Hello Zoekat,
Windows 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, and was modified in some way. This can be caused by a malicious program (malware) 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 usually caused by a running program that is incompatible with Windows Vista.
Because there is No Mismatched files listed under the "File Scan Data-->" line of your Diagnostic Report, 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 Windows Vista does not allow which by definition means it is incompatible with Windows Vista.
In addition to why a Tamper occurs, it's also important to understand how Windows Vista detects the Tamper event. There is a Service that runs in Windows 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, Windows 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 Windows 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:
The following Knowledge Base (KB) article may help you confirm that you do not have any of the programs known to cause this type of issue.
KB931699 - Error message when you use Windows Vista: "An unauthorized change was made to your license"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931699/
Second, in your Microsoft Genuine Diagnostic Tool (MGADT) 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 12 04 1838 41537-
Note: I also see a "K" type Tamper Time Stamp. The “K“stands for Kernel Mode tamper. This is a minor tamper and is most likely 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.
(Year) (Month) (Day) (Time in 24format) (Millisecond)
K:2008 06 17 0828 54344-
Now that you know the time of the tamper, you can now try to connect that time with a program.
1) Login to Windows Vista and select the option which 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) Then click System Stability Chart above the date 12/04.
6) Below the chart, in the System Stability Report section look at the report titled "Software (Un) Installs for 12/04/2008.
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 Windows Vista to a Tamper State. Because of this, please repeat steps 5) through 7) for the dates 12/03/2008, 12/02/2008 and 12/01/2008.
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 12/04/2008, this process may not be helpful. The removal of any application you may have installed recently could go a long way to troubleshooting these issues as well since it may fall outside of the 3 day time frame described above.
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 the following link below:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52029
Thank you for visiting the Genuine Advantage forum.
Stephen Holm, MS
WGA Forum Manager
Stephen Holm
