reading registry problem

[windstory]

Suddenly, I could not open You Uninstaller 2008 at windows 7 x64.

When I clicked You Uninstaller 2008's icon, this error came.

  2.1 Date   : Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:32:05 +0900
  2.2 Address: 00425C3F
  2.3 Module : uruninstaller.exe
  2.4 Type   : EJclRegistryError
  2.5 Message: Unable to open key "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" for read.

The attached file is EurekaLog 4.5.4's log.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[H2SO4]

(Interesting app. Apparently written in Borland Pascal, plus it implements its own catch-all crash handler. You don't tend to see those attributes much nowadays.)

The app tried to "open" a registry key in such a way as to be able to read from it afterwards, but that attempt failed for some reason and the app was unable to recover. You can see the key listed there at the top of the log:

"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders"

It's not immediately obvious whether it was going for the HKCU or the HKLM version of the key, but in a way it doesn't matter. Possible causes for the failure may include:

1) Does the machine have new anti-virus or new anti-malware utilities? "Your Uninstaller"'s activities could be construed as suspicious, so it's possible that the attempt was blocked by some sort of security software you've just installed recently.

2) It could be a permissions issue. For example, have you changed the account context under which uruninstaller.exe now operates? Perhaps you scheduled it as a batch job, or maybe a service? The account may not have permissions to the registry key.

3) It's a 32-bit app running on a 64-bit box, and registry virtualisation may be playing a part. This is a complex issue and beyond administrator control. If it's got something to do with registry virtualisation, the problem is a bug in the app, or maybe the vendor hasn't yet certified it to run on x64 Windows.

4) The app may have a memory leak which manifests itself as this type of breakdown.

5) It could be a miscellaneous bug in the app.


Suggestions:

- Check the permissions on that registry key and verify that the account that uruninstaller.exe runs under has at least read permissions.

- Check whether there are any updates for the app beyond "6.2.1347.0".

- Send the same text file to the app's developers. They might want to know about this issue, and they could offer you a specific way to fix it.

 

[windstory]

Suggestions:

- Check the permissions on that registry key and verify that the account that uruninstaller.exe runs under has at least read permissions.

- Check whether there are any updates for the app beyond "6.2.1347.0".

- Send the same text file to the app's developers. They might want to know about this issue, and they could offer you a specific way to fix it.

H2SO4/ Thanks for your kind reply and advise.

1. I installed "microsoft security essentials" after installing windows 7 x64, then installed your Installer.

2. I am running windows 7 as administrator and turned off UAC. About checking uruninstaller's read permission, I don't know how to do.

3. I sent.

 

[H2SO4]

1. I installed "microsoft security essentials" after installing windows 7 x64, then installed your Installer.

2. I am running windows 7 as administrator and turned off UAC. About checking uruninstaller's read permission, I don't know how to do.

3. I sent.

1) Assuming this crash in "Your Uninstaller" (YU from now) happens to you all the time, you might want to test what happens when you uninstall "MS security essentials", especially if that was installed just prior to the YU crashes starting. There's a possibility that the YU problem is being caused by security filter drivers preventing it from being able to read bits of the registry.

2) There's no need to disable the UAC and personally I think that's a bad idea. Regarding YU permissions, check whether YU is running as a service, a scheduled task, or as you. The Task Manager can tell you what user account context the uruninstaller.exe process is running under (check the "User Name" tab). If the account is the one you use to log on to the machine, test whether you yourself can reach the registry key in question using Regedit.

3) Good. If this is a known bug in the product, they should be able to offer a solution, or at least a suggestion on what to do to work around the issue.

 

[windstory]

Thanks, h2so4.