[Respetite]

Hello, and sorry for posting an entirely new thread - in possible the wrong forum as well. (Couldn't really decipher where I should put this, but I'm an XP user so I thought I'd have a pop.)

Basically the problem is whenever I turn my computer on, I recieve two windows which start automatically.

One of them is 'Roxio Easy Media Creator 7' a program which I recieved with my computer when I bought it - approximately one year ago.

The second is a 'Severe' message. I have found out, I think, that this is in relation to the Roxio program. It reads something like "Cannot find certificate reading dll." or some such. I think the problem is that every time I start the PC Windows Installer decides to try and uninstall the program - which I thought I succesfully uninstalled about six months ago.

I've tried reinstalling it from the disk, in which case I get the same two messages. I have also tried using the add/remove program. None of this seemed to work.

Also, the program is now virtually nothing but one file - 'Shellex.dll'. This was after my deleting of the files seperately through the search function etc. (In hindsight this was probably quite a silly thing to do, as I am a relative novice when it comes to computing)

Any help would be greatly appreciated as it is something that has been bugging me for months now and I have chose to ignore up until now.

Sam

 

[Respetite]

A few photos that could hopefully help any would-be helper.

 

[pool88]

download the ccleaner and run the registry fix that might help

 

[Respetite]

Sorry I'm terrible with computers. Do you mean a cleaner (not entirely sure what that is anyway) specifically for Roxio that I could get off them? Or a program called Ccleaner? And when I do find 'registry fix' and run it?

Sorry again I'm really prehistoric on this stuff. Hence begging you lot for help!

 

[Respetite]

Ah right ok. I found Ccleaner and I ran it on the registry thing. Came up with like 6,000 things to be removed...guess that's pretty bad. Hasn't seem to have solved the Roxio problem though. I'm pretty sure it is just that 'Shellex.dll' that needs removing. Any way of doing this? Unfortunately it is write-protected or something so I cannot do it the conventional way. Any help would be really, really appreciated.

Sam

 

[mack1]

Hi Respetite and welcome to TSF :wave:

The normal way of removing a program like this is to re-install it then un-install it either from the Add/Remove programs window or using the uninstall program shown in the Programs section.

If you decide to erase the Shellex.dll file, you should first make a system restore point.
It will be at Programs>Accessories>System Tools then System Restore. In it, tell it to make a restore point and name it something like "beforeshell".

Then, boot in the Safe Mode and delete the file. For Safe Mode, tap on the F8 key when booting to get up the Advanced Boot screen. Select Safe Mode.

Hope this helps:smile:
Mack1

 

[Respetite]

Hi and thanks!

Well, I did the old safe-mode and delete thing and started it up and somehow it still comes up like in the picture on startup.

I have tried uninstalling it using Ccleaner's add/remove programs function, and it says 'Cannot delete 'MSI installer'.' Which correct me if I'm wrong is the Microsoft installer?

I don't see how this is happening with my poor knowledge, as there literally isn't a trace of the program on 'search' or 'advanced search - including hidden etc.'

Again thanks for your help, but I'm still at a loss on how to stop it.

Any reccomendations? My guess is that Windows still thinks its there and working - hence the 400mb etc. - but its not actually there. Any way of tricking or telling Windows its gone?

Thanks in advance.

 

[redoak]

"Pool88" gave you bad advice, unfortunately: "download the ccleaner and run the registry fix that might help." However, it is possible you "lucked out" and no harm was done. Below is a lengthy discourse by knowledgeable people on another site telling that Registry "cleaners" accomplish nothing and ofter cause harm. Furthermore, see the "sticky" at the top of the posts!

{redoak}

Advice and Info re Registry 'cleaners'

The main reason they are apt to cause problems is because the cleaners do NOT just clean up stuff left over from uninstalls. They also "guess" that other items need to be deleted, many times incorrectly. They also attempt to "fix" references to files that no longer exist.

As a result, you can end up with programs that no longer work, functions that no longer work and in some cases a PC that will no longer boot.

There is no performance gains to be had by running these things. Windows does not read the entire registry when it is looking for something. It uses the keys which allow them to go straight to the item that they are looking for.

References:
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=643
http://www.computerhope.com/registry.htm


If you really want to see how active the registry is in your normal running environment, download and run Regmon.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/sysinternals/bb896652.aspx

As you will see, the registry is constantly being accessed. If, for each of these, the entire file was being searched, your PC would be amazingly slow and not responsive.















{redoak}

 

[mack1]

Hi Respetite,

Two things to check. First look in Start>Programs>Startup and see if anything there is trying to run anything associated with Roxio. If so, delete it.
Second, go to Run and enter "msconfig" (without the quotes in the box) and hit enter. Open the Startup tab in msconfig. Look for any item there related to Roxio and uncheck the box on the left to disable it.

Post back and tell what you found.

Best regards,
Mack1