On the Brink of Insanity - Adobe Flash registry corruption & msi f

[UberGeek451]

After spending many hours, I finally managed to get a copy of Windows 2000 to install in unattend, using nLite to create the distribution. nLite would quickly produce working slipstreams but something in the addition would cause invalid data popups. The problem seemed to be resolved once the drivers were eliminated

This package was then used to install fresh copies of the OS onto two functioning but separate machines running multiboot setups with multiple partitions.

After some minor corrections and preferences, I was delighted by the results and invested a great deal of time perfecting the system.

Unfortunately, over the next few days I noticed some troubling device glitches in DCOM/WMI. These were eventually traced to an improper Adobe Flash installation with the name FlashUtil10b.exe, a common addition to many nLite distro's. This was NOT an nLite error, or a virus, but something which demands equally serious evaluation since it will slowly destroy any operating system through a war of attrition. The Flash utility may incorrectly set it's HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT permissions with the "Deny Anonymous Logon" by including the "Deny Everyone", then going for the jugular by failing to limit this behavior to its own CLSID, wrecking a cascade of COM+ values on keys directly below.

I had problems with this same issue a while back after loading a different version of this rotten little app in a much different setting. This was installed in "very attended" mode, by me, the administrative user, in an actively working system. Never figured that one out, but this time was different. There were a number of partial installations involved, with many details invisible to registry searches due to these permissions. After spending many hours on the mind numbing task of comparing CLSID's, rebuilding the registry, and re-enumerating various entries, I wouldn't touch this file with a ten foot pole. I can still recreate the issue and will try to post the details later if anyone is interested in a life insurance policy against death by a hundred "silent failures".

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now for the questions:

I now have a pair of delightful and very stable operating systems with a couple of lingering problems.

a.) After the sfc /scannow command, the WFP appears to play nice but returns a string of event log notices indicating that Windows failed to find C:\WINNT\System32\ BUT NO FILE NAME!

b.) Has anyone ever experienced a rare form of msi bungling where some installations either fail or are only extracted as 64 bit files. I've had a helluva a time with Intel Pro/Wireless drivers during the last three days. Hint: My other system (the one with a working internet connection) is an IBM 64 bit P4 although I have never touched a 64 bit application or loaded a single driver. Is the Web Nanny at Intel or Microsoft capable of failing me as well by incorrectly deciding that I need 64 bit drivers or other code.

c.) Am I insane for going this far when most normal people would throw in the towel and start all over?

During a visit to Microsoft I was convinced that my mind was failing after deciding on a second download, then noticing the following confession: kb/898628/ ) Windows Installer fails silently after you upgrade to Windows Installer 3.1 WTF???

Suggestions anyone?

[jaclaz]

a.)

What is the path to which you installed Windows?

NT defaults to \WINNT\, as well as 2K, whilst XP defaults to \WINDOWS\.

Is it possible that you installed to \WINDOWS\ but something has remained lingering (I presume in the Registry) either pointing to \WINNT\ or - by omission - having the system look in the "wrong" path?

b.) No, afaik, but I remember quirks with permissions (on NTFS drives) see here:

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=966&st=11

(you are not the only one "fighting" with stoopid .msi's)

c.)No, you are perfectly sane (coming from one that has used since 2003 the same install of Win2K as test machine without EVER re-installing) .

jaclaz

Edited May 10, 2010 by jaclaz

[UberGeek451]

Hi jaclaz

Thanks for the encouragement.

Re: a.)

Installation path was WINNT. All others behaved nicely as well. nLite properly redirected my Program Files and Users (Documents & Settings) to alternate partitions and did this very well, encoding the unique prefixes (W2Program, W2Document) so they're kept separate from the others. Best of all, the usual \common files\ path screwups from MS legacy apps like notepad, Outlook, etc. did not break the rules.

BTW, I need to confess that I snagged the copy of WINNT.SIF generated by nLite and made a single edit before running my Unattend command. My dllcache is always redirected to another partition (to reduce OS bloat and fragmentation) by adding a variation of the following:

[systemFileProtection]

SFCDllCacheDir="G:\W2_WFP"

SFCShowProgress=1

SFCQuota=FFFFFFFF

Could this be the source of my WFP sfc issues? Never had any problems using this option before but also don't know the rules or inner workings of nLite either. Perhaps a trailing backslash or internal expand command???

I hope nuhi will consider this option and add it to his next build. It's very clear that a lot of nLite users enjoy a mean and clean OS. It's also a safe but portable option and there have been plenty of times when the directory was lost after a familiar Windows game, playing hide and go seek with the user during it's traditional logical drive letter reshuffling act. Another copy always appears, automatically re-created by the OS. Assuming the pointers to the new dllcache / i386 are correct, this might have distinct advantages,

if I'm correct in assuming a single mouse click could perform a purge/delete/rebuild.

Re: b.)

Nope, not on an NTFS. Like the MoonGoon, I despise the msi for the sole reason that MS created an entire industry based on unforgivable confusion and complexity. Took me hours to learn the State secret of how to coax this creature out of silence and talk to me. Thanks to a Symantec post, I learned the "CLEVER ones" do permit a verboose mode called "squawkbox". Installing an msi produced some 600kb of "valley speak" with a single line code alluding to some error...so back on the trail to find the Holy Grail!

Only information of merit indicated VM's or some cryptic nonsense about 32 bit processors using 64 bit masquerading and setting special reg keys for "registry reflection". This seems to happen continually on INTEL driver downloads from various sites, which either fail to install or self-extract to folders bearing the "E" suffix (ie:IA32E), the 64 bit masquerade.

Intel made my processor, they wrote the software and they seem to be one of the few who bundle 32 & 64 bit code into single installers. A search of their site produced zilch but twice this week I've caught their msi's writing incorrect paths in my registry. When I get back to town I'll be on a mission to find my Atheros mini PCI. I wont toss the card but decided to cover it in peanut butter and feed it to the squirrel's instead. This should provide a moment of great pleasure to watch them go nuts instead of me! http://www.msfn.org/board/public/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I love Win2K far more than the rest but I'm not out of the woods yet.

Any tips on how to refresh the CLSID stack? I'm a bit over my head on this one and don't know vbs.

Still got some broken COM+ junk (don't we all?)but never heard of any method to rebuild this. Figured a COM re-install would definitely do the trick but don't know if existing objects would be lost in the process.

If the Regsrvr UnRegsrvr type commands can do this for dll's and exe's, then certainly there must be a registry listing, ini, or inf which would specifically target these keys using a batch file or script. If so, then file and path listings like those found in the 0.map key like the one listed below would look promising:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Advanced INF Setup\mshtml.DllReg\RegBackup\0.map

Thanks,

Uber_G

[Kelsenellenelvian]

I hate to burst your bubble but there is no real chance of another version of nLite comming out...

Nuhi dissapeared right after ie7 and SP3 came out...

Despite ALL attempts to get ahold of him no-one knows where he has gone to or even if he is still alive.

[cluberti]

He's still alive , and still easily found. He's moved on to other things at the moment, but I would expect no newer versions of his tools anytime soon.

[UberGeek451]

Good software, like good literature, lives on no matter what course the author has taken. As we can all see, nLite has taken on a life of its own.

BTW, The driver problems were resolved and I now have a wireless connection on the laptop. The peanut butter trick is what finally fixed my problem. Immediately after posting this veiled threat of annihilation, my Intel wireless msi installers mysteriously began responding after several dozen odd downloads and three days of sheer hell!

Gosh.... hope I don't have an ndis keylogger!