Hi again
How long have you had the problem installing & uninstalling programs? Have you had any other system crashes (not related to installs or uninstalls)?
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If this trouble only started recently, and everything worked previously, you have the option to try a System Restore, using a restore point from before the trouble started.
To try System Restore:
1) Boot your computer into Safe Mode (start tapping the F8 key as the computer is starting up, and select "Safe Mode" from the Boot Menu).
2) Logon as "Administrator".
3) Click on Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore, and select a restore point from before trouble started.
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Did you empty all your temp files as part of your cleanup? And did you try the Microsoft Installer Cleanup Utility (there's a download link in my first reply)? Can't hurt to give those a go.
The performance log errors have several fixes you can try (one of which is to turn off such logs) ---
http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?eventid=1015&eventno=773&source=Perflib&phase=1
The Content Index errors have several fixes to try, too -- the simplest being to disable (or uninstall) the Content Indexing Service. If it is suffering from corruption errors, that's generally a symptom of something that will affect more than just the Indexing service.
Since the errors in your logs are somewhat all over the place -- indexing service errors, performance counter errors, COM+ event errors --- you might have to look at more than just the Windows components that care for installing/uninstalling. This calls for wide-ranging trouble-shooting: hardware, software --- and malware scans.
Check Your Hardware:
1) Check in your computer's Bios Setup screens to make sure that the settings are correct. Have your system/motherboard manual handy for this [your vendor's website, or a quick Google search, should yield a manual, if you haven't one nearby]. You can also refer to Adrian's famous Bios Optimization Guide ---
http://www.techarp.com/freebog.aspx --- for Bios setting guidance. If overclocking, return to defaults while troubleshooting. If your system's bios has a temperature and voltage readings screen, be sure to check that your readings are within tolerable ranges.
2) Test your system's memory (
http://www.memtest.org )
3) Test your hard drive (
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 )
Check Your System Files (try Windows File Protection):
1) Boot your computer into Safe Mode (start tapping the F8 key as the computer is starting up, and select "Safe Mode" from the Boot Menu).
2) Logon as "Administrator".
3) Click on the Start button, and then on Run --- in the box, type "sfc /scannow" [type that command without the quotes]. You may need your Windows XP installation CD - provide it if prompted (or use the "Browse" button and navigate to the folder on your hard drive that stores the XP installation files (".cab" files) - your vendor's website or system documentation has this location information. Windows File Protection (aka System File Checker) will look at your system files & offer to replace those that it finds missing or damaged. The program runs in the background, & puts entries in EventViewer indicating when it starts, when it makes any changes, and when it stops. You can find EventViewer in your Administrative Tools --- Start/Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance/Administrative Tools/EventViewer. To view Event details, right-click on the event, and select "Properties".
Check your Windows Services
If necessary Windows services aren't configured properly, programs that depend on them won't perform properly. Here's a well-known guide ---
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
Security Precautions
Any time your system shows unpredictable behavior, it's a good idea to run malware scans (include rootkit scans), and check on your autostart processes and background processes.
1) Run your local antivirus/antispyware scans.
2) Double-check for anything they missed with an online scan from HouseCall ---
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ --- Panda ---
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/ActiveScan.htm --- or the scanner of your choice.
3) Two good anti-rootkit scanners are Rootkit Revealer ---
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/RootkitRevealer.mspx--- and Blacklight ---
http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight/try_blacklight.html --- (also note that the online Panda scan does some rootkit scanning, too --- follow the instructions for the specialized rootkit scanners carefully, to avoid false positives)
4) Check on your startup program with AutoRuns ---
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx
5) Check on your running processes with Process Explorer ---
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspx--- and Process Monitor ---
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/processmonitor.mspx
If you find evidence of a serious infection, try the 5-Step Security Checklist over in the Security forums ---
http://www.techsupportforum.com/sec...lease-read-before-posting-hijackthis-log.html
Security Programs Can Conflict
This problem has been showing up more often recently, so try to remember that only one of each sort of
real-time antimalware process should be installed [Real-Time = runs scans on-access (runs all the time!)]
1) Only one real-time Pop-up Blocker, one real-time Anti-Spam blocker, one real-time antivirus, one real-time antispyware, one firewall.
2) It's best to have only one locally installed antivirus program, period. It is possible to run an online antivirus scan - with a tool such as TrendMicro's HouseCall - without causing conflicts with your real-time scanner. Only one antivirus, though, should be installed locally on your computer. [The online scanners generally use an ActiveX or Java engine]. Online scans are handy ways of double-checking that your local scanner is doing its job.
3) You can have many anti-spyware programs installed, and can use them to help scan for spyware, but these scans will be different: they will only run when you start them. You can have your one real-time scanner on all the time. The other scanners will likely not bother the real-time scanner (though there are some conflicts - but often these are patched) so long as you only try one manually-started scan at a time. In other words, you can also run an AdAware scan from time to time, or a SpyBot scan from time-to-time - but you wouldn't run an AdAware scan and a SpyBot scan at the same time.
4) Only one software firewall can be installed and running in a PC.
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Sorry that this is such a long list --- The steps don't really take that long, and when done, you'll have a much better idea of the condition of your PC.
If your errors and symptoms pointed to a single cause, we could go straight to that culprit. But no single cause presents itself at the moment.
Best of luck
. . . Gary
