Tuesday, February 26, 2008 7:06 AM
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  i found out that the failure could be possibly cause by the uninstallation of the NORTON program, and some of the components under norton.

   

  1. LiveUpdate (Symantec Corporation) was uninstalled....on 02/11/08

  2. Norton Antivirus was uninstalled

  3. Norton Antivirus says Application Configuration Change

  4. Norton Confidential Core was uninstalled.

  5. Norton Internet Security was uninstalled.

  6. Norton Protection Center was uninstalled.

  7. SPBBC 32bit was uninstalled.

  8. SymNet was uninstalled.

  9. Symantec Real Time Storage Protection Component was uninstalled.

  10. ccCommon was uninstalled.

   

  Then, there were couple application failures on 02/11/08

  1. PurblePlace. exe ( which is a window game)

  2. drm70to71.exe ( i don't know what this is )

  3. wmplayer. exe

   

  I guess the issued could possibly be affected by these changes. I didn't include all the applicaitons, but i think these might give me an answer.

   

  Please advise.

   

  Thank you!

  Monday, March 3, 2008 4:48 AM