username1885

A couple days ago, I installed a shareware version of Alcohol 120% on my computer to test it out. When I rebooted my computer the next day, everything seemed fine except that I wasn't able to access "My Computer" or any of my drives from the GUI. After tooling around with Control Panel for a bit, it seems as though my computer thinks that a second CD-Rom drive still exists (via Alcohol 120%, which is a virtual CD-Rom emulator), although I had quit Alcohol the day before before shutting down my computer. The sole process running Alcohol 120% (I think) is StarWindService.exe, and if I can shut that down, I think it'll end my problems. However, whenever I try to shut this process down in Task Manager, it gives me the "Access is denied" error message. Is there anyway to kill the process or delete the folder in which it resides?

Thanks,
-Jason

nickster_uk

So...is Alcohol 120% still installed on your system at the moment?

If it is, try going to add/remove programs and then see if you can modify your current installation to remove the starwind service that way.

Perhaps chaging the registry permissions under alcohol may help too?

Also, check msconfig for the starwindservice listing and try removing it...then reboot and try removing the source folder.

Hope that helps...if all else fails, try reinstalling Alcohol 120% then changing your install options to not include starwind :-)

username1885

Alcohol 120% should be installed on the system, as I haven't uninstalled it, yet whenever I click on the icon, the program never boots.

Also, the program isn't listed under "Add/Remove Programs", and typing in "msconfig" into the Run box yields an error message that says, "Cannot find the file 'msconfig' " (which I've never had happen before)

Better yet, whenever I try reinstalling Alcohol 120%, the installation freezes half-way.

I'd really like to avoid having to reinstall Windows 2000 Professional.

Sorry for the trouble,
-Jason

nickster_uk

What happens when you try running the uninstaller in the program directory....i.e C:\Program Files\Alcohol Soft\Alcohol 120\uninst.exe?

Also, do you know which version and build of Alcohol it is?

username1885

Well, I looked in the directory today and tried to find "uninst.exe", but I didn't find it (although I haven't messed around with deleting anything the folder ever since it started to screw up). Just in case, I tried going to the Recycle Bin to see if by chance it was there, and although it is full of files, it seems that I can't access that either.

The version of Alcohol I was using is 1.9.5.3823.

nickster_uk

Ok...think you are going to need to attempt a manual removal of Alcohol 120% then reboot and reinstall. Please follow these instructions:

- Click Start -> Run -> regedit -> OK
- Locate and delete the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{E9F81423-211E-46B6-9AE0-38568BC5CF6F}
- Locate and delete the following key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\32418F9EE1126B64A90E8365B85CFCF6 (This may not be present)
- Locate and delete the following driver key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\vaxscsi
- Delete C:\WINDOWS\Program Files\Alcohol Soft and all contents
- Reboot
- If you Virtual Drive is still present, go to your Device Manager:
- Start -> Run -> devmgmt.msc -> OK
- Expand SCSI and RAID Controllers, right click on the Alcohol controller which I should be VAXSCSI and then select uninstall - the drive should now be gone

Now try reinstalling Alcohol 120%, but this time take the tick our of iSCSI service on the 'Choose components' page during setup.

Hope that helps :-)

p.s - Back up your registry before editing :-)

username1885

Everything went smoothly until I tried deleting the D:\Program Files\Alcohol Soft directory (via both GUI and Command Prompt)...Windows won't let me delete it because StarWindService.exe is still running. Anyway to force Windows to delete the directory or end the StarWindService process?

nickster_uk

End the starwindservice.exe in task manager first, then remove the directory. Reboot and check if the virtual drive is still present, if it is...continue from the earlier instructions, if not try to reinstall Alcohol but remember to uncheck iSCSI during install :-)

username1885

I would...except whenever I try to shut the StarWindService process down in Task Manager, it gives me the "Access is denied" error message.

nickster_uk

Try booting into safe mode, then deleting the file and directory from there.

If that doesn't work, search the registry for any references to starwindservice' and change the key permissions by right clicking on them and selecting permissions then adding your profile name to full control.

If that doesn't work, try using a handy freeware application called Unlocker which can be downloaded here. Once installed, locate starwindservice.exe in program files and right click on it, then select Unlocker then choose delete from the drop down menu then click Unlock All. It may be able to force close the process and remove it immediately or it'll advise it'll do it on the next boot.

Let me know how you get on :-)

username1885

Good news...I tried tinkering with the registry settings, and now I can access My Computer, Control Panel, and all the other stuff I couldn't get to before.

However...the StarWindService program is still running, and Unlocker doesn't work because "some software on your machine is conflicting with Unlocker".

Sorry to heckle you with a minor inconvenience...

nickster_uk

It's certainly being a stubborn li'l bugger! :-)

Anyway, at least you have made some progress which is good.

We'll try stopping the service another way:

- Click Start -> Run -> type:
services.msc
- Scroll down to:
StarWind iSCSI Service
- Double click it and set it to disabled in the drop down list, click Apply then click the Stop button
- If that doesn't stop it immediately, reboot and the service should now be disabled, allowing you to remove the files then reinstall.

Hope that works :-)

username1885

Tried doing the steps in the last message...and it worked!

Thanks a lot for the help,
-Jason

nickster_uk

Phew....glad you got it sorted in the end.

Any more probs, don't hesitate to let us know :-)