FIX: WebSphere MQ for Windows, Version 6.0 breaks explorer.exe and COM+ and Windows Installer could not be accessed, etc.

After installing Websphere for Windows 6.0 the machine became almost
useless. Windows would not show up in task bar. The taskbar would
freeze as though hidden. Icons on the desktop would not move. When I
tried to uninstall Websphere for Windows 6.0 I got this message.

Error 1719: The Windows Installer service could not be accessed

I tried http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315346

But that did not work. I've wasted almost 12 hours trying to fix this
(still faster than imaging the machine though).

I did a repair reinstall of windows and the taskbar started working a
little better. I could use the start menu, but windows would not
minimize to it. The reinstall barked about COM+ not being able to
install; I has to skip over it to finish the reinstall.

So the next thing I did was reinstall COM+: or at least tried. I
followed the instructions here: http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315296

But I got a message similar to: d:\nt\com1x\src\complussetup\comsetup
\ccompluscore.cpp (line 565) > Error Code = 0x80040155

I did malware scans, virus scans, registry scans--you name it. It
wasn't until I stumbled across this link that I was finally able to
get COM installed: http://www.mqseries.net/phpBB2/viewt...ff084e54b9e9d1

At the bottom they say to remove a registry entry in the OLE key.
Thanks guys, that was incredibly helpful. Things are under control
now.

Rant:
This was an evaluation of Websphere 6.0 for Windows using the supplied
Eclipse 3.0 SDK, and with options "not a domain controller". Yeesh,
I just wanted to evaluate this--not rebuild my whole machine.
Needless to say, my recommendation is _not_ to use Websphere. I
haven't been able to even get the thing installed (I've got 20 hard
years in IT under the belt). My opinion is the potential savings it
could offer is eaten up by troubleshooting and support costs.

"acscott" wrote
> After installing Websphere for Windows 6.0 the machine became almost
> useless. Windows would not show up in task bar. The taskbar would
> freeze as though hidden. Icons on the desktop would not move. When I
> tried to uninstall Websphere for Windows 6.0 I got this message.
>
> Error 1719: The Windows Installer service could not be accessed
>
> I tried http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315346
>
> But that did not work. I've wasted almost 12 hours trying to fix this
> (still faster than imaging the machine though).
>
> I did a repair reinstall of windows and the taskbar started working a
> little better. I could use the start menu, but windows would not
> minimize to it. The reinstall barked about COM+ not being able to
> install; I has to skip over it to finish the reinstall.
>
> So the next thing I did was reinstall COM+: or at least tried. I
> followed the instructions here:
> http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;315296
>
> But I got a message similar to: d:\nt\com1x\src\complussetup\comsetup
> \ccompluscore.cpp (line 565) > Error Code = 0x80040155
>
> I did malware scans, virus scans, registry scans--you name it. It
> wasn't until I stumbled across this link that I was finally able to
> get COM installed:
> http://www.mqseries.net/phpBB2/viewt...ff084e54b9e9d1
>
> At the bottom they say to remove a registry entry in the OLE key.
> Thanks guys, that was incredibly helpful. Things are under control
> now.
>
> Rant:
> This was an evaluation of Websphere 6.0 for Windows using the supplied
> Eclipse 3.0 SDK, and with options "not a domain controller". Yeesh,
> I just wanted to evaluate this--not rebuild my whole machine.
> Needless to say, my recommendation is _not_ to use Websphere. I
> haven't been able to even get the thing installed (I've got 20 hard
> years in IT under the belt). My opinion is the potential savings it
> could offer is eaten up by troubleshooting and support costs.


The quickest way to have recovered from this would be to have used a drive
imaging program such as Acronis True Image to regularly image the system to
an external or network drive, and to image before installing new software.
Then if something hoses the system you can restore the previous image and be
back running in an hour or so.

Sorry I don't have a resolution for your current problem.

--
Rock [MS-MVP User/Shell]