NO SETUP.EXE program will run on my XP system

[RobsterCraw]

My problem is two fold. The most severe is.

1. Setup.exe files will not run on my XP computer
2. The system slows to a crawl when I log onto the internet…yes I still use dial-up

So addressing problem 1 a few days ago I installed the DVD Burner and the 80GB drive into my system (all the technicals are below) The hardware portion went just fine when I went to run the software portion of the install which is an OEMed Nero Ver6. I came to find out that if I ran a file named SETUP.EXE it would return the error

“Windows cannot find [filename]. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search.”

Ok I thought bad disk I’ll just crawl online (remember dialup) ant get something to play with. The file I downloaded was in self installing zip file. When I executed the file I got the same error message as above. Come to find out one of the unzipped files was named SETUP.EXE. Oh @#%# I said to myself. I did a search for files on my computer called SETUP.EXE. Any one I tried to execute would give me the same error. OK, I thought how in the hell did a virus get on my system. So I set to work trying to figure out who it was that had invaded my system.

First I determined that any other file I tried with the EXE extension worked fine… then some more testing
If I renamed the SETUP.EXE to SETUP.COM the program would run fine unless it called for itself by name……more testing
If I made a copy of SETUP.EXE and renamed it to SETUP.COM and left the new file in the same sub the when the program would make a call to SETUP.EXE if would retrieve the code with no error and continue to install the program.
I ran a complete system scan. Nothing


I HAVE CHECKED 7 – 10 DIFFERENT VIRUSES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH MODIFYING EXE FILES OR FILE ASSOCIATIONS. – NOTHING
I HAVE CHECKED MY REGISTRY UP ONE SIDE AND DOWN THE OTHER ALL THE REGISTRY CHANGES THAT ARE DISCUSSED WITH THESE VIRUSES I LOOK AT EVEN THOUGH THE SCAN COME BACK NEGATIVE. ALL OF THE REGISTRY ENTRIES ARE HOW THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.

I put this in bold because every time I post it people say virus. I’m running out of sanity here guys. CAN ANYBODY SHED SOME DIFFERENT LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT….THANKS!!

Problem 2: With in the same time frame when I connect to the net with my modem everything else slows to a yield. Let me explain, If I have two instance of IE open before I click dial. They will run just fine after the connection is established. But for about 15 minutes any program I try to run will not start it doesn’t matter if it is a network type such as IE or email or whether it is a local type such as task manager or control panel.
Then about 10 or 15 minutes later BOOM they all open at once…but I’ve been surfing ok wading the web in the mean time with those couple of instances of whatever I had open before I initiated the connection.. That about all I got for that one

Thanks,

Rob

System Model
Dell Computer Corporation XPS-Z

Operating System
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
Build 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519 (Service Pack 2)
Processor
867 megahertz Intel Pentium III
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz

Drives Memory Modules
100.42 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 256 Megabytes Installed
76.61 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space Slot 'DIMM1' has 128 MB
HP DVD Writer 740b [CD-ROM drive] Slot 'DIMM2' has 128 MB
SONY CD-RW CRX140E [CD-ROM drive]

3.5" format removable media [Floppy drive]
Local Drive Volumes
WDC WD204BB [Hard drive]
(20.42 GB) NTFS 20.41 GB 10.62 GB free
WDC WD800JB-00JJC0 [Hard drive]
(80.03 GB) NTFS 80.02 GB 65.99 GB free

Communications
U.S. Robotics 56K Fax Win [Modem]
3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)

Antivirus
avast! Antivirus 4.6.691 [VPS 0542-5] Version 4.6.691
Realtime File Scanning On

Spyware Management
Spyblocker Search and Destroy
Ad-aware are installed

[bookworm]

Originally Posted by RobsterCraw

My problem is two fold. The most severe is.

1. Setup.exe files will not run on my XP computer
2. The system slows to a crawl when I log onto the internet…yes I still use dial-up

So addressing problem 1 a few days ago I installed the DVD Burner and the 80GB drive into my system (all the technicals are below) The hardware portion went just fine when I went to run the software portion of the install which is an OEMed Nero Ver6. I came to find out that if I ran a file named SETUP.EXE it would return the error

“Windows cannot find [filename]. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search.”

Ok I thought bad disk I’ll just crawl online (remember dialup) ant get something to play with. The file I downloaded was in self installing zip file. When I executed the file I got the same error message as above. Come to find out one of the unzipped files was named SETUP.EXE. Oh @#%# I said to myself. I did a search for files on my computer called SETUP.EXE. Any one I tried to execute would give me the same error. OK, I thought how in the hell did a virus get on my system. So I set to work trying to figure out who it was that had invaded my system.

First I determined that any other file I tried with the EXE extension worked fine… then some more testing
If I renamed the SETUP.EXE to SETUP.COM the program would run fine unless it called for itself by name……more testing
If I made a copy of SETUP.EXE and renamed it to SETUP.COM and left the new file in the same sub the when the program would make a call to SETUP.EXE if would retrieve the code with no error and continue to install the program.
I ran a complete system scan. Nothing


I HAVE CHECKED 7 – 10 DIFFERENT VIRUSES THAT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH MODIFYING EXE FILES OR FILE ASSOCIATIONS. – NOTHING
I HAVE CHECKED MY REGISTRY UP ONE SIDE AND DOWN THE OTHER ALL THE REGISTRY CHANGES THAT ARE DISCUSSED WITH THESE VIRUSES I LOOK AT EVEN THOUGH THE SCAN COME BACK NEGATIVE. ALL OF THE REGISTRY ENTRIES ARE HOW THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.

I put this in bold because every time I post it people say virus. I’m running out of sanity here guys. CAN ANYBODY SHED SOME DIFFERENT LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT….THANKS!!

Problem 2: With in the same time frame when I connect to the net with my modem everything else slows to a yield. Let me explain, If I have two instance of IE open before I click dial. They will run just fine after the connection is established. But for about 15 minutes any program I try to run will not start it doesn’t matter if it is a network type such as IE or email or whether it is a local type such as task manager or control panel.
Then about 10 or 15 minutes later BOOM they all open at once…but I’ve been surfing ok wading the web in the mean time with those couple of instances of whatever I had open before I initiated the connection.. That about all I got for that one

Thanks,

Rob

System Model
Dell Computer Corporation XPS-Z

Operating System
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
Build 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519 (Service Pack 2)
Processor
867 megahertz Intel Pentium III
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz

Drives Memory Modules
100.42 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 256 Megabytes Installed
76.61 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space Slot 'DIMM1' has 128 MB
HP DVD Writer 740b [CD-ROM drive] Slot 'DIMM2' has 128 MB
SONY CD-RW CRX140E [CD-ROM drive]

3.5" format removable media [Floppy drive]
Local Drive Volumes
WDC WD204BB [Hard drive]
(20.42 GB) NTFS 20.41 GB 10.62 GB free
WDC WD800JB-00JJC0 [Hard drive]
(80.03 GB) NTFS 80.02 GB 65.99 GB free

Communications
U.S. Robotics 56K Fax Win [Modem]
3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)

Antivirus
avast! Antivirus 4.6.691 [VPS 0542-5] Version 4.6.691
Realtime File Scanning On

Spyware Management
Spyblocker Search and Destroy
Ad-aware are installed

Have you checked Device Manager to see if any problems there, Intel have a chipset on the mobo that needs to be up to date to install any software, and as most installations are exe files this could be the problem. I'd check on the Dell Support Site to see if anything needs updating, but I would update the chipset as you have installed new hardware. http://support.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home.asp

Hope this helps

[tiyogi]

Rob, I see you only have 256Mb of memory, this is a little low for running WinXp.

Have you checked to see how much memory you have avaiable.
Here is small program you can run in real time to see you usage. I monitors ram and cpu usage. I have 398Mb and 2.4Ghz Pentium 4 and I still see 100% of everything sometime. So with only 256 and 867Mhz it might be you are all used up.
Also check to see how many programs you have running in the back ground.

I am on dial up and the slow down is not the computer but the other end. Some sites are just painfully slow, to check it out right click on the 2 little moniotor in the task tray and select status. This way you can see if anything is happening.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/CPUMon_d4608.html

Originally Posted by RobsterCraw

My problem is two fold. The most severe is.

1. Setup.exe files will not run on my XP computer
2. The system slows to a crawl when I log onto the internet…yes I still use dial-up

System Model
Dell Computer Corporation XPS-Z

Operating System
Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
Build 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519 (Service Pack 2)
Processor
867 megahertz Intel Pentium III
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz

Drives Memory Modules
100.42 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 256 Megabytes Installed
76.61 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space Slot 'DIMM1' has 128 MB
HP DVD Writer 740b [CD-ROM drive] Slot 'DIMM2' has 128 MB
SONY CD-RW CRX140E [CD-ROM drive]

3.5" format removable media [Floppy drive]
Local Drive Volumes
WDC WD204BB [Hard drive]
(20.42 GB) NTFS 20.41 GB 10.62 GB free
WDC WD800JB-00JJC0 [Hard drive]
(80.03 GB) NTFS 80.02 GB 65.99 GB free

Communications
U.S. Robotics 56K Fax Win [Modem]
3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)

Antivirus
avast! Antivirus 4.6.691 [VPS 0542-5] Version 4.6.691
Realtime File Scanning On

Spyware Management
Spyblocker Search and Destroy
Ad-aware are installed

[RobsterCraw]

Originally Posted by bookworm

Have you checked Device Manager to see if any problems there, Intel have a chipset on the mobo that needs to be up to date to install any software, and as most installations are exe files this could be the problem. I'd check on the Dell Support Site to see if anything needs updating, but I would update the chipset as you have installed new hardware. http://support.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home.asp

Hope this helps

I have am currently checking all devices as suggested dell not much help but going to internet sites to perform an extended search.
So for nothing is working...not to mention try running a setup.exe file from a site that won't run....lol...boy what a pain

thanks for the help I will keep you posted

[RobsterCraw]

Originally Posted by tiyogi

Rob, I see you only have 256Mb of memory, this is a little low for running WinXp.

Have you checked to see how much memory you have avaiable.
Here is small program you can run in real time to see you usage. I monitors ram and cpu usage. I have 398Mb and 2.4Ghz Pentium 4 and I still see 100% of everything sometime. So with only 256 and 867Mhz it might be you are all used up.
Also check to see how many programs you have running in the back ground.

I am on dial up and the slow down is not the computer but the other end. Some sites are just painfully slow, to check it out right click on the 2 little moniotor in the task tray and select status. This way you can see if anything is happening.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/CPUMon_d4608.html

The system is virtually anchanged since I install xp a couple of years ago....I will go ahead and install some new sticks to see if that might be an issue....its that setup.exe problem that is really getting my goat

thanks for your support

[Jazz]

Originally Posted by RobsterCraw

1. Setup.exe files will not run on my XP computer
2. The system slows to a crawl when I log onto the internet…yes I still use dial-up

1 = # 324 on the right.

You cannot Start a Program with an .exe Extension

2 = Dl SpyBot-Search & Destroy 1.4 and Ad-Aware SE Personal, update them and run them is Safe Mode. Remove redundant software and install more RAM. 384 would be a minimum in my estimation.

Good luck.................; )

[RobsterCraw]

Originally Posted by Jazz

1 = # 324 on the right.

You cannot Start a Program with an .exe Extension

2 = Dl SpyBot-Search & Destroy 1.4 and Ad-Aware SE Personal, update them and run them is Safe Mode. Remove redundant software and install more RAM. 384 would be a minimum in my estimation.

Good luck.................; )

Jazz thanks for the reply

In reference to your statements... Kelly's Corner states "you can not start a program with an ,EXE extension"...I can start all program with and EXE extension....UNLESS the word "setup" is in front of the dot set.exe runs just fine...up.exe runs just fine....upset.exe runs just fine....but when you type "SETUP.EXE"it will not run.

Spybot search and destroy and adware are both installed on my system and run from safe mode and from normal mode the RAM issue i'm not even going to discuss sure 384 would be nice but 256 is plenty sufficient for what is run on my system.

This seems to be the most perplexing thing I have run accross in all my years of computing


Rob
Rob

[RobsterCraw]

Originally Posted by bookworm

Have you checked Device Manager to see if any problems there, Intel have a chipset on the mobo that needs to be up to date to install any software, and as most installations are exe files this could be the problem. I'd check on the Dell Support Site to see if anything needs updating, but I would update the chipset as you have installed new hardware. http://support.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home.asp

Hope this helps

I have finished upgrading all things device manager related to no avail...and now my modem icon will not show up in the notification area and I can not run status on my connection...to see if any of my devices are connected I have to hit the refresh button in "Network Connections" window...

any hints would be great thanks,

Rob

[D0M1N8R]

Just a thought..
You wouldnt happen to have any firewall software installed blocking setup.exe files from running? Try disabling your firewall if you use one like Norton and try running the file. If it runs then the fix is simply removing the block action to setup.exe files.

[RobsterCraw]

Originally Posted by D0M1N8R

Just a thought..
You wouldnt happen to have any firewall software installed blocking setup.exe files from running? Try disabling your firewall if you use one like Norton and try running the file. If it runs then the fix is simply removing the block action to setup.exe files.

only thing I run is the windows firewall...I only have a dialup conn at this time...though I did set it to its default settings...the no help on the SETUP.EXE issue...



On another note I did remove the file exefile assoc in my sys lastnight and sure enough all of my exe files stopped working no prob I have plenty of util to get them working again...though in my ragged state I didn't think to try to run a SETUP.EXE prog before I fixed my exefile assoc back. Now that i got a couple of hours sleep I will give that a try today.
After disabling exefile assoc and reenabling I thought it might clear it up...it did not.


thanks for the help

[John Baker]

[quote=RobsterCraw]My problem is two fold. The most severe is.

1. Setup.exe files will not run on my XP computer


I have a new E-Machine with XP installed and have EXACTLY the3 same issue. The e-machine people were not really helpful, so I wrote the folliowuing message on the XP BBS:

Hi:

I have 2 machines both running XP Home with the latest SP. On one, CDs with a setup.exe work fine, and on the other they don't! I have tried copying the whole setup package (from CD) from one machine to another, but still setup.exe wont activate.

Is there some setting, somewhere deep in XP, that tells it NOT to respond to setup.exe, and if so what is it and how do I change it?

Best

John Baker

To date no answer has been forthcoming.

Does anyone have a solution to this vexing problem?

John Baker

[RobsterCraw]

[quote=John Baker]

Originally Posted by RobsterCraw

My problem is two fold. The most severe is.

1. Setup.exe files will not run on my XP computer


I have a new E-Machine with XP installed and have EXACTLY the3 same issue. The e-machine people were not really helpful, so I wrote the folliowuing message on the XP BBS:

Best

John Baker

To date no answer has been forthcoming.

Does anyone have a solution to this vexing problem?

John Baker

John,

I can't say that it is great having company on this issue because I know your frustration well.

Let me give you some details...first I am still having the problem Man I have done so much trying to figure this thing out

First is trying to remember when I have run a setup.exe program.
The only thing I have done recently is add a new hard drive and I new DVD-RW Drive...but now here your story it makes me wonder...

You say you system is an HP E-Machine...My DVD-RW is an HP and the problem showed up the day I installed the Drive...I first though it was a faulty disk from HP so I called them to request a replacement...

Lets think here a moment...Tell me John ...

1 What is the drive running in your e-machine?
2 What type software did the include with the drive for your drive was it the roxio stuff or nero is it different brands like powerDVD and neroMovietime?

Get back to me soon maybe there is a way to exchange emails or get together on messenger to talk closer about this.


Thanks I'll offer any help I can when I find it...hell I even gave myself some of the viruses to see if I could follow what they did...getting rid of the viruses is easy...this setup thing is causing lost sleep and much aggrevation

Thanks,

Rob

[xtel]

I am also having the same problem as you two guys. It won't read the 'setup.exe' from my d: drive at ALL! Will formatting my computer fix it all or what's going on??

email: thextel@gmail.com
aim: xtel

[RobsterCraw]

Originally Posted by xtel

I am also having the same problem as you two guys. It won't read the 'setup.exe' from my d: drive at ALL! Will formatting my computer fix it all or what's going on??

email: thextel@gmail.com
aim: xtel

I'm sure it would but I am only willing to perform a format as a last result
What kind of system do you have and when did your troubles start...

try copying your cd contents to a folder on the hard drive....highlight the setup.exe file and press CTRL+C then click an empty space on the folder and press CTRL+V a new files should appear names "Copy of SETUP.exe"
double click the new file and see if your install runs smoothly


ROb

[yoni5002]

Before re-installing windows would you like to spend 10 min here?:

Click on Start/ Run and type "gpedit.msc"

Under Windows Magnamet or Software magnament you have options to stop and prevent Programs to be installed and Prevent Setup.exe from running too I think... take a look at that really quick

yoni5002
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