Recurring Windows Installer Issues

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  "de_stroyed" wrote in message news:2f2e24ca-e123-4188-b0e9-ac40d9851d35...

  Recently had a virus on my computer that I've since been rid of, but it has left behind some lingering problems, namely with the Windows Installer. When the virus was on my computer, the symptoms included a Windows Installer pop-up window appearing to install some features in Microsoft Office every time an application was started, explorer window opened, or new tab opened in my browser. Long story short, the virus was removed and these Windows Installer pop-ups have since been rid of, but it has left my Windows Installer crippled and I'm currently unable to install anything. I've spent days going in and out of the command prompt, unregistering and registering the Windows Installer, and following every posted guide to overcome and finally uninstall and completely remove the corrupt installer to reinstall it and be done with this nightmare. However, I am unable to uninstall it, either from control panel or the command prompt, and when trying to install programs and my new antivirus, I'm unable to due to the installer being corrupt. It sometimes asks for the location of vcredist.msi, and I've failed to extract a copy of it from the vcredist_x86.exe using the command prompt like some guides have suggested, but I did come across a copy of it somewhere else on my computer and that failed to fix the problem as well.

  Long story short, I'm looking for a way to completely rid myself of the Windows Installer so that I can reinstall it and get on with my life. Posted below is proof of legit Windows installation and it was something I was told to post alongside my post. I did mark out some more of my serial, hopefully that won't be a problem.

   

  
  

  Your problem appears not to be related to activation or validation issues - I suggest that you repost your query in the Windows Vista Answers forums here....

  http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-system

   

  
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  Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth

  • Marked as answer by Darin Smith MS Thursday, May 12, 2011 6:32 PM

  Sunday, May 8, 2011 7:09 AM

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  I realize this original posting wasn't probably under the right forum, but since it appeared at the top of my Google results, I figured I would post a possible solution that might help others who stumbled into this thread.

  I also constantly got the "Windows Installer" popup whenever I opened an IE tab (I'm running Windows 7 as a user who has administrative rights).  I don't have any reason to believe I ever had a virus on the machine.  I stumbled upon http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-support/20191-internet-explorer-8-new-tab-connecting-2.html in which the last post suggested running IE as an Administrator.  I tried that and it did the trick.  When IE came up, it had my typical blank default home page, but it also ran "Windows Installer" which actually had a progress bar that implied it was doing something and resulted in a second tab that was "Thanks for installing the Skype Toolbar for Internet Explorer."

  I'm guessing some previous install (Skype or maybe something else) had queued up an installer for IE, and when I launch IE under my own user account, nothing was elevating the privilege level and hence the queued up installer just continually silently failed to complete (Vista and beyond require elevation of privileges for certain administrative functions, even if you are running as a user in the Administrators group, and if the software is written well, you will be explicitly prompted when this needs to happen). 

  Of course, if your case is something different, and you actually did or do have a virus, it is possible that the installer triggering on your machine isn't benign, and that elevating your running IE process to Administrator level could let a malicious installer run that was actually fortunately getting supressed for you.  So I'll leave that decision up to you... I imagine there would also be a way to figure out where in the registry (or someplace else) that installer is queued up, and dequeue it and hence address this at the source rather than letting it play out, but digging around for that is DEFINITELY a lot more work than just letting it run as Administrator (at least for me).

  But, I was really happy to not be seeing that installer each time I opened a new tab, and wondering whether my machine was infected or something.

  I hope this helps you and others.

  • Proposed as answer by Pete Jaffe Sunday, May 29, 2011 5:25 PM
  • Unproposed as answer by Carey FrischMVP, Editor Sunday, May 29, 2011 6:22 PM

  Sunday, May 29, 2011 5:25 PM
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  "Pete Jaffe" wrote in message news:7127e6fd-ba05-4aa5-b30f-cbecde9fde48...

  I realize this original posting wasn't probably under the right forum, but since it appeared at the top of my Google results, I figured I would post a possible solution that might help others who stumbled into this thread.

  I also constantly got the "Windows Installer" popup whenever I opened an IE tab (I'm running Windows 7 as a user who has administrative rights).  I don't have any reason to believe I ever had a virus on the machine.  I stumbled upon http://windows7forums.com/windows-7-support/20191-internet-explorer-8-new-tab-connecting-2.html in which the last post suggested running IE as an Administrator.  I tried that and it did the trick.  When IE came up, it had my typical blank default home page, but it also ran "Windows Installer" which actually had a progress bar that implied it was doing something and resulted in a second tab that was "Thanks for installing the Skype Toolbar for Internet Explorer."

  I'm guessing some previous install (Skype or maybe something else) had queued up an installer for IE, and when I launch IE under my own user account, nothing was elevating the privilege level and hence the queued up installer just continually silently failed to complete (Vista and beyond require elevation of privileges for certain administrative functions, even if you are running as a user in the Administrators group, and if the software is written well, you will be explicitly prompted when this needs to happen). 

  Of course, if your case is something different, and you actually did or do have a virus, it is possible that the installer triggering on your machine isn't benign, and that elevating your running IE process to Administrator level could let a malicious installer run that was actually fortunately getting supressed for you.  So I'll leave that decision up to you... I imagine there would also be a way to figure out where in the registry (or someplace else) that installer is queued up, and dequeue it and hence address this at the source rather than letting it play out, but digging around for that is DEFINITELY a lot more work than just letting it run as Administrator (at least for me).

  But, I was really happy to not be seeing that installer each time I opened a new tab, and wondering whether my machine was infected or something.

  I hope this helps you and others.

  
  

  I'll try and respond to your points as I see them (from a personal POV)......

  a) this forum is Windows-Vista-based - so Win7 data is a little off-topic (butt may be no less relevant!)

  b) it's all too common for installers to do such things as you say - despite the 'user agreement' that may or may not be presented.

  c) It's almost impossible for MS to legislate against this, as the whole premise on which Windows is written is to allow the user maximum control over the system while still attempting to limit the availability of the system to outside forces.

  d) By far the most common scenario which creates the problems the OP saw is the unintentional install of software prejudicial to the good running of the PC (i.e. 'malware') - and which can hopefully be removed relatively simply by installing suitable malware-killer software (such as MalwareBytes Anti-Malware - www.malwarebytes.org )

  e) Running any system as Admin full-time is likely to risk invasion of infective software - which is why MS came up with UAC (which was a major pain in Vista, but hopefully a much lesser pain in Win 7), to reduce the available attack-surface for malware, while still enabling the user to keep control of the system.

   

   

  I'm surprised at hearing that this thread was at the top of your Google search - because it's not exactly a well-frequented one. Your search phrase must have been highly specific (and yet turned up something outside the 'ideal' search parameters) to find it.

  Care to inform us?

   

  Skype has some well-known problems, and vulnerabilities (as does any widely-used software), and it's a problem for all of us to keep up with the latest infection-points - but it's a job that has to be done to defend our own access to the internet, while denying others access to our own data. In a perfect world, all software would be impervious to external hacks - in the real world, programmers make mistakes, as do all of us, and vulnerabilities increase with the complexities of the software involved, and the desirability of the software. Skype may simply be the latest 'weak link' in a chain that began with PCDOS back in 1981 :)

   

  (and in case you hadn't guessed - No, I still don't know what the actual substance of your post was!)
  

  
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  Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth

  Sunday, May 29, 2011 9:33 PM

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  Noel (and de_stroyed),

  Sorry for the confusion.  Upon second read, I think I misinterpreted the original post to be more similar to my condition than it really was. 

  This thread currently appears as the 2nd hit in my google search term that was: IE "windows installer" new tab

  What I was experiencing was the following: every time I opened IE or opened a new tab in IE, a "Windows Installer" titled window would flash with a quick progress bar and then disappear without any indication of what it was doing.  My research today led me to ctrl-clicking Internet Explorer and telling it to "Run as Administrator." When it started up it appeared to successfully complete an installation that it otherwise had been continually attempting but likely failing silently. My condition appeared to be tied to a Skype Toolbar for IE installer.  I assumed the original poster was maybe experiencing a similar behavior, but upon second read, it seems their condition was maybe tied to a MS Office installer or just something different entirely.

  Sorry again for the confusion given that my reply was probably off topic of the genesis of this thread, and I don't disagree with any of the points you made above.

  Monday, May 30, 2011 12:07 AM