Resolved Can't install or uninstall programs, use Windows Update, etc.

My friend (not very computer savvy) can't install or uninstall programs or Windows Updates in Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, but especially, .NET 4 can't be installed so he can then install Family Tree Maker 2012

Things we've tried already that DID NOT work:

Run the "Program Install and Uninstall" troubleshooter
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/Program_Install_and_Uninstall

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Repair the .Net Framework 4 installation

Error when using the Windows Update or Microsoft Update Web site to install .Net Framework updates
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2507641

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Windows Update error 0x8007066A or 66A - Microsoft Answers
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...a/d4fe1203-d165-4e41-9f02-27f079167b2c?page=4

Tried Safe Mode and then try uninstalling .NET

If not then use the .NET Framework uninstaller......
http://www.aboutonlinetips.com/repair-remove-and-uninstall-net-framework/

Downloaded – Aaron Stebner's .NET Framework Cleanup Tool 6.0.3790
http://cid-27e6a35d1a492af7.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Blog_Tools/dotnetfx_cleanup_tool.zip

Microsoft .NET Framework Offline Installers
http://www.aboutonlinetips.com/download-offline-installer-microsoft-net-framework/

Download Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 Offline Installers
http://www.aboutonlinetips.com/download-offline-installer-microsoft-net-framework-4/

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How to fix MSI software update registration corruption issues
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971187

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Microsoft Updates Not Working, Windows Installer Not Starting
http://www.windowsbbs.com/windows-x...indows-installer-not-starting.html#post577654

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/

If neither of those work, Microsoft has unlimited no-charge e-mail support for updates:
https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...&wfxredirect=1

Recommended that he do the latter. No response so far.

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Can anyone help if Microsoft doesn't come up with a fix, or if they tell him that it can't be fixed and he has to do a complete clean install?

Thank you.

Frank D

 

This might be suggesting the stupidly obvious, but are you sure the account you're using to do the updates has the appropriate privileges?

 

No, it's a good question. We tried (via TeamViewer) running everything as Administrator and even took Ownership of everything. No change.

Frank D

Update: Personal thoughts: I should add that I suggested to him to do a System Restore back to a point before this happened. He has his reasons why he doesn't want to do that (which I think are kind of simplistic), for instance that he'll lose settings that he's made since then, and programs that he's made changes in will lose them. I've tried to impress on him that if S.R. works, it will be well worth having to do some things over again, but he's kind of thick-headed. I tried my best. If there isn't a fix for this problem, I'm going to leave him to the good graces of Microsoft (and offer him good luck). He asks the age-old question of "Should I trade this PC in for a Mac" and I answer him "Sure, if you want only what Steve Jobs decided you should have and pay twice as much for it." He's thinking it over.

Frank

 

Yes. It seems you've done a lot of troubleshooting this far. Just before I read your update, I was going to suggest that a lot depends on the arrangement you have with your friend. But my own position on situations like this is that the problem gets about 2 - 3 hours attention to fix it. If it doesn't jump out at me, then I dust down the re-install CD/DVD. The reason for this approach is simple. Its a quick cost / benefit analysis. I fix computers for a living in my home town here and therefore I have to keep an eye on the time I take to do these fixes. I simply cannot take the time necessary to track down elusive problems such as the one you have, because I can't pass these costs on to my customer. If I had customers with deep pockets, I probably could but I don't and I might get a substantial amount of money from them once but they wouldn't come to me again and neither would the people they know so I wouldn't be in business for long.

I know that it is a "sledgehammer to crack a nut" approach but, as I'm sure you well know, there are very good reasons for doing a clean reinstall every so often anyway. In any event, if you used the Easy Transfer wizard to backup and then restore after a reinstall, his settings would be retained and I'm sure it wouldn't take a lot to back up any program specific settings - such as photoshop actions etc anyway.

Good luck.

Regards,
Don.

 

Don,

Thank you for words of wisdom. I agree totally with your assessment of the problem and solution. I'll pass them along to him.

One question: As noted, he is using Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit, SP1. If he downloads the proper .ISO file to create the Windows Install Media, with SP1 included (assuming he doesn't already have the media), would he be able to do an in-place restore that would let him keep all his programs, files, settings intact? (Ref: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html )

Thank you!

Frank

 

It depends on the serial number that he has. Check the COA on the case and compare it to the encoded serial number on the machine. Use magical jelly bean keyfinder to find it. If it was a home build - as opposed to a manufactured pc such as Dell, Acer, HP, etc - then he should have a Win7 OEM or Retail DVD. Remember you can't use an OEM key with a retail DVD or vice versa. Neither can you use a Bulk key with an OEM DVD. If you have an OEM DVD and an OEM key then you should be able to do a repair.

However, as in all situations like this, you should always back up the system - preferably to a networked drive since that'll mean his data will be clear of the machine if it all goes pear shaped. Personally, my tool of choice is the Acronis True Image live CD. Alternatively, there are a number of Linux options. My philosophy is that its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it....

Regards,
Don.

 

It's an HP-made machine. The DVD I'm talking about would be downloaded from Digital River at http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65805/X15-65805.iso . HP does not supply install DVDs. I can't figure out from your description whether this would fit the bill or not.

Could you please elaborate? I really appreciate this.

When you say, ". . . my tool of choice is the Acronis True Image live CD. ", coincidentally both he and I use Acronis TrueImage Home 2010 Nonstop Backup. I touted him on it. It's maddening. I keep telling him he can always restore from this backup (as I have three separate times on my own machine in the past two years), but he's too obstinate to want to go that route. All that care and planning and he's afraid to use it.

Thank you!

Frank

 

Since its an HP machine, it'll have factory restore on a hidden partition and it'll be invoked by hitting one of the F keys during bootup - probably F11 sometimes F9. That means that it'll have the HP Bulk key encoded onto the reinstall routine. Essentially, what this means is that you're unlikely to be able to use a OEM DVD to do a repair as the two installs are not compatible. You will need to do a full reinstall so you're better off using the HP factory restore as otherwise you'll need to contact microsoft to get a replacement OEM key if there isn't a COA on the machine. I got one from microsoft for a vista laptop that I'd reformatted before I realised that the installations weren't compatible. I had to tell them that there'd been a hard drive failure...

There are a number of license variants for most versions of windows as far as I know.
Retail: A retail (comes in a retail box) license can be installed onto a machine and then moved to another machine but can only be used on one machine at a time.
Corporate: A corporate (volume) license can be installed onto a number of machines belonging to one company but it depends on the corporate license agreement between microsoft and the company.
OEM Bulk: This licence is provided to major system builders like Dell, HP, etc so that they can simply create an image and deploy imaged drives into their new machines.
OEM Std: This license is what most small system builders provide to their customers when they build a new custom machine. This license is only for the machine that its initially installed on and can't be moved to another machine.

The thing about them is that they are NOT interchangeable. Eg you can't use a OEM Std license with a corporate DVD and so on. You can google windows license options for more info.

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Don.

 

Don,

I can't thank you enough, and I know others reading this topic will thank you also.

Now I know what to tell my reluctant friend. My first recommendation will be to try System Restore from a date well before the occurrence. If that isn't available or doesn't work, do a full Acronis recovery from that date. Logically, that should work because it goes back to October. But if that doesn't work, cross your fingers and hope Microsoft will miraculously come up with a fix. If not, then as a last resort use the full HP factory restore and start over. That should cover it.

Thank you again, Don!

Frank

 

You're welcome Frank.

I should have also said that some - but not all -of these factory restore routines will give you the option to do a repair, but you won't know this until you start the reinstall routine.

But, as always in these situations, be sure to back up the latest data so that nothing is lost.

Regards,
Don.

 

One thing I did forget to suggest and you haven't mentioned trying is running sfc /scannow.
Its probably a long shot but worth a go.

 

Don,

Thanks for the suggestion, but we did that early on with no beneficial effect.

Just for the record, I'm going to include a quick list here of everything we did (with the help of Tweaking.com's Windows Repair) before opening this thread:

ran sfc /scannow
ran chkdsk /f

Reset registry and file permissions
Registered system files
Repaired WMI
Repaired the Windows Firewall
Repaired MDAC/MS Jet
Repaired the Hosts file
Removed policies possibly set by infections
Repaired Windsock & DNS cache
Repaired proxy settings
Repaired Windows Updates (at least tried to)
Set Windows Services to default startup

Frank

 

For what its worth, I'm in the process of doing a factory reinstall on a Dell Dimension at the moment, and earlier on, after I'd backed everything up, when I went to start the reinstall, I checked whether a repair was an option - it wasn't.

Whether HP offers a repair option you'll need to look and see. You can, of course, start the reinstall routine and see what options it offers. Just don't click on the Proceed / Begin / Whatever button to set the whole thing going.

I'd personally be saying "stuff this - I've wasted enough time on it" (or other words to that effect) by now and be backing up the data. There will, of course, ultimately be an answer but whether its worth the further effort is your call. Maybe one of the other more knowledgeable guys on here can give you further pointers. If I think of something else I'll get back to you.

Good luck.

Regards,
Don.

 

Thank you, Don. My friend is awaiting his second call-back from Microsoft. When he lets me know what kind of help or answer they gave him I'll post it here.

Frank

 

Update: My friend reports (12/17/11, in an e-mail): "I received a DVD from Microsoft for Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit. I'm planning to install with MS's instructions in a couple of days when I have unlimited time. "

Frank D

 

This problem has now been resolved. The in-place reinstall/upgrade as recommended by Microsoft worked as advertised. My friend's system has been returned to normal, he can install and uninstall programs normally, and he didn't lose anything. The bottom line is that if you have a problem with Windows Updates, Microsoft will help you via e-mail free of charge (https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...&wfxredirect=1), and in this case they even supplied (free) the install DVD to do the job. Persistence does pay.

Thanks for your help, Don!

Frank D

 

No problem Frank. The only thing I would say is that although he got the end result he wanted, it took a fearful amount of time to get there.He would have been (arguably) better off to have bit the bullet a fortnight ago and done a backup/restore like we were discussing and he'd have been up and running a long time ago. However, all's well that ends well as they say...

Regards,
Don.

 

Don,

Yes, a restore from the Acronis Nonstop Backup might have done the trick (no way of knowing if his backup went back far enough to have avoided the problem. Only way to find out would be to try it -- and possibly try and try again . . . ). One material benefit he gained from this exercise, in addition to a freshly working system, is that now he has a full install DVD from Microsoft, with SP1, which he didn't have before. A relatively high price to pay for such a prize, I know, but . . .

I'm just glad that it worked and he's happy.

Frank