No programs will install on Win98 machine

OS:
Win98 First Edition
64 megs of RAM

I've got a friend who lives out of town that I have been trying to
help get upgraded to a newer browser, etc. (Firefox, Netscape 7,
Mozilla), but no programs will install on her Win98 Gateway machine.
She hardly uses the computer, (the machine probably has less than 200
hours of operation on it) and it is about 4 years old now and is
running Netscape 4.79 as the default browser. I don't have the ability
to actually physically work on the machine, so I thought you all might
have some suggestions for me to pass on.

Right now, if she try to install any app. on her machine, the app will
start to install, but then quits back to the desktop without any error
messages. For example, she tried to install Firefox this past week,
and the Firefox Installer popped up, saying it was "verifying the
integrity of the archives" (which is a normal part of the Firefox
installer routine), but then the hourglass turns back to a standard
pointer, and the install quits back to the desktop without further
display of any error messages. Same results with Netscape 7 and a copy
of the older Mozilla browser that preceded Firefox which I sent her.

So far, I have had her try to install MS Windows Installer 2.0 for
Win98 downloaded from the MS website, thinking the original installer
may have been corrupt, but the computer responds back that the
"service is already running" when she tries to install the Windows
Installer program. Now, I downloaded the same program on my old Win98
machine, and the MS Windows Installer installed without any problem
for me. So, I don't know why her system responded with; "this service
is already running." That message just doesn't sound right to me.

I had her send me a copy of her system registry, and I looked through
it, and didn't see any viruses loading in the run/runservices registry
entries, although there could be some piggyback viruses still loading
somewhere I suppose.

She's tried installing copies of apps sent to her on CD, as well as
downloaded from the Internet, just to make sure this wasn't the result
of a bad download, or corrupt CD burn.

She's tried to install those apps from Windows Safe mode always with
the same result. It always just quits back to the desktop without
installing the app.

Scandisk and Defrag have been completed on the hard drive.

Just got to thinking... Would clearing the Temp file folder be a
possible solution to this problem? I'll have her try that next, along
with any other suggestions you all may have.

Thanks...

I would guess that the 'Service already running...." message is the cause of
both problems. Installer will not run (either for itself or for another
program) if it detects an installation in process. Did the problem first
start when an installation failed for some other reason?

Do Start / Run / MSConfig and look in startup to see what's loading at boot
time. If there's something that looks like an installation, (eg, it's
running from the temp folder) remove it from startup, reboot, and try again.

Are there any other issues with this machine? Find out what else your
friend can actually do beyond e-mail and browsing. If the problem is more
widespread then I would suspect virus or other malware.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Wyoming Foam Hunter" wrote in
message ...
OS:
Win98 First Edition
64 megs of RAM

I've got a friend who lives out of town that I have been trying to
help get upgraded to a newer browser, etc. (Firefox, Netscape 7,
Mozilla), but no programs will install on her Win98 Gateway machine.
She hardly uses the computer, (the machine probably has less than 200
hours of operation on it) and it is about 4 years old now and is
running Netscape 4.79 as the default browser. I don't have the ability
to actually physically work on the machine, so I thought you all might
have some suggestions for me to pass on.

Right now, if she try to install any app. on her machine, the app will
start to install, but then quits back to the desktop without any error
messages. For example, she tried to install Firefox this past week,
and the Firefox Installer popped up, saying it was "verifying the
integrity of the archives" (which is a normal part of the Firefox
installer routine), but then the hourglass turns back to a standard
pointer, and the install quits back to the desktop without further
display of any error messages. Same results with Netscape 7 and a copy
of the older Mozilla browser that preceded Firefox which I sent her.

So far, I have had her try to install MS Windows Installer 2.0 for
Win98 downloaded from the MS website, thinking the original installer
may have been corrupt, but the computer responds back that the
"service is already running" when she tries to install the Windows
Installer program. Now, I downloaded the same program on my old Win98
machine, and the MS Windows Installer installed without any problem
for me. So, I don't know why her system responded with; "this service
is already running." That message just doesn't sound right to me.

I had her send me a copy of her system registry, and I looked through
it, and didn't see any viruses loading in the run/runservices registry
entries, although there could be some piggyback viruses still loading
somewhere I suppose.

She's tried installing copies of apps sent to her on CD, as well as
downloaded from the Internet, just to make sure this wasn't the result
of a bad download, or corrupt CD burn.

She's tried to install those apps from Windows Safe mode always with
the same result. It always just quits back to the desktop without
installing the app.

Scandisk and Defrag have been completed on the hard drive.

Just got to thinking... Would clearing the Temp file folder be a
possible solution to this problem? I'll have her try that next, along
with any other suggestions you all may have.

Thanks...

I am having the same issue.

It has to be something with Windows Installer.
The machine I am having the problem with is a clean install of Windows 98 SE
complete with all windows updates.

It has not been on the internet and is clean from Spyware, viruses, etc.

All other programs run fine.

I am at a loss. I uninstalled and reinstalled Windows Installer, but still
having the same issue.

When I run an MSI package, it starts, you click NEXT then it all goes away.
No more activity on the hard drive or the CD (if the install program is on a
disk).

It is a confusing issue. If anyone can find a solution, please let me know.

Thanks,

Mike

"Jeff Richards" wrote:

I would guess that the 'Service already running...." message is the cause of
both problems. Installer will not run (either for itself or for another
program) if it detects an installation in process. Did the problem first
start when an installation failed for some other reason?

Do Start / Run / MSConfig and look in startup to see what's loading at boot
time. If there's something that looks like an installation, (eg, it's
running from the temp folder) remove it from startup, reboot, and try again.

Are there any other issues with this machine? Find out what else your
friend can actually do beyond e-mail and browsing. If the problem is more
widespread then I would suspect virus or other malware.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"Wyoming Foam Hunter" wrote in
message ...
OS:
Win98 First Edition
64 megs of RAM

I've got a friend who lives out of town that I have been trying to
help get upgraded to a newer browser, etc. (Firefox, Netscape 7,
Mozilla), but no programs will install on her Win98 Gateway machine.
She hardly uses the computer, (the machine probably has less than 200
hours of operation on it) and it is about 4 years old now and is
running Netscape 4.79 as the default browser. I don't have the ability
to actually physically work on the machine, so I thought you all might
have some suggestions for me to pass on.

Right now, if she try to install any app. on her machine, the app will
start to install, but then quits back to the desktop without any error
messages. For example, she tried to install Firefox this past week,
and the Firefox Installer popped up, saying it was "verifying the
integrity of the archives" (which is a normal part of the Firefox
installer routine), but then the hourglass turns back to a standard
pointer, and the install quits back to the desktop without further
display of any error messages. Same results with Netscape 7 and a copy
of the older Mozilla browser that preceded Firefox which I sent her.

So far, I have had her try to install MS Windows Installer 2.0 for
Win98 downloaded from the MS website, thinking the original installer
may have been corrupt, but the computer responds back that the
"service is already running" when she tries to install the Windows
Installer program. Now, I downloaded the same program on my old Win98
machine, and the MS Windows Installer installed without any problem
for me. So, I don't know why her system responded with; "this service
is already running." That message just doesn't sound right to me.

I had her send me a copy of her system registry, and I looked through
it, and didn't see any viruses loading in the run/runservices registry
entries, although there could be some piggyback viruses still loading
somewhere I suppose.

She's tried installing copies of apps sent to her on CD, as well as
downloaded from the Internet, just to make sure this wasn't the result
of a bad download, or corrupt CD burn.

She's tried to install those apps from Windows Safe mode always with
the same result. It always just quits back to the desktop without
installing the app.

Scandisk and Defrag have been completed on the hard drive.

Just got to thinking... Would clearing the Temp file folder be a
possible solution to this problem? I'll have her try that next, along
with any other suggestions you all may have.

Thanks...