BleepingComputer.com: Program Not Visiible but shows as an active Process

I've been using an OCR program (Abbyy FineReader 6.0 Sprint Plus) for scanning and pdf'ing old files for months with no problems. But now, when I try to run it, I get the opening banner, then nothing. Windows task manager shows the program under processes, but not under applications.

MY OS is XP home, which is completely up to date. Everything was working fine until a couple of days ago. I don't think I've changed any settings. I think there were some recent automatic microsoft updates, but I can't recall whether those were just before or just after this problem arose.

Any suggestions very much appreciated! Below is a list of what I've tried so far.

Tom


1. Original problem: When I ran the program, I got this error message:

"Internal Program Error:

C:\FineReader6\StartUp\Batch\BatchDoc.cpp, 185."

It gave me two options: OK and Cancel.

If I clicked on OK, nothing happened. Program didn't load.

If I clicked on cancel, I got a runtime error ["This application has
requested the Runtime to terminate in an unusual way. Please contact the
application's support team for more information.)

Contacted Abbyy technical support and they recommended uninstalling and then re-installing from an url they gave me. Did that. It got rid of the error message, but the program still doesn't run.

2. Tried running the program with virus checking software turned off. No difference.

3. Spent all day yesterday, running, and updating various virus checkers to see if that might be the problem (Avast, SuperAntiSpyware, Ad-Aware, Malwarebytes' Anti-malware). Only minor things emerged and were corrected.

4. Uninstalled and reinstalled the Abbyy software several times. It's part of a suite of software I got with my Epson scanner. So I uninstalled all of that and reinstalled from the original disk. No difference.

5. Went through the Task Manger to id unnecessary programs that were running, and removed those. No change.

6. At this point Abbyy technical support says it's the virus checking software and to deal with their technical support. Contacted Avast, who replied promptly, and with disbelief that Avast was causing any problems. Suggested uninstalling all of their software, reinstalling Abbyy, and seeing if it made any difference. Will do that next, but am equally dubious it has anything to do with Avast.

Have you tried to go the the "Processes" tab of Task Manager, find the process that is the program you are trying to kill, then End the Process?

Do you have the latest Microsoft Runtime Libraries for C++ Installed?

KwikKomputers - yes, no problem terminating the process. But what I'm really trying to do is make that process visible.

cryptodan - I don't know about the Microsoft Runtime Libraries for C++. I will check that out when I get off work and make sure that's up to date.

Thanks for the very fast responses!

Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86) - try that one. There could be more

OK, I've updated Microsoft Visual C++.

Program's still not running (or, at least, still not visible) though.

If you still have the software installation media perform the following:

Download Revo Uninstaller and remove the software completely.

After that is done reboot the computer, and then reinstall the offending application.

If after this it still doesn't work then there is a compatibility issue between the software and some recent updates possibly.

Revo Uninstaller worked! This has been driving me crazy. Appreciate the help very much. Tom

You are welcome happy bleeping.