Installer cannot access c:\program data

[Robin Bignall]

I'm having problems installing / updating classic shell. For some
reason the installer cannot write to C:\program data.

I think this problem is a leftover from trying and failing to install
Win 8 earlier this week. Full details on win 8 group. The win 8
installer failed at 80% and Win 7 was a bit trashed:
- the drivers for my NIC were all uninstalled and I had to reinstall
them
- Kaspersky's Pure reported that it was corrupted and needed
reinstalling.
- now this problem with program data.

I have checked 'sharing' (none) and 'security' in the folder's
properties and nothing looks amiss. The classic shell reports that it
cannot find its install files on c:\program data (because they haven't
been written) and then assumes that it cannot uninstall or update a
previous version. But there is no previous version -- all cleaned out
by Revo Pro.

 

[Paul]

I'm having problems installing / updating classic shell. For some
reason the installer cannot write to C:\program data.

I think this problem is a leftover from trying and failing to install
Win 8 earlier this week. Full details on win 8 group. The win 8
installer failed at 80% and Win 7 was a bit trashed:
- the drivers for my NIC were all uninstalled and I had to reinstall
them
- Kaspersky's Pure reported that it was corrupted and needed
reinstalling.
- now this problem with program data.

I have checked 'sharing' (none) and 'security' in the folder's
properties and nothing looks amiss. The classic shell reports that it
cannot find its install files on c:\program data (because they haven't
been written) and then assumes that it cannot uninstall or update a
previous version. But there is no previous version -- all cleaned out
by Revo Pro.

At the risk of sending you into another tailspin...

0) System Restore ? If you know the date of the Win8 attempt,
perhaps it does a restore point before beginning ?

1) Try a repair install of Windows 7. You should have *exactly* a matching
DVD for the job, as described here. They claim here, that slipstreaming
in SP1 into a DVD, isn't good enough, and your DVD should be an actual
SP1 DVD if you're currently at SP1. (You can download an SP1 DVD, at least
for as long as digitalriver continues to sell Windows 7.)

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

A repair install would likely leave you with a "windows.old" folder,
and you can try removing that with Disk Cleanup rather than doing it
by hand.

2) sfc /scannow

That handles system files only. It won't fix permissions.

3) System Update Readiness Tool

Available for Win7 and Win7 SP1. Presumably this checks WinSXS.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20858

4) There are recipes that involve resetting permissions. CACLS,XACLS,subinacls,
things with "acls" in the name etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacls

Examples of screwing around with a couple files or three.

http://superuser.com/questions/3592...indows-7-file-permissions-to-a-rational-state

It seems "defltbase.inf" has some of the info. You can see this
has some info about registry, as well as specific parts of the
file system.

http://www.sevenforums.com/system-s...curity-setting-default-via-defltbase-inf.html

A one-liner here. What could go wrong ?

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-...ntly-changed-security-permissions-file-2.html

secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\inf\defltbase.inf /db defltbase.sdb /verbose

*******

I'd definitely want a backup before trying that stuff

Paul

 

[fritz]

I'm having problems installing / updating classic shell. For some
reason the installer cannot write to C:\program data.

I think this problem is a leftover from trying and failing to install
Win 8 earlier this week. Full details on win 8 group. The win 8
installer failed at 80% and Win 7 was a bit trashed:

At that point in time one should restore the image made prior to
trying to install Win8.

- the drivers for my NIC were all uninstalled and I had to reinstall
them
- Kaspersky's Pure reported that it was corrupted and needed
reinstalling.
- now this problem with program data.

And probably some other stuff that will eventually jump up and bite
you.

I have checked 'sharing' (none) and 'security' in the folder's
properties and nothing looks amiss. The classic shell reports that it
cannot find its install files on c:\program data (because they haven't
been written) and then assumes that it cannot uninstall or update a
previous version. But there is no previous version -- all cleaned out
by Revo Pro.

I would say that at this point there are a few courses of action:
1, Restore the image(s) (don't have one? - lesson learned, don't
make (radical, especially) changes without a safety net that you know
works)
2. Do a clean install of Win7 (might not have the goods to do that)
3. Do a clean install of Win8 - having Win8 was the original
objective, granted you wanted to upgrade, but clean might be
acceptable.
4. Bumble through, fixing stuff.

#1 is, of course, easy. #2 & 3 are a lot of work. #4 is definitely a
hard row to hoe - if not the utlimate computer nerd, it's real close
to wasting your time

Good luck with straightening that all out.

 

[Stan Brown]

I'm having problems installing / updating classic shell. For some
reason the installer cannot write to C:\program data.

Do you mean C:\ProgramData? There's no space in the folder name.

If the installer is trying to write to C:\Program Data, I think you
have your answer.

 

[Robin Bignall]

At the risk of sending you into another tailspin...

0) System Restore ? If you know the date of the Win8 attempt,
perhaps it does a restore point before beginning ?

Tried that, didn't work.

1) Try a repair install of Windows 7. You should have *exactly* a matching
DVD for the job, as described here. They claim here, that slipstreaming
in SP1 into a DVD, isn't good enough, and your DVD should be an actual
SP1 DVD if you're currently at SP1. (You can download an SP1 DVD, atleast
for as long as digitalriver continues to sell Windows 7.)

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

A repair install would likely leave you with a "windows.old" folder,
and you can try removing that with Disk Cleanup rather than doing it
by hand.

Ha! Repair installs require lots of rebooting, which my hardware won't
do.

2) sfc /scannow

That handles system files only. It won't fix permissions.

3) System Update Readiness Tool

Available for Win7 and Win7 SP1. Presumably this checks WinSXS.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20858

4) There are recipes that involve resetting permissions. CACLS,XACLS,subinacls,
things with "acls" in the name etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacls

Examples of screwing around with a couple files or three.

http://superuser.com/questions/3592...indows-7-file-permissions-to-a-rational-state

It seems "defltbase.inf" has some of the info. You can see this
has some info about registry, as well as specific parts of the
file system.

http://www.sevenforums.com/system-s...curity-setting-default-via-defltbase-inf.html

A one-liner here. What could go wrong ?

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-...ntly-changed-security-permissions-file-2.html

secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\inf\defltbase.inf /db defltbase.sdb/verbose

*******

I'd definitely want a backup before trying that stuff

Thanks, Paul. I'll take a look at those. backups, I've got.

 

[Robin Bignall]

Do you mean C:\ProgramData? There's no space in the folder name.
Yes.

If the installer is trying to write to C:\Program Data, I think you
have your answer.

My mistake, no answer.

 

[Robin Bignall]

At that point in time one should restore the image made prior to
trying to install Win8.

That is the problem. I did that, with this result. Other programs I've
downloaded just to try, install without problems. But the classic menu
is a .msi, and I've had trouble installing those before.

 

[Robin Bignall]

4) There are recipes that involve resetting permissions. CACLS,XACLS,subinacls,
things with "acls" in the name etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacls

Examples of screwing around with a couple files or three.

http://superuser.com/questions/3592...indows-7-file-permissions-to-a-rational-state

It seems "defltbase.inf" has some of the info. You can see this
has some info about registry, as well as specific parts of the
file system.

This stuff looks relevant, but it needs some study.

 

[Char Jackson]

Ha! Repair installs require lots of rebooting, which my hardware won't
do.

I'm not at all sure what you mean by that, but I've always been a big
fan of taking care of any hardware issues before tackling software. I
think it's important to do it in that order.

 

[Robin Bignall]

I'm not at all sure what you mean by that, but I've always been a big
fan of taking care of any hardware issues before tackling software. I
think it's important to do it in that order.

It is a hardware issue on which I can find no data. My computer simply
will not reboot from a restart command issued from within a program.
It's a new system, the BIOS is up to date, all of my programs run
perfectly. Except for Windows installers. (More details in the Win 8
forum.) Clicking on "restart now" in driver updates works fine.
Clicking on "shutdown/restart" works fine. But when a Windows 7/8
installer says "Your system will now restart", nothing happens, the
installer carries on and then fails because whatever should have
happened during the restart did not happen.
Paul and I have searched the web and found nothing mentioning this
problem. If you have any ideas please let me know.

 

[John Williamson]

It is a hardware issue on which I can find no data. My computer simply
will not reboot from a restart command issued from within a program.
It's a new system, the BIOS is up to date, all of my programs run
perfectly. Except for Windows installers. (More details in the Win 8
forum.) Clicking on "restart now" in driver updates works fine.
Clicking on "shutdown/restart" works fine. But when a Windows 7/8
installer says "Your system will now restart", nothing happens, the
installer carries on and then fails because whatever should have
happened during the restart did not happen.
Paul and I have searched the web and found nothing mentioning this
problem. If you have any ideas please let me know.

If you press the reset button while the restart message is showing, what
happens? The fact it reboots when clicking on restart prompts suggests
that the hardware is fine and the Windows shutdown executable is okay.

Have you run the system file checker? It's possible for the Windows
Installer, which is the executable used to open .msi files, to get
corrupted or to be an incompatible version. This could give the symptoms
you describe.

*Which* Windows 8 forum, by the way? There are many....

 

[Char Jackson]

It is a hardware issue on which I can find no data. My computer simply
will not reboot from a restart command issued from within a program.
It's a new system, the BIOS is up to date, all of my programs run
perfectly. Except for Windows installers. (More details in the Win 8
forum.) Clicking on "restart now" in driver updates works fine.
Clicking on "shutdown/restart" works fine. But when a Windows 7/8
installer says "Your system will now restart", nothing happens, the
installer carries on and then fails because whatever should have
happened during the restart did not happen.
Paul and I have searched the web and found nothing mentioning this
problem. If you have any ideas please let me know.

Oops, I thought it was a hardware issue that you were talking about, but
it's clearly software. Carry on.

 

[Robin Bignall]

If you press the reset button while the restart message is showing, what
happens? The fact it reboots when clicking on restart prompts suggests
that the hardware is fine and the Windows shutdown executable is okay.

In effect, yes. In the Win 8 installer, after getting updates, the
installer says something like "When you press 'next' your system will
reboot". I have tried rebooting at that point, but it doesn't work
because the installer does something like copying files between the
'next' and the issuing of a reboot command. If I reboot, that copying
has not been done and the install eventually fails.

Have you run the system file checker? It's possible for the Windows
Installer, which is the executable used to open .msi files, to get
corrupted or to be an incompatible version. This could give the symptoms
you describe.

I'll try that tomorrow. But it's odd that I get this problem (and have
*always* had it) with both Win 7 and 8 installers. The Win 7 install
was clean, of course, moving from XP, and I tried to install Win 8 very
soon after (months ago). I tried using "Repair your system" on the Win
7 disk, which is effectively reinstalling Win 7 on top of itself, just
like an XP repair install. That's when I first came across the problem.

*Which* Windows 8 forum, by the way? There are many....

alt.comp.os.windows-8

 

[Robin Bignall]

Oops, I thought it was a hardware issue that you were talking about, but
it's clearly software. Carry on.

I wish I could be sure of that. Odd that it happens with Win 7 and Win
8 installers.

 

[Robin Bignall]

Have you run the system file checker? It's possible for the Windows
Installer, which is the executable used to open .msi files, to get
corrupted or to be an incompatible version. This could give the symptoms
you describe.

Hmmm. Is this scannow or something like that? A command prompt does
not know it.

 

[Bob I]

Hmmm. Is this scannow or something like that? A command prompt does
not know it.

run command prompt as admin

SFC /SCANNOW

or SFC /? to see options

 

[Robin Bignall]

run command prompt as admin

SFC /SCANNOW

or SFC /? to see options

Thanks, Bob. It came to me 5 minutes after I posted.

 

[charlie]

Oops, I thought it was a hardware issue that you were talking about, but
it's clearly software. Carry on.

What is the make and model of the MBD ?

Some MBDs, intended for "over-clockers", have BIOS options that may be
involved. The options are sort of intended to force entry into BIOS
overclocking related routines, or to enter into a BIOS+Windows App that
is involved in monitoring and overclocking, and was active when shutdown
occurred. A situation similar to the shutdown and restart issue may
occur if some of the BIOS and overclocking options are set for "normal",
and others for overclocking support. I've had several MBDs that get into
problems when AMD's Overclocking utilities are used, and the BIOS
overclocking utilities are active as well. My solution was to generally
use the BIOS overclocking settings, but not have the BIOS utilities active.

A very few apps I've encountered will not install correctly unless
the install is accomplished via "The Administrator", and fail with
the conventional account with admin privileges.

Finally, as others may have mentioned, the shutdown sequence may
hang if networking related or other software is not terminating
properly. There can be order dependent issues as well.

 

[Robin Bignall]

What is the make and model of the MBD ?

Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3

Some MBDs, intended for "over-clockers", have BIOS options that may be
involved. The options are sort of intended to force entry into BIOS
overclocking related routines, or to enter into a BIOS+Windows App that
is involved in monitoring and overclocking, and was active when shutdown
occurred. A situation similar to the shutdown and restart issue may
occur if some of the BIOS and overclocking options are set for "normal",
and others for overclocking support. I've had several MBDs that get into
problems when AMD's Overclocking utilities are used, and the BIOS
overclocking utilities are active as well. My solution was to generally
use the BIOS overclocking settings, but not have the BIOS utilities active.

No overclocking. The M/B-processor combo is fast enough for me without
that. Just about everything in BIOS is set to 'auto'.

A very few apps I've encountered will not install correctly unless
the install is accomplished via "The Administrator", and fail with
the conventional account with admin privileges.

I tried that by activating the hidden admin account. No joy.

Finally, as others may have mentioned, the shutdown sequence may
hang if networking related or other software is not terminating
properly. There can be order dependent issues as well.

There is certainly a delay when I shut down, and I thought of that.
Maybe I should try installing with a clean boot. But I would have
thought that any program that issues a restart command should check that
the restart has actually happened before continuing.

 

[Robin Bignall]

Have you run the system file checker? It's possible for the Windows
Installer, which is the executable used to open .msi files, to get
corrupted or to be an incompatible version. This could give the symptoms
you describe.

Well, I ran sfc /scannow and it said it had repaired some files, but
classic menu still can't write to c:\ProgramData. Quite weird really,
for I've installed and uninstalled a few programs since then, and the
installs write to the folder without trouble; the uninstalls delete from
it successfully.