Previously installed software will NOT reinstall!

Dear All,

To a novice like me this seems a really weird problem.

We have a Canon Powershot A80 digital camera.

With it was bundled the "Canon Digital Camera Solutions Disk v14" CD which includes the programs ZoomBrowser, PhotoRecord and PhotoStitch amongst other things.

Initially the CD loaded and installed everything perfectly.

Recently we've had a few PC problems which have necessitated more than one HD format and Windows 98SE reinstallation.

On each occasion, obviously, we've had to reinstall the above software and each time the process has been completed without a hitch, until-------

-----NOW!! This last time PhotoRecord WILL NOT INSTAL. We've gone through the process umpteen times but the result is always the same. Everything installs except PhotoRecord.

There are no error messages.

We've tried running the PhotoRecord setup.exe file manually from the disk. Nothing happens.

We've tried installing the software on two other computers. No problem. Everything, including PhotoRecord, installed on both these alternate systems. One had Win 200 Pro and the other had Win 98SE (!!) installed.
Therefore, there is nothing wrong with the CD. Presumably there must be SOMETHING wrong with our latest incarnation of Win 98SE.

But what can it be??

Ironically our PC is currently "working" as well as it ever has, which makes the problem all the more galling.

Can anyone throw some light on this situation and possibly point us in the right direction to solve this problem?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Graham Newey

 

Hi Graham,

Canon PowerShot A80 Digital Camera Support:

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=SupportDetailAct&fcategoryid=221&modelid=9449

ski123

 

Go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs and uninstall ALL of the Canon Digital Camera Solutions Disk v14 bundled programs, Reboot, then try installing everything fresh.
This may or may not help, but it is worth a shot

 

The support site via the link ski123 gave you will lead to uninstall and reinstall instructions. Sometimes installing or reinstalling is fruitless unless you clean the slate and start the whole process again. I got the idea that this is the case when it comes to the software for your camera. If the first install was problematic, it must be redone from the getgo versus a reinstall on top of it’s self. So many things can go wrong with a device install like this, that make it hard to give you any advice that is more than general rather than specific. Most of the install conflicts, hurdles and "jumping through hoops" are user specific, based on user blooper or the computer hardware/software combo or both.

This particular software bundle is made all the more difficult to research, zero in on or pin down because it is so commonly distributed with scanners, printers and cameras. Made even more difficult by all the versions and manufacturers, and in your case, no errors that you can detect or have thus far revealed.

General advice is to use the Cannon Support link, find the uninstall/reinstall procedure sublinks, follow them to the letter and take no shortcuts. While using that link, I noticed, they do stress the deletion of prior *.inf files. They also have other helpful checks that can be made via "device manager" to make sure this is done correctly. Remember to reboot between the uninstall and reinstall process. You may wish to take this uninstall process to the extreme by ie; [1]also checking for any possible remaining remnants of any of the components and software folders, [2]safemode bootup and a peek into Device Manager to make sure nothing is left in there, [3]deletion of temp files and empty recycle bin, [4]possible registry cleanup check (but since you've described yourself as a beginner, I can't really recommend this). If this is a recent install problem and other things have not been updated or installed since the Camera, and after doing all the proper Camera&Software uninstall procedures, a possibly work around for the "manual registry cleanup" would be using Windows Scanreg to restore a previous registry backup: how-to > "restart in dosmode" and at the c: prompt use the typed command of scanreg /restore and roll your registry back to a date that predates the Canon install. Are you familiar with this windows procedure and the registry backups that are kept by default?

When reinstalling this, again follow the "Canon support instructions" word by word, step by step and take no shortcuts. Prior to the install, make sure your computer meets or beats any requirements such as IE browser version, Graphic adapter settings (800x600 or better, 16bit high color but 32 bit may be better.) Get or update to the latest Quicktime, directx, windows installer, usb update, etc. that your computer is happy with (The latest does not necessarily mean it is the greatest for your comp). Make sure your Printer is working with no problems. Be sure that nothing is running in the background that may interfere with the install (use key combo of cntrl/alt/del and "end task" on all with the exceptions of systray and explorer).

Look for any text or log made during the install process and open it notepad. Usualy you can find something in the windows\temp file but also look for this in the c: root or the folder it's been installed into. Sometimes something is noted in these that offer an indication or a clue to any problem with some step in the process.

If you have one of those fussy cdroms that seem to be less than happy when your using certain cd brands or a cd that has seen better days and is a bit worn, try copying the cd to folder and installing this from the folder on your harddrive.

Cannon support fell a little short for customer support by not supplying information about any known conflicts with other devices or software. In the end, you may have to resort to more personal customer support by email or phone to get this type of information. They do not seem to want to share this type of info publicly. The bonus is this service seems to be toll free:
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/co...Act&keycode=2110&fcategoryid=221&modelid=9449

 

It would be so nice if that worked everytime.

But MANY times it requires a MANUAL search of the HD to remove the folders and stuff that may be left over. I have yet to find an uninstaller that does a COMPLETE job.

It also may well require a Registry clean up with something like RegSeeker.

And in the case in question it may well be in the Registry more than once.

Also with 98 it is a good idea that once the cleanup is done and all seems to be OK that the RB00x.cab files be deleted and a new one made. BEFORE the new install.

I believe goddez1 also mentioned the RB000.cab files.

BillyBob

 

It may or may not. Just another step in the troubleshooting process.
If it does work that easily, we just saved him time and we have a happy user.
I don't know that I would send a 'beginner' into the registry until absolutely necessary.

 

DumbTerminal

I am in no way finding fault or arguing with your suggestions/ideas.

However my replies refer to things from EXPERIENCE.

As I mentioned before " I HAVE YET TO FIND " an uninstall that works as it should everytime. Especailly if it there has been more than one attempt at a install.

What they are supposed to do and what they do do can quite often be two completely different things.

I will in no way disagree with that. But I have just found via problems of the type of my own that it may be necessary.

And I have also found some uninstalls that do not even touch the Registry. I have uninstalled some things ( many ) and found that the Folders still existed AND the Registry was not even touched. And if the folders do still exist the Registry entires may not be removed anyway because they may still be considered " LEGAL entires "

Alais. What is supposed to happen and what does happen can be two TOTALY DIFFERENT things.

FRUSTRATING as all HE**

BillyBob

 

I see where Graham has posted a copy of this problem in the Canon Digital Photography Forums.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=93468
As you can see, no replies as yet.

I wonder if USB has been or is disabled in the BIOS.

ski123

 

The above statement does/may not agree with the statement below.

Over what period of time where the formats required ?

And what were the problems that you say more or less force the formats ?

I do have to ask for more or less my own info. Would that stop the software from installing ?

BillyBob

 

I am going to add my two cents. I think this probably has to do with the twain driver associated with the camera . The Software needs this to be able to fetch the images, just like scanner software does.
I would guess that it has to do with the order in which software and hardware have been reinstalled, for some reason the twain driver is not being loaded correctly, or the software is trying to integrate to an incorrect twain driver (like for the printer).

As long as this took, you may want to cut the losses and do another format and install and try installing this software early on in the process.

 

Thank you PeteC

BillyBob

 

Ok now I am more confused than ever.

The above quote tells me that PhotoRecord, is a standalone program which does not even require a camera. Although it may have the capability to get pixs from the camera.

It Reads very similiar to the programs PhotoSuite and/or PhotoShow 2 that I have which use files that are already on the HD.

I do not understand that at all. I think it would be a good idea to find out WHY THAT had to be done ?

Are we possibley over looking something ?

I think/ask that because I have one PC that goes WAY back to the days of the original 95 and has not been formated since and it now has 98SE on it. And a COPY of that HD with XP Pro is what I am working with right now.

My last ( for now ) 2 cents is that there may well be a Hard Drive/Hardware problem.

BillyBob

 

Dear "EVERYBODYâ€,

All my sincerest thanks for your collective time and trouble taken over this little problem.

Let me comment/report as follows: -

ski123: Had already looked at your USA Canon Support link and the UK equivalent. To be honest, could find nothing that related to my particular problem.

PeteC: Had previously read your Google thread (amongst many others). Again, I couldn’t find anything there that helped. As you pointed out the PhotoRecord update is, indeed, of no use, as the original program is not installed. Not quite sure what you meant about swapping the CD drives around. I have a CD-RW drive and a separate CD-ROM drive. Put CD in both, but got same result in both (i.e.: Everything except PhotoRecord installed).

DumbTerminal: My apologies if I didn’t make this clear in my original post but I carried out your proposed procedure several times. Always the same result (guess what!)

goddez1: Could not find any uninstall/reinstall instructions on the support sites. Any chance you could give me a specific link? Decided to reread my "Software Starter Guide" bundled with the camera. Realised that during the uninstall process I had taken a "shortcut" re the TWAIN driver. I had been uninstalling the driver without first removing the "camera" via the "Control Panelâ€. Could find nothing on the support link about deleting prior *.inf files. Again, do you have a specific link? Found some instructions re this subject in "Troubleshooting" section of the "Software Starter Guideâ€. Noted your comments re "extreme uninstallâ€. Could find nothing in "Device Manager" of any relevance. Not too confident re "Scanreg/restore" command in DOS and anyway can’t remember original Canon installation date. My computer meets or beats all system requirements. Printer is fine. Could find no "text" or "log" during install process. Tried copying CD to folder and installing from there. No good. Have e-mailed Canon and "˜phoned UK Customer Services (see below).

BillyBob: Your comments re manually tidying up uninstall noted and appreciated. Your comments re deletion and re-manufacture of RB00x.cab files are completely over my head. Couldn’t see any comments from goddez1 on this subject.

ski123: Yes I did put problem on Canon forum. At time of writing it had had 77 "views" but no replies! Quite extraordinary. USB not disabled. I can download pix (using ZoomBrowser) from camera. See comments from PeteC.

BillyBob: My comment "the disk is in pristine condition" was in the post on the Canon forum, and referred to the CD, NOT the HD. From memory I think there were two formats due to file corruption (?) and one system file roll back over a period of some 2 months.

PeteC: Can download images from Camera (using ZoomBrowser). PhotoRecord is also printing software used by ZoomBrowser (in this context anyway) as default printer.

oshwyn5: See my comments above (goddez1) about "incomplete" TWAIN driver uninstall. You have no choice re order in which software and hardware is installed. You just follow instructions in the onscreen wizard and the "Software Starter Guideâ€. Your comments made me reread the "Software Starter Guide" and find my procedure error. There is no way I’m formatting and reinstalling Win98SE again until I must. As mentioned before my system is running absolutely great. I don’t want that messed up. We’re using "PhotoFiltre" as an alternative image editor. It’s just that my wife likes "PhotoRecord" so much----------------------

BillyBob: PhotoRecord is a standalone program--- image editor, album former, and printer. In this context it is used in conjunction with ZoomBrowser.

Having taken everything you’ve all said on board I decided to give it one more go, as follows: -

Stopped all running programs using "EndItAllâ€
Uninstalled all elements of software and driver properly as per "Software Starter Guideâ€
Ran "RegCleaner" and also manually deleted all software entries relating to Canon
Ran registry cleaning tool within "EasyCleanerâ€
Checked "Add/Remove Programs" app
Manually removed folder and file remnants left over
Used regedit and deleted references to ZoomBrowser and associated software
Emptied Recycle Bin
Emptied Temp files
Followed instructions re removing *.inf files
Checked Device Manager

Then I rebooted and reinstalled from CD. Guess what? No good. PhotoRecord still not installed.

Have e-mailed Canon Support. They suggested turning off AV software before installation. Had done this anyway. Also made same suggestion as goddez1 about copying files from CD to HD and installing from there. No good.

Have spoken to Canon Customer Services UK three times (lst time yesterday). They are now referring matter to a "Software Specialist" as it is beyond them!!

Any more ideas guys?

Regards to you all,

Graham

 

They need to be kept up to date. But at the same time the old ones should not realy be deleted until you are sure that all is going to be OK.

Lets say you do FINALY get the mentioned software installed today. YESTERDAYS RB00X.cab file can and will UNDO IT ALL if it should get used. So if it ain't there it can't get used.

That my Friend I learned the hard, bad language making way years ago. I added one thing. Removed two. Then without THINKING I used a three day old RB00X.cab file. NOTHING worked or at least not properly ) because what the reg asked for was not on the HD. All kinds of error messages.

That was the time that I went to work and found that scanreg/restore would work from the Floppy.

Keeping these backups up to date is just as important as keeping Windows itself updated.

A bad or out of date backup can sometimes be as much trouble as none at all.

BillyBob

 

I forgot to suggest trying this.
It has solved this in the past on a Norton AV install which did not complete as well as epson printer/ scanner software which would not reinstall .
Windows installer cleanup utility

Only cleanup the one you are having problems with.

 

Evening All!

Spencer (Canon Software specialist) "˜phoned me 10.00AM this morning (7.9.05).

Spent nearly 30 minutes with me discussing what I’d done and what I should have done. Didn’t really tell me anything new.

Pointed out that as the software CD had installed on two other computers then the CD itself was AOK.

He said that the next obvious assumption was that there was something wrong or missing or corrupted in my system files.

He said that when you tried to install a program the setup process "looked" for a "gap" or a "home" to put the program in. Should there be some anomaly or corruption the setup process could baulk and installation would fail.

At this point he suggested using the sfc tool (System File Checker). I told him that I’d done that and it’s operation had not bought any problems or corruption to light.

He then said that the logical next step would be to manually examine the registry, but pointed out that to do that you would need to know what you were doing! This is really beyond my level of expertise.

The FINAL step is to format HD and reinstall Win 98SE. As previously mentioned, I’m not prepared to do this at present.

SOOOO----, Spencer said that as he wasn’t a Microsoft trained computer technician ( but just a Canon software expert) he had really gone as far as his expertise would allow. This seemed reasonable comment.

As a final gesture he has promised to send me a CD containing the installation files for the LATEST version (v2.2) of PhotoRecord and suggested that I try to manually install from that.

I’ll let you know how I get on.

Don’t hold your breath!!

Regards,

Graham

PS: Wrote this before seeing last three posts from BillyBob, PeteC and oshwyn5. Will respond when I confirm installation of v2.2 !!

 

Previously installed software will no reinstall!

Whoopee! Yippee! Eureka! Yaruba! Yaruba! Bingo!

Can you guess what I'm going to say next?

The CD with PhotoRecord v 2.2 on it, duly arrived.

Installed a treat and integrated perfectly with existing ZoomBrowser (v 4.5)!!

As a very famous Englishman once said------------- Howsaboutthatthen?!

I think I'll quit whilst I'm ahead, although it's still a mystery that PhotoRecord 2.0 wouldn't play ball.

Thanks again to everybody for all your time and effort.

BillyBob: Still not with your comments re RB cab files. Are you saying that RB cab files should be manually deleted and remade (how on earth do you do that) on a daily (?) basis? Are they not replaced automatically?

PeteC: OK--- got there in the end! I wouldn't know how to physically swap CD drives.

oshwyn5: Looked at your Windows Installer Cleanup Utility link. Will give it some thought.

Best wishes,

Graham