SOLVED My setup files are corrupted

[Mongo]

Hi. I am using a DELL Desktop with OS Windows 10 Pro. Lately I have been getting popups on the monitor that tell me that my setup files are corrupted and that I need to get a new copy of the program. I click OK and close the popup and it goes away and my system continues to boot up and seems to run OK.

I am very confused as to what to do and how to do it. Hoping you can help.

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Mongo,

My guess is you have some third party software / games installed.

If you go to the programs folder you'll probably find setup.exe files in them. One or more may be corrupted.

Replacing that file, by re-installing the program, or obtaining a fresh copy from a compressed file and using that to replace the one present will more than likely resolve your issue.

As to why they became faulty - anyone's guess. Perhaps, installing the problematic program with your antivirus programs temporarily disabled will help - just make sure after installing it, you re-enable your antivirus program.


Regards,

Regedit32

 

[Mongo]

Hi Mongo,

My guess is you have some third party software / games installed.

If you go to the programs folder you'll probably find setup.exe files in them. One or more may be corrupted.

Replacing that file, by re-installing the program, or obtaining a fresh copy from a compressed file and using that to replace the one present will more than likely resolve your issue.

As to why they became faulty - anyone's guess. Perhaps, installing the problematic program with your antivirus programs temporarily disabled will help - just make sure after installing it, you re-enable your antivirus program.


Regards,

Regedit32

Thank you Regedit32.
The popup simply states "The setup files are corrupted. Please obtain a new copy of the program"

It does not mention any program name, but it comes up during boot up and restart. So I am assuming they it is referring to Windows 10.

I have doubts that it is an application but How can I be sure?

 

[davehc]

NO. I don't think MS OS would handle the fault, for their own program(s) with such a message. As Regedit suggests, it is most likely a third party program.
Outside possibility is it is spam.
But, open the task manager and then the Startup tab, and see if you can identify anything there , which may be causing the problem. If you wish, you could post a clip here so a member could also identify it. If you can see anything suspicious, disable it temporarily., and restart the computer to see if the problem has gone.

 

[Regedit32]

There maybe something trying to load during Startup as davehc suggests.

If its not obvious in the Startup tab, there may be something in the run or runonce hives inside your Registry that is being called, that either does not exist any longer, or is pointing to a corrupted setup file.

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You could check those manually and see if anything sticks out. If there is something you do not want or need starting each time you boot your computer, it is safe to right-click and select delete their entries from these hives. DO NOT delete the hives themselves though!

 

[Mongo]

I will try that davehc and see what I can find. I have already run AVG antivirus and Malwarebytes.
Will get back to the forum later today. Have some chores to do now.

 

[Mongo]

Attached are a couple of photos of what I see at the conclusion of every boot up or restart.

 

[Mongo]

There maybe something trying to load during Startup as davehc suggests.

If its not obvious in the Startup tab, there may be something in the run or runonce hives inside your Registry that is being called, that either does not exist any longer, or is pointing to a corrupted setup file.

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

You could check those manually and see if anything sticks out. If there is something you do not want or need starting each time you boot your computer, it is safe to right-click and select delete their entries from these hives. DO NOT delete the hives themselves though!

Thank you again Regedit32 but I do not understand HKEY stuff or 'hives'.

 

[davehc]

Phew! Lot of stuff on there - some doing the same job. I think that picture I asked for will be a great help. But, not a reiable thought, If you have Team viewer running resident, that would be my first suspicion.

 

[Mongo]

I think Team Viewer is not running resident. I only run it when I want to allow a repairman to work without coming to my home or me taking the PC to his shop. Although I am not sure what "running resident" means. How can I check?

 

[Regedit32]

Taking a look at your Desktop icons ---

You appear to have two WinRAR compressed files for System Inspector there.

That may be the issue.

Open File Explorer | ThisPC | C partition | Program Files (x86) and look for the folder pertaining to that application (System Inspector).

Open that folder and if you see a setup file there then double click it. If it is the problem file it will generate the error popup you are seeing. If its not the problem file, then it will start the install process, which you can just cancel out of.

If its not the problem file, the while at C:\Program Files (x86) open the other program folders and repeat steps.

Also, check inside the C:\Program Files directory, and open the program folders there too to look for any setup files.

One or more of those setup files will be what is causing you the issue.


On a side note: I see on your Desktop there is a uTorrent icon. I'm not interested in being police about this, but be aware uTorrents are a popular way for jerks to infect someone else's computer. Personally, I'd strongly recommend uninstalling that and staying well away from it. The software developers who are not getting paid for having their software stolen, the musicians and movie folk - all will appreciate it

 

[davehc]

In fact - Any torrent -almost!

 

[Mongo]

Taking a look at your Desktop icons ---

You appear to have two WinRAR compressed files for System Inspector there.

That may be the issue.

Open File Explorer | ThisPC | C partition | Program Files (x86) and look for the folder pertaining to that application (System Inspector).

Open that folder and if you see a setup file there then double click it. If it is the problem file it will generate the error popup you are seeing. If its not the problem file, then it will start the install process, which you can just cancel out of.

If its not the problem file, the while at C:\Program Files (x86) open the other program folders and repeat steps.

Also, check inside the C:\Program Files directory, and open the program folders there too to look for any setup files.

One or more of those setup files will be what is causing you the issue.


On a side note: I see on your Desktop there is a uTorrent icon. I'm not interested in being police about this, but be aware uTorrents are a popular way for jerks to infect someone else's computer. Personally, I'd strongly recommend uninstalling that and staying well away from it. The software developers who are not getting paid for having their software stolen, the musicians and movie folk - all will appreciate it

uTorrent has been uninstalled. The other things you recommended will take some time. I will return to this forum when finished. I want to thank all respndents for your hel today. Although my problem is not yet resolved I have already learned some things.

 

[Saltgrass]

If you have a Dell System, there is always a chance it is some update they want installed on some of their support software.

There is some Microsoft software which will attempt to tell you want is creating the popup. Although it may only show what is displaying it and not what actually generated it.

I suppose you could also look at the Task Manager and see what is on the Startup tab and try disabling one of those.

 

[Mongo]

If you have a Dell System, there is always a chance it is some update they want installed on some of their support software.

There is some Microsoft software which will attempt to tell you want is creating the popup. Although it may only show what is displaying it and not what actually generated it.

I suppose you could also look at the Task Manager and see what is on the Startup tab and try disabling one of those.

Saltgrass, thank you for your suggestions. How would I find the DELL or Microsoft software you mention?

I am not very tech savvy.

 

[davehc]

I am a Dell user. So far, I have not had the experience that it has updated anything on my computer, without my permission. There is a Dell program which you are invited to install, from their site, which "manages" your Dell components. I do not use it, which could be why I have not been troubled.But, if you look under your "program Files" and "Program Files (x86) folders, if you have such, it will be in a folder called Dell, or dell... whatever.
It will, if running resident, also appear under the earlier mentioned Startup tab.

 

[Mongo]

I am a Dell user. So far, I have not had the experience that it has updated anything on my computer, without my permission. There is a Dell program which you are invited to install, from their site, which "manages" your Dell components. I do not use it, which could be why I have not been troubled.But, if you look under your "program Files" and "Program Files (x86) folders, if you have such, it will be in a folder called Dell, or dell... whatever.
It will, if running resident, also appear under the earlier mentioned Startup tab.

Not very long ago I received a notice from DELL that my BIOS was out of date. I was offered a chance to update the BIOS to A20 which I did.. The original DELL file is still on my PC, identified as O3020A18.exe. Could that be the source of my problem?

 

[davehc]

I doubt it, but cannot be sure. A corrupted bios would not , in my experience, produce such a message.
But, my opinion only, I would look in your "programs and features" and, if you have something there referring to Dell Management, uninstall it. It is not needed in Windows 10.

 

[Mongo]

I doubt it, but cannot be sure. A corrupted bios would not , in my experience, produce such a message.
But, my opinion only, I would look in your "programs and features" and, if you have something there referring to Dell Management, uninstall it. It is not needed in Windows 10.

Thanks. I will check it.

 

[Saltgrass]

Saltgrass, thank you for your suggestions. How would I find the DELL or Microsoft software you mention?

The software is a small program called Process Explorer. You can download it from the site below or you can download the entire suite and just use certain components. To use it you unzip and then just have it available, when you start it there will be an agreement window but nothing actually installs on your system. Just start the utility in Admin mode.

Once it is running, along the top there is a small target icon. You can pull that over the window and it should highlight one of the processes responsible for displaying the message. As I mentioned, you may only get something responsible for the display and not what is responsible for the actual message.

The site says you may be able to run it directly from the site but I have not tried that. If you need help, just ask.

Process Explorer - Sysinternals

Find out what files, registry keys and other objects processes have open, which DLLs they have loaded, and more.

docs.microsoft.com