Strange Behavior in Windows XP Mode

[RP McIntosh]

I have something strange going on in Windows XP mode. I did an update to my Norton Antivirus that is installed on the XP Virtual Machine. There was a problem with that update (it needed a restart and it shut the virtual machine down, but it did not start again by itself). So I started it manually, and was faced with a popup to uninstall Norton Antivirus. I knew it had downloaded a new version in the update, so I went ahead. It unistalled without a problem. But a new version did NOT install after an XP Mode reboot.

So, with a lot of mumbling and grumbling, I decided to reinstall Norton Internet Security on the Virtual Machine. Here is where the strange behavior happens.

When I insert the installation DVD in the drive, nothing happens. However, the DVD is accessible through Windows Explorer, and I can see all the folders and files OK. But if I double click the START.EXE file (which is what the autorun.inf file says should be run), I get an error that says D\START.EXE IS NOT A WIN 32 APPLICATION.

Now, I would think that perhaps the Start.exe file had been corrupted by damage to the DVD, or something like that. But if I exit XP Mode, and return to Windows 7 and double click th START.EXE file, it brings up the "Do you want to Install?" box.

Note also that I origially installed Norton on the XP machine from this very same DVD. So it has to be something new in the XP machine that is causing this problem.

Any ideas?

 

[Darician]

Since that's what caused it, I would suggest a System Restore within XP Mode to a point before all this happened to see if doing it again causes the same thing or not.

 

[RP McIntosh]

Since that's what caused it, I would suggest a System Restore within XP Mode to a point before all this happened to see if doing it again causes the same thing or not.

Good idea. It hadn't occurred to me that I still had System Restore within XP Mode to let me restore XP only. It's certainly worth a try. Will let you know what happens.

 

[RP McIntosh]

Since that's what caused it, I would suggest a System Restore within XP Mode to a point before all this happened to see if doing it again causes the same thing or not.

Just a follow up for your info. I decided to try to restore a backup of the XP Mode rather than do an XP Mode System Restore. That worked, but then I ran the Norton Update again, and it did the same thing that it had done before. This time, however, I managed to do something wrong in restoring the backup, and ended up with what amounts to a new installation of XP Mode (I now have XP Mode 1, and the original XP Mode is gone (though the vhd files for it were still there). So, to make a long story a bit shorter, I went ahead and configured the new XP Mode 1 installation, downloaded and applied all the Windows updates for it, and this time, also downloaded and installed the Microsoft Security Essentials software, rather than trying to reinstall Norton on the XP Mode. Though it took about 4 hours of updating, reinstalling of XP Mode applications, etc, it seems to be running OK, at least for now.

I will, however, keep in mind the fact that I do have the System Restore capability in XP Mode, should I need it in the future.