[duckingthefog]

Everytime I plug a removable drive into my comp, it says "This drive must be formatted before you can use it."
This happens with drives that do not need formatting and it happens no matter where I plug in: USB port, card reader, thumb drives, SD cards, etc. When I do try to let it format a drive it fails at the end every time. This started after a failed uninstall of F-Secure Internet Security 2010 Beta. I can't ask F-Secure for support because you use betas at your own risk. I'm using Vista 32bit.I already tried removing the card reader and USB ports from device manager then letting Vista reinstall them. I also tried a system restore. I don't know what else to try. Any idea how I can get removable drives working on my comp again?

 

[Paul R Smith]

Have you tried a SFC to fix any damaged or missing OS files that are critical. See:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/66978-system-files-sfc-command.html

 

[duckingthefog]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried it and it found a few issues, but it didn't fix the problem.

 

[Paul R Smith]

Suggest you RUN regedit and search the registry for F-Secure and remove all entries you find

 

[duckingthefog]

Suggest you RUN regedit and search the registry for F-Secure and remove all entries you find

I did it, and there were dozens of entries. I hope I didn't accidentally remove something that should've stayed. Still the same problem though.

Here's another dilemma: I found out that I can't use my optical drive either. I get the same "disk must be formatted..." message. So I can't backup my data on DVD or flash drive. I'd like to try a repair install of Vista from my OEM disc. How brutal is a repair install, what's the chances I will lose pics, music, docs, etc? I have GB's worth of pics and countless GB's of music, more that would be practical to backup online. Would a repair install be a bad idea?

 

[Paul R Smith]

It limits your options that you can't use USB or Optical - things seem to be deteriorating.
You could try a Repair but if you have no back up of your data you could lose your files depending on whether you have partitions setup.
How far back did you go with System Restore i.e. could you go back further than you did?

 

[Paul R Smith]

There is a freeware program called REVO which can be used to uninstall/cleanup etc - maybe it's worth giving it a try to clean out F-Secure - see:
http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html

 

[Paul R Smith]

Also found this:
http://www.f-secure.com/kb/6640

 

[duckingthefog]

I went to the furthest restore point, which happened to be "Installed F-Secure". Revo is the uninstaller I always use, but it still had problems removing that F-Secure beta. Originally nothing from F-Secure was listed in Revo until I went into the options and checked "Show System Components". Then about a dozen entries showed up, for various F-Secure components. I began uninstalling them one at a time until I noticed one just called "Uninstall F-Secure". i probably could've done that one first and had a successful uninstall but I noticed it too late.

The instructions on the F-Secure link you posted helped me find even more registry entries I'd missed. Still can't use my drives, unfortunately. I think the problem has to do with necessary registry entries that F-Secure deleted on uninstall.

I may have found a better solution than a repair install. I found a Windows 7 Upgrade Family Pack on sell for $150 so I'm going to get that this afternoon and upgrade all three of my computers. I still won't be able to back this one up but it's my understanding that the Vista-->Windows 7 upgrade is pretty gentle with your personal files. We will see. I will post once the upgrade is complete and let you know what I lost.

 

[l_b_rex]

I went to the furthest restore point, which happened to be "Installed F-Secure". Revo is the uninstaller I always use, but it still had problems removing that F-Secure beta. Originally nothing from F-Secure was listed in Revo until I went into the options and checked "Show System Components". Then about a dozen entries showed up, for various F-Secure components. I began uninstalling them one at a time until I noticed one just called "Uninstall F-Secure". i probably could've done that one first and had a successful uninstall but I noticed it too late.

The instructions on the F-Secure link you posted helped me find even more registry entries I'd missed. Still can't use my drives, unfortunately. I think the problem has to do with necessary registry entries that F-Secure deleted on uninstall.

I may have found a better solution than a repair install. I found a Windows 7 Upgrade Family Pack on sell for $150 so I'm going to get that this afternoon and upgrade all three of my computers. I still won't be able to back this one up but it's my understanding that the Vista-->Windows 7 upgrade is pretty gentle with your personal files. We will see. I will post once the upgrade is complete and let you know what I lost.

It is a very bad idea to upgrade to another OS when the original is not functioning properly. I strongly advise against it. Don't count on the upgrade completing and if it doesn't than you can say bye bye to all of your files.

 

[Paul R Smith]

If you decide to upgrade run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor first:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor
- if it doesn't find anything significant I'd give the upgrade a go. I've done the upgrade from Vista Home Premium and two applications were not compatible (Arcsoft Photostudio 5 and Norton Save and Restore) but I've found Win 7 has been a breath of fresh air and fixed issues I had in Vista with WMP and a couple of other applications.
Good Luck!

 

[duckingthefog]

If you decide to upgrade run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor first:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/upgrade-advisor
- if it doesn't find anything significant I'd give the upgrade a go. I've done the upgrade from Vista Home Premium and two applications were not compatible (Arcsoft Photostudio 5 and Norton Save and Restore) but I've found Win 7 has been a breath of fresh air and fixed issues I had in Vista with WMP and a couple of other applications.
Good Luck!

Of course, not all of my applications will work on Windows 7, among them the old version of Adobe Photoshop I use, but I'll be upgrading as soon as I stop procrastinating. I purchased the upgrade disk the other day and haven't opened it yet. The poster that warned me against upgrading a malfunctioning OS is probably right so I found a way to backup my this computer over my home network. I'll post back in a few days and let you know how the upgrade went. No more beta testing for me, even if it does offer a free six month F-Secure license.