Norton Utilities 15.0 tries to install & configure installed programs. Removed Roxio Easy CD & DVD

creese · April 7, 2011, 12:25am

A few days ago, I downloaded a 30 day trial for Norton Utilities 15.0 and ran some of its features. I have a Dell Inspiron 9400 w/Windows XP sp3 and Norton 360 version 5. Everything was fine until I started my laptop the next morning. The installer kept coming up on the "Roxio Easy CD & DVD 10.3" that I just installed last week. It said "preparing to install, configure, etc. Then it wanted the install disk, but that didn't work. It wouldn't cancel even though it gave the option. I ended the task several times then, I finally uninstalled Roxio and cleaned the registry, etc.

That wasn't enough, it did the same thing on restart with my DragonNaturallySpeaking program that I installed a few years ago and have not used it since. (Some day I will). Anyway, I put the disk in and it seemed to be ok with that program. I am not going to use Norton Utilities until I know for sure of where the real problem lies.

Of course, Windows restore points wouldn't work and I had to uninstall GoBack when I updated 360... I ordered Norton Ghost and Norton Utilities 15.0 but haven’t received them yet. I am waiting for Ghost before I do anything else. I did see something on the forum, while I was searching for this problem, a few minutes ago about 360 and Ghost not being compatible. Please tell me that it is not true.

I did make one change in Norton Utilities and hold my breath when I boot up for the day. This is tax time, I do not need any of this happening to my Tax programs. I think this may have been causing part of my problems.

I had run "Click Tuneup Your Services" "... to improve the performance and setup of your Windows services...". I chose the recommended choice. When I finally remembered I had run something involving windows services, after all this, I went back in and unchecked the "windows installer" box. I have not had a problem since then. But, I still have not re-installed Roxio either.

I am not a programmer but, could Norton Utilities actually be editing and/or deleting registries or even other necessary files on Roxio and other programs? In a way, it would explain why the installshield would keep opening and trying to install/configure on already installed working programs. I never had a problem when I used Utilities when it was part of Systemworks which has been discontinued for 2-3 years. Norton has made drastic changes to Utilities and not all for the better. My problems started less than 12 hours after I downloaded the trial version.

Another problem that I am having is that I can no longer stream Netflix movies to my laptop. On the Netflix site, I get a DRM error (Digital Rights Management), “problem playing protected DRM content.” I have no idea whether this is related, but if it has issues with Roxio which is audio/video software and Dragonspeak which is audio, then why not Netflix streaming software?

What should I know before I install Norton Ghost 15.0 and activate Utilities 15.0? They will be here tomorrow. I really don't have time for hours of troubleshooting. Are these known bugs that are being worked out?

creese · April 8, 2011, 5:32pm

Hi Bill,

Thank you for your help. I am a little confused with this. Do you mean my Internet Explorer 8 browser? De-select option in Utilities? I am using Windows XP. Please see below if I somehow did check the right place.

Betme wrote:
If this is the case de-select the "downloaded programs" option under the browser you are using in the clean your disk area

I have not reinstalled the Roxio program yet but I did find two files in the "downloaded programs updates" folder: DLA & Sonic Update manager sub-folder with DLA update and Record Now Data, each folder contained one application (dla498 & data2001basic) both from 2006. I removed these programs a couple weeks ago (obviously not a complete uninstall). They came installed in 2006 and I never clicked on them, so when I finally did they couldn't be activated.

I contacted Dell and they sent replacement software with all the currently used media programs and all the resource cd's that I never received when I bought my laptop. I uninstalled all the old programs that didn't work and installed all the new ones. Roxio Easy CD & DVD 10.3 was one of the new programs. It is not the typical blue cd that Dell usually sends. It is a Roxio cd. When I did install it, it went directly to the Roxio site, without a prompt, and automatically updated the software to a more current version.

I did check my Dragon software to see if there were files that might have caused Utilities to want to install & configure and didn't see anything. But, when I opened it I did find that I have not activated and trained it yet. There is an update option but not an automatic one in the options or tools. I wouldn't think that this would be an issue.

When I did download Norton Utilities on the 2nd, it was late and I was exhausted. It did find close to 3000 issues. Unfortunately, I had no luck finding the log, when I finally thought about it, and it is probably to late. I do let it scan but I have not run defrag, boot optimize or bleach free space.

I am just nervous about having a major glitch before I finish my taxes for 2008-2010. My husband and I have had some major ongoing medical problems over the years and finding receipts to itemize is a painful nightmare. The state of Ohio has an automatic $500 penalty and interest no matter what you owe if you file late, no matter the reason. They have turned me over to the Attorney Generals office for 2006 and very soon 2007...

Anyway, too much information. I have Norton Ghost 15.0 now but, I have read some horror stories on the forum and am afraid to install it so that I can backup my entire drive (60GB out of 100GB) or at least all the Turbotax programs and forms to my 1TB WD Essential usb drive.

Given all of this. Should I install Ghost 15.0 on my Dell Inspiron 9400 with Windows XP SP3 2GB RAM 100GB hard drive so that I can get a real backup?

Should I try installing Roxio before I have a real backup of my drive?

Sorry for going into so much detail but, I do not know what to do.

Thanks,

Cheryl

Betme · April 8, 2011, 10:18pm

Hi Cheryl,

You are doing fine, on the subject of the program problem, I think we are onto the issue. You may want to just un-check the box and then load an affected program and try a clean disk operation again to be sure you are going to have good results.

In the picture above under item name be sure to not check the downloaded program files as in my example (your window could be slightly different as me version is 14.5) this should leave the files alone if a program uses this folder.

On the subject of ghost, I used ghost for many years with XP, (I now use windows imaging as I am running win 7 now) making a backup before doing anything "major" is a great idea, this way you can always "go back" to a working computer.

I understand about the tax deadline, you might want to get your programs back in order do your taxes and then back the machine up and then experiment with Utilities. I think you will find it useful but be sure to take time to understand it. It is a powerful utility.

Finally there are some new features in version 15 of Utilities, but I do not think they would affect the issue you are seeing, maybe someone will chime in that has version 15.

All the best -- Bill

creese · April 24, 2011, 4:41pm

I finally started using Utilities. I stil like the old one that was included with Systemworks but I will probably change my mind when things are running more smoothly. I received the Installshield 1607 scripting runtime error on Dragonspeak on startup again and I have yet to install the Roxio Easy CD. I finally found the screenshot you sent. I am not sure how I missed this option screen. There are alot of choices within this software.

Well I just made the change you suggested. I will let you know how it works. I am still working on Turbotax but I did install Ghost and have many restore points and backups.

Thanks for your help.

Cheryl

Betme · April 26, 2011, 12:29am

Cheryl,

Thank you for the update, the "new" utilities can be a little "unfriendly" and requires a lot more care than the old system works cleanup utility. I found the older one much easer to use as well.

One additional thing to mention, be sure to run the smart update (the button at the top of the utilities screen) as I see there may be some program updates for your version.

Keep us updated when you can --- Bill

creese · April 7, 2011, 12:25am