Amazon Unbox Video Application

I installed the Amazon Unbox Video application (2.0) and was able to use successfully it a few times.

I get annoyed by every software vendor putting their junk in my start-up so I disable al lot of it. I did this to Amazon Unbox. Now when I boot up I get "Amazon Unbox Video System Tray has encountered a problem and needs to close ". I tried a reinstall which gave me a "repair" option but that didn't fix it. When I try to remove it with control panel add/remove I get "Amazon Video Application has encountered a problem and needs to close ".

So I used REGEDIT to remove all entries for Amazon and I deleted the application from Program Files then reinstalled -- no joy! I get the same messages on startup.

All suggestions are welcome.

 

Hi, RockFox.

Perhaps Event Viewer will provide more details about the application crashes. (I'm assuming you know how to access and use Event Viewer.)

Perhaps DebugWiz will provide helpful details. I admit I am not an expert with analyzing dump logs but since you're an expert of sorts, you might be able to make some sense of it. At least you can gather the information for the software vendor in case you wish to pursue help from them. Might be helpful to paste the program crash dump info here and maybe someone can offer suggestions.

Assuming you're using an OS that has System Restore, perhaps you can revert your system to the state it was in immediately after (or before, depending on your preference) you installed the Amazon Unbox Video application (2.0) and were able to use it successfully.

Then reboot.

If you restore your computer to a date/time immediately before you first installed the Amazon Unbox Video application, then you might be able to use a registry monitor such as the one included in jv16 PowerTools. (I think a fully functional 30-day trial is available.) Make a snapshot of your registry, install the application, reboot, and use the registry monitor to compare (so you can determine what registry changes are made as a result of your installation). Might take care of some of the registry mystery for you. I haven't recently used jv16PowerTools (jv16PT) Registry Monitor to do this so I don't know for sure how helpful it may be.

If you used MSCONFIG to disable some startups, then perhaps a different startup control utility would be better/safer.

• Startup Manager utility included in jv16 PowerTools
• Microsoft/Sysinternals Autoruns
• Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel

Since I mentioned a method that may lead to editing (or cleaning) the registry, I am including my standard disclaimer/caution for the benefit of all who may read this thread.

==========
DISCLAIMER/CAUTION: Editing/cleaning/repairing your computer's registry is potentially dangerous. You might render your computer unstable or even unbootable. Before you edit/clean/repair your registry with any method, be sure you make a backup of your registry. Be sure you know how to access and use that backup in case you muck up your computer.

If you decide to manually edit your registry, then be sure you are comfortable with editing the registry and I suggest you save a backup of at least the section you edit ahead of time in case you need/want to reverse your changes. Editing the registry can produce serious undesirable consequences if done incorrectly.

In any case, you should know ahead of time how to restore your original registry settings and prepare to do so in case the need arises.

• MVPS.org (Ramesh's Site): How to backup the Windows XP Registry?
• Microsoft KB322756: How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista
• Symantec: Backing up the Windows registry

I also suggest you create a System Restore point before making any changes (regardless of what method you use). System Restore may be accessed as follows.

• Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore

Microsoft KB306084: How to restore the operating system to a previous state in Windows XP
==========

Good luck and please let us know how you fare.

 

MailMan: Thank you for reminding me about Event Viewer. I had forgotten about this tool. Here is one of the entries:

Product: Amazon Unbox Video -- Error 1904.Module C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\Flash9c.ocx failed to register. HRESULT -2147220473. Contact your support personnel.

This is a know error much discussed on the Adobe site/

So I used Add/Remove Programs to remove the Flash Player and then I reinstalled it. It install Flash9e.ocx .I get the same error on startup of Amazon Unbox.

When I try to remove Amazon Unbox I get this Event:
Product: Amazon Unbox Video -- Error 1722.There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action uninstall, location: C:\Program Files\Amazon\Amazon Unbox Video\ADVWindowsClientApp.exe, command: --uninstall

When I do a Modify of Amazon Unbox I notice that it istalls Flash9c.ocx . So I think the problem is Flash9c.ocx and Flash9e.ocx in the same directroy.

I don't want to use System Restore for this because it started happening over three weeks ago and I don't want to undo stuff that I've done since then.

 

I'm not sure what to suggest.

I Googled HRESULT -2147220473 and got about 1 million hits including a Wikipedia page about HRESULT and "techie" links among them.

I Googled Flash9c.ocx HRESULT -2147220473 and got only 2 pages of results, most of which are sites that are not in McAfee's SiteAdvisor database (so I don't want to visit those links) and/or are foreign-language sites.

One of the links on the first page of my first Google search (that appears unrelated to Flash) suggests manually registering the offending .dll file.

Perhaps you can manually register the Flash9c.ocx ActiveX control (if that is necessary/doable)???

This is certainly outside my area of confidence so perhaps someone else can offer better suggestions.

 

I contacted Amazon Customer Service via their website and left a message about not being able to uninstall Amazon Unbox Video. They sent me an email and suggested that I uninstall. Well, duh! That's my problem.

There was a link to Amazon where I could login and give them my phone number and they would call me. In about 2 minutes the phone rang. The guy I talked with let me describe all that I had done and then he said that he didn't know anything about Unbox software but he would connect me with someone who could help me.

This guy had me try to uninstall/modify/install and remove Amazon from Application and Program Files directories, all to no avail. Then he said he would send me an email with more detailed instuctions. It arrived 5 minutes later and much to my surprise my problem is resolved. So I'm posting the main part of the email here for anyone else who is having the same trouble that I had.

This error occurs when there is a problem with the windows installer package. To prevent this from happening in the future, please follow the procedure listed.

Temporarily turn off all antivirus software, antispyware programs and ensure all other programs running in the background are turned off.

1) Windows Installer 3.1 Redistributable:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=889482fc-5f56-4a38-b838-de776fd4138c&displaylang=en

2) Windows Script 5.6
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=C717D943-7E4B-4622-86EB-95A22B832CAA

3) Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package (x86)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en

4) Microsoft Update for DRM-enabled Media Players
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=73C2650F-BE61-4BD6-8408-1FD6E7827CD8&displaylang=en

5) Amazon Unbox software
http://www.amazon.com/gp/video/help/install-client.html

BTW, I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought the two versions of the Flash player had something to do with the problem. I was wrong.

 

Hi, RockFox.

I'm glad you're back up and running. Thanks for your informative follow-up!