2008 Startup Manager Damages Services on Vista

redseujac

I agree completely, Tullik.

It was a Registry problem.

Running the Startup Manager messed up some registry entries concerning some services.

Jouni could tell us what the problem (BUG) really was (I'm rather curious to know...).

So executing a full registry restore from a previous full registry backup made with ERUNT did the trick

Notice that restoring a backup made with jv16 PT 2008 did not help (don't know why...). Here also Jouni could clarify!

jv16

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jv16

redseujac wrote
I agree completely, Tullik.

It was a Registry problem.

Running the Startup Manager messed up some registry entries concerning some services.

Jouni could tell us what the problem (BUG) really was (I'm rather curious to know...).

The bug was rather simple: one component used the following API call to open a registry key: OpenKey(path, True); The "True" parameter is what caused all the problems, it tells Windows that if a registry key we are trying to open doesn't exist it should be created and then opened. As a result, while the component was only supposed to read data, it by accident created registry keys.

It's usually very safe to create registry keys, usually only removing or modifiying registry keys or entries can cause damage but in this case it seems that Vista couldn't handle the additional registry keys created by accident.

The actual component containing this bug wasn't written by me but an otsourced developed from who we bought the component. I did browse the code through, tested and accepted it so at the end it is in fact my fault that this bug was in the program.

This bug was the very first serious bug we have had in years, and the very first ever of its kind (i.e. a bug that caused problems with user's computer even if the user didn't touch the Delete button) and I do apologize for that. We are now planning to take new measures to make sure this will be the last a problem this serious ends up in our product.

redseujac

OK Jouni, thanks for your explanation :)

But as you admit it was a rather serious bug, affecting a lot of people (like me too :( ).

I had the opportunity to fix my system restoring a previous full registry backup made with ERUNT (daily), but others waren't as lucky as me.

First I did not understand why it wasn't possible to fix the problem restoring a jv16PT2008 backup, but now I do (after your explanation).

In fact Startup Manager did not change or delete anything, so there wasn't a backup, all the more since new registry entries were created...

The story proves once more the importance of making a full registry backup daily before doing anything and also the need to include such a tool in the PowerTools maybe :

bornconfuzd

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jv16

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ngc94227

jv, thanks for your answer!

But is it possible to delete those items which are added to the register so that the taskplanner is functioning again?

Or is that a hell of a job or different for every computer? Like Redseujac I`ve downloaded ERUNT too avoid problems in the future.....

Kind regards,

ngc94227

redseujac

The bug seems to be fixed now for the future, but undoing the past is the big problem for some poor boys :(

jv16

ngc94227 wrote
jv, thanks for your answer!

But is it possible to delete those items which are added to the register so that the taskplanner is functioning again?

Or is that a hell of a job or different for every computer? Like Redseujac I`ve downloaded ERUNT too avoid problems in the future.....

Fixing this problem by hand is very difficult... But now when I think of it, it shouldn't be too difficult to undo the damage within the program itself.

So, everyone who has experienced the problem with Vista: hold on still a little bit, I'll release in this week a new version that has a special feature that attempts to undo the damage and thus fix the problem. I don't know if the fix works, but it should.

redseujac

Well, that's pretty good news for some (many?) poor users

I hope the new release will contain other fixes too, e.g for those issues remaining in the English.lng file and maybe a fix for Scan Report not showing even in Strucured list results window...

ngc94227

Hello jv,

When you could achieve this, this would be great because my system is really clean.

But to install everything new because the taskplanner doesn´t work..... :

Hope you can a positive message on this one later on!

Thanks in advance! (you too Redseujac for your comments)

ngc94227

parkd1

Check out this form post.

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=622301&st=0

hapbt

Hey, I dl'd a trial of this JV16 2008 and now my event viewer, etc, are broken, I know you're working on a fix but I would really appreciate anything you could do to help us fix our PCs, thanks!

I'm researching the subject myself but I'm not entirely clear on what was removed and of course I can't get into my event viewer to see anything.

ngc94227

hapbt wrote
HEY!

Are you ever going to tell us how to fix our systems which have been trashed by your software?

Hi Hapbt,

Please don´t be so negative. Read the post from jv on the 10th of march somewhat above.

Kind regards,

ngc94227

redseujac

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jv16

Here is my attempt to undo the damage:

http://www.macecraft.com/downloads/betas/jv16pt_setup_hb_smtest.exe

Simply install the software, start it. After it has opened up, press down Ctrl and Shift keys from your keyboard. A debug menu now shows up in the main menu of the main window. Under the debug menu select the Fix option and let it do its magic.

The feature attempts to detect and delete all the data the buggy version of Startup Manager added to the registry. This operation should be 100% safe because it creates a backup to your desktop of any data it removes. But, you should still be carefull with it.

Please, do let me know if the fix works so I know whether to include it to the next official release as well. This build also contains all the bug fixes I have reported to be done since the last version.

jv16

hapbt wrote

I'm researching the subject myself but I'm not entirely clear on what was removed

Nothing was removed, the buggy Startup Manager of the initial release version created empty registry keys to the registry, nothing more. This doesn't affect any other operating system (as far as I know) except Vista.

Please see my previous post, I think I have a solution for the problem.

ngc94227

Hello Jouni,

Regretly the fix didn´t work on my laptop. :

The taskplanner did not start after installing the fix and restarting the computer. Sorry!

Kind regards,

ngc94227

redseujac

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redseujac

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