BleepingComputer.com: Problem detecting OS setup / configuration

Hey everyone,

I came to you because what Im experiencing using my current installation of Windows XP is completely out of my league, and Id really appreciate your help on this once since its something thats been bothering me for a year.
Windows XP:s (in finnish) 32bit home versions are really hard to come by, so Im planning on running this one until its unbootable.
On the same computer Ive installed Windows XP 64bit professional (English) to bypass some of these problems, but I feel like they are getting worse.
I only recently realized what the problem MIGHT be.
At first, I experienced problems running games (black screens and so on), and deducted that the problem was with my graphics card drivers (I had been fiddling around with them earlier), but was unable to install ANY of the drivers (including older versions or even trying to run it straight of the install discs).
At some point I tried to update my XP, but it starts hanging on the "Detecting OS" -part, before showing updates that would be relevant to me.
I thought this problem was completely unrelated, and tried to search for an answer but never found one.
After this I started having problems installing anything.At some point I thought it was a problem with windows installer, and used the lovely "Dial a Solution" to fix it. It appears theres nothing wrong with that either.
I went through the stage of thinking its a problem with *.msi:s since some programs DID install, but I came up with nothing.
Im unable to install any drivers, msi or exe.
There seems to be no pattern to this, and for a very long time, I thought the problems with games, drivers and updating were all completely separate issues, and just thought that they were "natural" problems that came up as my OS got older and older.
Today, however, I was trying to install a lot more stuff than I usually would.
And I noticed, that they all started hanging on the part where they detected my setup.

[SKIP TO THE ACTUAL PROBLEM]

Windows update would hang when it looked up my OS, so did the graphics card drivers and everything else, they all froze in the same place. And installers that didnt look up my setup to begin with installed fine with no problems.
Its ridiculous to switch to the other OS when I need to use a program I havent installed on this one. Its ridiculous that I cant update anymore.


I finally understand what the problem is, but can anyone come up with a solution?
Ive tried asking everyone but no one seems to have an answer for me, not even suggestions where I should start.
I know its very hard considering that there is no obvious solution, but just trying to help would make a certain geek girl very happy!


Even though its (probably) not hardware -related, here are my specs:

Videocard: Ati Radeon HD 3850
CPU: Phenom x4 9750
Motherboard: MSI K9A2 CF
RAM: 3Gb
Power: Nexus NX5000, 500 W

Hi Kuroko, and welcome to BleepingComputer.

Have you run any security scans on this computer?

Have you run any applications like chkdsk /r to see if there are any problems?

Do you have SP3 installed?

dc3, on 01 February 2011 - 01:26 PM, said:

Hi, thank you very, very much for answering me!
Ive run my HSS (Hippy Slay Squad), which is pretty much everything I have: Antivir (all the time)+ Malwarebytes A-M + Bitdefender (scan + online scan) Kapersky Pure (all the time) + Ad-Aware + SpyBot S & D (all the time) + F-Secure + Combofix + Dial-A-Fix + many others.

Tried chkdsk on start-up, no problems.
Before I knew the real problem, and only had symptoms, I tried quite many things (for example Dial-A-Fix and Combofix and so on) but ended up with nothing. Do you want my HijackThis logs?

Please do not post a HJT log in this forum.

dc3, on 01 February 2011 - 08:34 PM, said:

I wont, sorry :/

Hello....?
This is quite sad. This is what has happened to me every time:
The problem is not easy to solve, and there's no obvious solution; people just don't know where to start.
I always get one reply asking for something (last time it was about my hardware.... -_-), I get my hopes up, and the thread dies. I am disappointed, - everybody's too chicken to take on a challenge these days.

Let's see if we can unravel this a little bit.

Do you have SP3 installed on this operating system?

How are you getting your updates, automatically, or are you manually installing them?

Are you getting any error messages when the update fails?

Have you looked in the Event Viewer to see what errors are occurring at these times, I would also look for errors which have occurred at the times that you have gotten the black screen.

Check the Event Viewer to see what errors are showing up at these times. Each error has a date and time.

Go to Start> Run and type in eventvwr.msc, then press Enter.

When the Event Viewer opens click on Applications in the pane on the left.

If you double click on an error a description of the error will open. I would like for you to post this description here.

Go to Start> Run and type in clipbrd.exe, then click on OK, the clipboard will open.

Highlight the description and click on the text icon, this is highlighted in red in the picture below.



The highlighted text will now be on the clipboard. Highlight this, copy and paste this in your next post.

I won't be able to translate this, but I can use the Event ID to see what's being reported.

Have you looked in the Device Manager to see if there are any errors or warnings? An error appears as a red X, warnings are yellow exclamation marks.

Quote

I'm not familiar with Hippy Slay Squad, and the only reference I find for it is not in English and is spelled "Hippie" Slay Squad. Is this an active anti virus program? If it is, then you are running two active anti virus programs which can produce some of the problems you are experiencing. I would suggest that you disable one of these, Kapersky has a good reputation which I'm familiar with, so I would suggest using it. Using two or more active anti virus programs will create conflicts between them resulting in at least false positives, and can be responsible for your update problems as well.

I would also suggest that you not use Combofix, this is a very powerful tool written by one of our staff members and is not intended for use unless it is suggested by a member of our Malware Removal Team members who have been trained in its use. Inappropriate use of this program can lead to serious problems.

This post has been edited by dc3: 06 February 2011 - 04:26 PM

dc3, on 06 February 2011 - 12:26 PM, said:

Words cannot describe how much I appreciate you answering me! You have restored my faith in humanity..
Yes! I think you are on the right path! I have SP3 installed, but I think there were some problems with installing it, even though everything seemed to be fine afterwards, and these problems didnt occur until a lot later.
My updates are completely automatic, but when I try to download them from windows update, it will keep on searching for updates forever without any results or the search stopping. Keep in mind that I havent been able to update windows for at least a 9 months or so... :S
Ive never actually accessed event manager before, so this is an exciting new thing for me! Will prove useful later on too

Ill run some tests for you:

When attempting to start a game:

--this time wont even attempt to run, fails because of my graphics drivers are not installed properly, no error messages in event manager

When attempting to run windows update:

--hangs on Searching for new updates, no error messages in event manager

When attempting to install new drivers (catalyst software suite):

--hangs on detecting system, but again no events :/


I did manage to find an error from a week ago when I was trying to install something, a whole bunch of errors, actually.
Ill post what they said:

"
Tapahtuman lajiVaroitus
Tapahtuman lähdeMsiInstaller
Tapahtuman luokkaEi mitään
Tunnus1015
Päivämäärä31.1.2011
Aika13:22:28
KäyttäjäVERMILION\Kuro
TietokoneVERMILION
Kuvaus:
Tapahtumatunnuksen 1015 kuvausta ei löydy lähteestä MsiInstaller. Paikallisessa tietokoneessa ei ehkä ole tarvittavia rekisteritietoja tai DLL-sanomatiedostoja,jotka näyttävät etätietokoneen sanomat. Valitsinta/AUXSOURCE=voidaan ehkä käyttää kuvauksen hakemiseen. Katso ohjeista mahdolliset lisätiedot. Seuraavat tiedot ovat osa tapahtumaa:0x80040154;(NULL);(NULL);(NULL;);(NULL);;.

"

Checked the Device Manager, no errors, except for a few warnings in the sound department, ASUS Virtual Video Capture Device Driver and Microsoft Kernel DLS Synthesizer.

dc3, on 06 February 2011 - 04:24 PM, said:

HSS is just a package of different antivirus and cleanup tools created by Procyon. Im only running Antivir active, used Kapersky PURE trial for a month till last week, seems very decent.

I only used Combofix suggested and monitored by someone who knows what theyre doing, - that was a dead end too though.
They were very clear on its proper use before giving up on the case.

Kuroko, on 08 February 2011 - 02:48 PM, said:

Just a quick question if I may jump in.

Was it here at BC that you were instructed to use ComboFix, or at another help Forum?

If at another Forum, could you provide a link to the thread? May, or may not help us here.

<<...everybody's too chicken to take on a challenge these days.>>

I don't think that what you see as "a challenge" is the problem...I suspect that many would suggest a clean install as an option to determine where the problems might lie.

But your comments indicate that you won't consider such.

You seem to want a "fix" to something that may not be 'fixable", in terms of the methods that might be used by a normal user, IMO.

Louis

Louis,

I'm not even sure what is involved here, much less resigned to suggesting a re-installation of the operating system. It is evident that you believe that this is the proper course of action, would you please post why you believe this.

I use a clean install...as a method for determining whether I have a hardware problem or not...and for resolving unknown, unexplained O/S issues.

<<At some point I tried to update my XP, but it starts hanging on the "Detecting OS" -part, before showing updates that would be relevant to me.>>

<<After this I started having problems installing anything...>>

<<Im unable to install any drivers, msi or exe.>>

<<There seems to be no pattern to this, and for a very long time, I thought the problems with games, drivers and updating were all completely separate issues, and just thought that they were "natural" problems that came up as my OS got older and older.>>

<<Windows update would hang when it looked up my OS, so did the graphics card drivers and everything else, they all froze in the same place. And installers that didnt look up my setup to begin with installed fine with no problems.>>

If it were my system, I would clear everything...in order to find out if it's file system (NTFS) or a hardware problem.

I'm not considering malware because that's the last thing I normally consider.

Louis

Clean install is not an option for me.
There are no more Finnish XP homes on the market, and Im down to my last install.
If I could just do that, wouldnt I use my other OS?
Im almost 100 % sure that it is not hardware and 100 % sure that its not malware. But then again, Im not the expert here.
There is no easy solution for me.


My last option is reinstalling SP3, but I would very much like to avoid that, since pretty much nothing is installing on this OS and it would be a gamble.

This post has been edited by Kuroko: 09 February 2011 - 02:12 AM