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Downloaded Setup Files Unresponsive in Vista

Kommie986

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May 30, 2010
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601
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Waterloo, Ontario
I've always had this trouble, but never decided to fix it. Now, it's really bothering me. I download a setup file (in the past, it's been Project Reality Mod for BF2, now it's Eastern Front Mod for CoH, but this problem happens to almost every setup file I download) and I double click on it to start it. But, it doesn't start, so I open Task Manager and go to Processes. In processes, the setup is listed, but under the CPU heading, it says 00. I'm wondering how I fix this. Is this something wrong with my hardware?

Edit: I try/have tried running it as admin, but noting seems to work. The only thing I can do is wait...

Edit 2: I have a feeling it's something wrong with my HDD. Everything this happens, my PC half-freezes, and my activity LED goes full.
 
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frontier204

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Nov 2, 2008
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ON, Canada
I notice Vista / 7 do this if you have a BIG (>10 MB) .EXE that has to run in admin mode.
Whether you say "run as administrator" or not, Windows seems to scan over the entire EXE (looking for a signature???) before presenting you with the famous UAC Allow / Cancel prompt.

This was especially annoying for a Altera Quartus II installer that I needed to use this week, which was a 2.7 GB .EXE file. I double-clicked the icon, waited 20 minutes, then accepted the prompt...

You can try disabling UAC completely, but of course that will open up another set of problems. I don't have a solution myself, although running these large install files off the fastest I/O you have access to helps a lot. Minimize the impact by copying the installer to the fastest local hard disk you have, as the copy+paste of the file will be a lot shorter than the wait if you say... ran it off a slow USB key or network connection,
 

DCCV44.2223

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Apr 1, 2010
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Vancouver
Try launching the setup file via command line from CMD console that already running with Admin privileges (Start > search > cmd.exe > right click > runas admin)

Also, what antivirus are you using? Some AV will try and run a setup file in emulation first (looking for suspicious activities) before letting Windows run it.
 

JD

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Jul 16, 2007
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Toronto, ON
Pro-tip #1: Disable UAC.

Pro-tip #2: Start > Run > gpedit.msc*. Expand Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > All Settings. Scroll to "Launching programs and unsafe files". There's quite a few, but be sure the check the Path column. The ones to look at are Internet Zone, Intranet Zone, Local Machine Zone, Trusted Sites Zone. Double click each one, chose Enabled. Then in the Options area below, also set it to Enable.

This effectively removes that "This program may be unsafe as it was downloaded from an untrusted site" or whatever BS it tells you. When you click an EXE from wherever, it'll RUN. Not stop for user input.

Yes, yes, it's very unsecure, blah blah blah. I don't care. I'd much rather things be responsive and fast, over waiting for a stupid box that I always click Run on anyways. Kaspersky (or any decent AV) will prevent viruses regardless. A silly prompt typically does not.

*May only work on Ultimate/Enterprise editions. Though if you Google around, you can find ways of getting it to work on lower editions.
 

DCCV44.2223

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Kaspersky.

Kaspersky 2009/2010 runs installers in emulation before passing them onto the OS. You can temporarily disable Kaspersky (right click on the tray icon) and see if the slowdown goes away.

Heuristic analyzer in Kaspersky Lab products version 2010

If it's the cause, then unless you're installing large files everyday or are absolutely sure of the integrity of the source, I'd just let Kaspersky do its thing.

Kaspersky (or any decent AV) will prevent viruses regardless. A silly prompt typically does not.

I do agree that the zone identifier pop-up for downloaded files is useless, well, it's probably worse than useless -- when >99% of the time it's a false positive, not only would users click through them automatically, it also conditions users to click through other warnings.

However all AV can fail. I know Kaspersky (which I've used for many years) can and there are many AV out there that maybe less capable. Most users would consider the AV they're using "good" (otherwise they wouldn't be using it) but nowadays even the very best may have a LESS than 50% detection rate on new malware during the 1st 24 hours, and UAC (flawed as it is) is, for some, the last line of defense.
 

grinder

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Joined
Mar 16, 2007
Messages
832
i had 2 machines pass through my office what wouldn't install updates to their accounting apps. [course they ran Kaspersky] uninstalling Kaspersky was the only way to update proper (without a failure/abort message). The disable-protection button on kaspersky's system-tray is very... um.. mis-informing.
 

DCCV44.2223

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Apr 1, 2010
Messages
264
Location
Vancouver
The disable-protection button on kaspersky's system-tray is very... um.. mis-informing.

It depends on why KAV is causing problem. If your trouble with installing the accounting apps was the result of conflict with modules already loaded in memory or changes to the system made by KAV, then you'll need to stop KAV loading at startup or do an uninstall.

But if the OP's problem with unresponsive installer is caused by KAV running it through emulation before allow it to run by the OS, then temporarily disabling KAV will stop the installer file from being processed, which is all that's required.
 

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