"Windows Installer" Dialog Box Pops Up During XP2 Startup

[JohnZ]

The last three times I booted up, I get a dialog box popping up about halfway
through the cycle entitled 'Windows Installer", which says "Preparing to
install..."; after a few seconds another box pops up over it entitled
"Setup", which displays the yellow triangle with the "!" in it and "This MSI
must be launched through Setup". I have to click "Cancel" to get rid of it,
and bootup then proceeds normally.

Concurrent with this issue, when I right-click on the "Start" button and
left-click on "Explore" to launch Windows Explorer, I get the window right
away, but only a few folders are shown initially in the left pane, and it
takes fully 45 seconds before my full tree finally shows up. Before I started
getting the "Preparing to Install..." dialog box at startup, it only took
5-10 seconds for the left pane to be fully populated with my tree, so the two
anomalies appear to be connected.

Has anyone experienced this before and have a solution? I'm considering
doing a System Restore to a prior date, but that may not prevent it from
recurring - I'd like to find the root cause and eliminate it permanently.
I've been an active PC user for 25 years, so I'm not new at this. Thanks!
--
JohnZ, Romeo, Michigan

[xfile]

Hi,

Just my guess for your reference,

Did you terminate any installation process before it finished up? It seems
installation was still attempted but could not be completed.

If so, run the setup file again and see if it corrects the problem. You can
use Add/Remove Programs to remove the program if you do not want to use it
and after it has been successfully installed.

Hope this helps.



"JohnZ" > ...
> The last three times I booted up, I get a dialog box popping up about
> halfway
> through the cycle entitled 'Windows Installer", which says "Preparing to
> install..."; after a few seconds another box pops up over it entitled
> "Setup", which displays the yellow triangle with the "!" in it and "This
> MSI
> must be launched through Setup". I have to click "Cancel" to get rid of
> it,
> and bootup then proceeds normally.
>
> Concurrent with this issue, when I right-click on the "Start" button and
> left-click on "Explore" to launch Windows Explorer, I get the window right
> away, but only a few folders are shown initially in the left pane, and it
> takes fully 45 seconds before my full tree finally shows up. Before I
> started
> getting the "Preparing to Install..." dialog box at startup, it only took
> 5-10 seconds for the left pane to be fully populated with my tree, so the
> two
> anomalies appear to be connected.
>
> Has anyone experienced this before and have a solution? I'm considering
> doing a System Restore to a prior date, but that may not prevent it from
> recurring - I'd like to find the root cause and eliminate it permanently.
> I've been an active PC user for 25 years, so I'm not new at this. Thanks!
> --
> JohnZ, Romeo, Michigan

[JohnZ]

Hi - thanks for the response! I haven't installed anything for at least a
month, and haven't terminated any processes prematurely. Just did a Norton
full system scan (I do that weekly anyway automatically) and that's clean,
and Spybot is also clean; must be something else. Thanks anyway - appreciate
your help.
Regards, John

"xfile" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Just my guess for your reference,
>
> Did you terminate any installation process before it finished up? It seems
> installation was still attempted but could not be completed.
>
> If so, run the setup file again and see if it corrects the problem. You can
> use Add/Remove Programs to remove the program if you do not want to use it
> and after it has been successfully installed.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
>
>
> "JohnZ" > ...
> > The last three times I booted up, I get a dialog box popping up about
> > halfway
> > through the cycle entitled 'Windows Installer", which says "Preparing to
> > install..."; after a few seconds another box pops up over it entitled
> > "Setup", which displays the yellow triangle with the "!" in it and "This
> > MSI
> > must be launched through Setup". I have to click "Cancel" to get rid of
> > it,
> > and bootup then proceeds normally.
> >
> > Concurrent with this issue, when I right-click on the "Start" button and
> > left-click on "Explore" to launch Windows Explorer, I get the window right
> > away, but only a few folders are shown initially in the left pane, and it
> > takes fully 45 seconds before my full tree finally shows up. Before I
> > started
> > getting the "Preparing to Install..." dialog box at startup, it only took
> > 5-10 seconds for the left pane to be fully populated with my tree, so the
> > two
> > anomalies appear to be connected.
> >
> > Has anyone experienced this before and have a solution? I'm considering
> > doing a System Restore to a prior date, but that may not prevent it from
> > recurring - I'd like to find the root cause and eliminate it permanently.
> > I've been an active PC user for 25 years, so I'm not new at this. Thanks!
> > --
> > JohnZ, Romeo, Michigan
>
>
>

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

How to resolve Common "Windows Installer" Problems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;555175&Product=winxp

Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301

Visit http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and scroll down to
Item No. 94 (Windows Installer Fix).

[Courtesy of Kelly Theriot, MS-MVP]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"JohnZ" wrote:

| The last three times I booted up, I get a dialog box popping up about halfway
| through the cycle entitled 'Windows Installer", which says "Preparing to
| install..."; after a few seconds another box pops up over it entitled
| "Setup", which displays the yellow triangle with the "!" in it and "This MSI
| must be launched through Setup". I have to click "Cancel" to get rid of it,
| and bootup then proceeds normally.
|
| Concurrent with this issue, when I right-click on the "Start" button and
| left-click on "Explore" to launch Windows Explorer, I get the window right
| away, but only a few folders are shown initially in the left pane, and it
| takes fully 45 seconds before my full tree finally shows up. Before I started
| getting the "Preparing to Install..." dialog box at startup, it only took
| 5-10 seconds for the left pane to be fully populated with my tree, so the two
| anomalies appear to be connected.
|
| Has anyone experienced this before and have a solution? I'm considering
| doing a System Restore to a prior date, but that may not prevent it from
| recurring - I'd like to find the root cause and eliminate it permanently.
| I've been an active PC user for 25 years, so I'm not new at this. Thanks!
| --
| JohnZ, Romeo, Michigan

[JohnZ]

Thanks for the information, but none of them describe the symptoms I'm
experiencing; I guess I'll do a System Restore to a date prior to the date I
began getting the message during startup and see if that cures it. Thanks
anyway! Regards, John

"Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:

> How to resolve Common "Windows Installer" Problems
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;555175&Product=winxp
>
> Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301
>
> Visit http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and scroll down to
> Item No. 94 (Windows Installer Fix).
>
> [Courtesy of Kelly Theriot, MS-MVP]
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows XP - Shell/User
> Microsoft Newsgroups
>
> Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
> http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "JohnZ" wrote:
>
> | The last three times I booted up, I get a dialog box popping up about halfway
> | through the cycle entitled 'Windows Installer", which says "Preparing to
> | install..."; after a few seconds another box pops up over it entitled
> | "Setup", which displays the yellow triangle with the "!" in it and "This MSI
> | must be launched through Setup". I have to click "Cancel" to get rid of it,
> | and bootup then proceeds normally.
> |
> | Concurrent with this issue, when I right-click on the "Start" button and
> | left-click on "Explore" to launch Windows Explorer, I get the window right
> | away, but only a few folders are shown initially in the left pane, and it
> | takes fully 45 seconds before my full tree finally shows up. Before I started
> | getting the "Preparing to Install..." dialog box at startup, it only took
> | 5-10 seconds for the left pane to be fully populated with my tree, so the two
> | anomalies appear to be connected.
> |
> | Has anyone experienced this before and have a solution? I'm considering
> | doing a System Restore to a prior date, but that may not prevent it from
> | recurring - I'd like to find the root cause and eliminate it permanently.
> | I've been an active PC user for 25 years, so I'm not new at this. Thanks!
> | --
> | JohnZ, Romeo, Michigan
>

[JohnZ]

Thought I'd follow up - I did a System Restore last night to a week before
the problem began occurring, and everything is back to normal again - no more
dialog box at boot-up, and Windows Explorer is back to normal operation.
Thanks for the responses! Regards, John

"JohnZ" wrote:

> Thanks for the information, but none of them describe the symptoms I'm
> experiencing; I guess I'll do a System Restore to a date prior to the date I
> began getting the message during startup and see if that cures it. Thanks
> anyway! Regards, John
>
> "Carey Frisch [MVP]" wrote:
>
> > How to resolve Common "Windows Installer" Problems
> > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;555175&Product=winxp
> >
> > Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
> > http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301
> >
> > Visit http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm and scroll down to
> > Item No. 94 (Windows Installer Fix).
> >
> > [Courtesy of Kelly Theriot, MS-MVP]
> >
> > --
> > Carey Frisch
> > Microsoft MVP
> > Windows XP - Shell/User
> > Microsoft Newsgroups
> >
> > Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
> > http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > "JohnZ" wrote:
> >
> > | The last three times I booted up, I get a dialog box popping up about halfway
> > | through the cycle entitled 'Windows Installer", which says "Preparing to
> > | install..."; after a few seconds another box pops up over it entitled
> > | "Setup", which displays the yellow triangle with the "!" in it and "This MSI
> > | must be launched through Setup". I have to click "Cancel" to get rid of it,
> > | and bootup then proceeds normally.
> > |
> > | Concurrent with this issue, when I right-click on the "Start" button and
> > | left-click on "Explore" to launch Windows Explorer, I get the window right
> > | away, but only a few folders are shown initially in the left pane, and it
> > | takes fully 45 seconds before my full tree finally shows up. Before I started
> > | getting the "Preparing to Install..." dialog box at startup, it only took
> > | 5-10 seconds for the left pane to be fully populated with my tree, so the two
> > | anomalies appear to be connected.
> > |
> > | Has anyone experienced this before and have a solution? I'm considering
> > | doing a System Restore to a prior date, but that may not prevent it from
> > | recurring - I'd like to find the root cause and eliminate it permanently.
> > | I've been an active PC user for 25 years, so I'm not new at this. Thanks!
> > | --
> > | JohnZ, Romeo, Michigan
> >