24 replies to this topic

[Babak]

Hello Everyone,

I have just joined this forum.

Before I go ahead explaining what my problem is, I have tried to find a solution in this forum but my search did not get anywhere or I can not seem to find a thread about it if it is there, so before getting angry and reply saying read before post, please advise me of a related thread and i will refer to that to find solution to my problem.

I have windows Vista Ultimate installed and recently I tried to download Alcohol 120% version 1.9.6.4719 which seems to be compatible with Vista.

When I try to instal it it says installation will continue after reboot. System is rebooted and installation ooens up asking the same thing over and over. I have also tried installing under administrator log-in but same problem.

It is getting really frustrating.

Is there a solution for it?

What seems to be a problem?

I know for fact that many other people had this problems but no proper solution can be found as far as my search is concerned.

I do have full windows updates installed. In XP some say it's due to a specific security update, and if uninstalled it should be fine. But in vista it is a bit different and that update name is different so I can not just uninstal the updates.

In my opinion, Alcohol should have made the installation easy by installing it all first and then reboot, just like many other programs, but maybe they did that in purpose, I do not know, sure there is a reason behind it.

I appreciate if people with experience and same problem could participate and help me out. I hope someone who had this problem and managed to fix it can reply and help me out.

Cheers

[zamiel]

Have you tried installing in Safe Mode?

Failing that, download the standalone SPTD installer from www.duplexsecure.com, install that before installing Alcohol.

[Phoenix]

Alternativly please

Uninstall Alcohol 120%

Set the "start" registry entry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\sptd to 4.

Reboot.

Delete the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\sptd registry key and all of its subkeys and entries.

Reboot.

Run the stand-alone install for SPTD again. http://www.duplexsec...om/en/downloads

Right-click Alcohol 120% setup and select Run as Administrator

Install as usual

[Babak]

Woow, that was quick to respond back.

I will try that now and see how I go. Will post back the results.

Thank you guys kindly for such a quick response and appreciate all your help.

Cheers

[Babak]

Hi Again,

I have just followed your instruction and it did not make any difference. It still asks me to reboot my system and installation will continue after the rebot, but every time it says the same thing.

I am a computer tech and I am 100% sure I did as instruction above, so it can not be me doing it wrong. It did not work and I believe something in my system is preventing it from being installed, and it keeps telling me I need to reboot.

Seems very complicated. I have used older versions of Alcohol when I used to have Windows XP SP2 on my machine and had no problem. This version I am trying to install, according to Alcohol website, is compatible with both Vista x86 & x64 versions.

Any other ideas, options?

I have not tried to do it in safe mode, but I doubt that it would work. Even if it works it would be there in safe mode because once I log in using either administrator or my user name, all other applications will be running and would comflict again and pop up different errors, thats what I reckon would happen, because in safe mode, neither of personal applications would be running. Windows updates, I am unsure but they even might not be running.

If they are not, then we might be able to instal alcohol, but once we log back normaly, they might cause problems, and even if they are running then it is gonna be the same thing, same issue as what it is now.

That's as far as my knowledge concerns regarding this error, installing this software. Maybe I am wrong who knows, but that sounds like what is happening...

I will try and see if I can install the very latest version of Alcohol and see if that installs OK or not and will be back with more information shortly.

Thanks to Mr. Phoenix and Mr. Zamiels for the information they provided here, but seems like the problem is not that, and it is a bit more complicated.

Here are some more details and some of the related programs I have installed on my machine, maybe it will help to pin point the problem:

Machine:

AMD 64 3500+
2GB RAM
256MB Gigabyte PCI-E Graphics Card

O/S:

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate

Programs Installed:

Microsoft Office 2007
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7
Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 ME
Adobe Photoshop CS3 ME
Nero 7.10.1.0 Premium (Vista)
DVD Ghost 2.5 (2000,XP/Vista)
DVD Shrink
FlashGet
CyberLink PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra
Babylon 6.0

[zamiel]

The "conflict" only seems to be an issue when installing therefore installing in Safe Mode has fixed this for a number of people. Please ensure you disable an virus checker when installing as this too might disrupt the process.

[ptolomeus3]

Just out of curiosity, why do you try to install version 1.9.6.4719 when the actual download version is 1.9.6.5429?

[Babak]

OK in that case I will try installing it in safe mode and see how it goes.

Just out of curiosity, why do you try to install version 1.9.6.4719 when the actual download version is 1.9.6.5429?

Well my mate had a good version with serial number and activation so he let me use his copy as he sold his pc and does not need this anymore.

I might as well just instal the latest version cause I need to see if it can back up DVD 9 data into an iso image in my computer. you see his copy is full version but latest downloadable version is a trial version.

Since I want to just test something and see if it works the way I want it to then I give the latest version a shot and see how it performs.




Thanks
Babak

[zamiel]

Serials are non transferable and using a mates serial is against the EULA. The trial version is exactly the same as the full version except it only lasts 30 days and you can only create 6 virtual drives instead of 31.

[Babak]

OK that method did not work either, the "Safe Mode" option.

Well I downloaded the latest version as you said and tried that in safe mode. It did not work and same thing all over again. That's right! Installation will continue after reboot.

I logged back in using my user name and it opened up by itself to instal and this time tried to instal the SPTD thing and that also said reboot your system. I did reboot again and same thing all over again.

I guess I am gonna find something else that can take image of a disk or DVD because this Vista compatible Alcohol ain't working for me.

Well the thing is I bought the computer from my mate and his copy of Alcohol is registered under his name but he paid for it so he is allowed to either put it in the bin or give away with his PC.

Anyway, the point is that it is not working anyway, not even version 1.9.6.5429.

I guess I am gonna give up because it just getting so frustrating and ridiculously annoying.

I wonder why it cant just instal the whole thing and then restart, for setup to effect?


I would like to thank you all for your kind support, but if anyone has a fix for it, please post back in here as I will still regularly check anyway.

Cheers
Thanks

[Phoenix]

Firstly Babak,

Alcohol is registered under his name but he paid for it so he is allowed to either put it in the bin or give away with his PC.

I am afraid you are not correct with this statement it is quiet clear in our terms and conditions http://shop.alcohol-soft.com/terms.php
The Licensor grants to you, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and payment of all applicable license fees, a nonexclusive, non-transferable right to use the Software.

If we are aware of a breach of the terms and conditions we can and will disable the serial number involved.

As to your problem i suggest you try the following

Open registry editor (execute regedit),
go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\sptd
and change Start value to 4 (=disabled), reboot, after reboot enable all permissions of sptd\cfg key in Services hive, then delete entire sptd key, and ensure System has full access (check permissions) to entire Services hive (the error message points to registry access problems to Services hive)!
Reboot, after reboot re-install SPTD layer, and if it installed correctly execute SPTD stand-alone installer after required reboot to ensure correct installation, i.e. installer must detect installed SPTD layer version.

[skeightley]

Hi.
I am also having the same problem as this, I am using Windows Vista Home Premium with latest updates and have downloaded the latest trial version of Alcohol 120%, and the latest STDP installer.

I tried to follow the instructions in the 3rd or 4th post. I set the value to 4, rebooted, then tried to delete the reg key as instructed. Windows told me I was not allowed to delete it as the key could not be found (?).

I rebooted anyway and attempted to install STDP, it just came up with the same 'Windows needs to restart' pop-up, but after restart still fails to install.

Can anybody else walk me through this. I am not completely lost with regedit, but am by no means an experienced user so a step by step walk through would be fantastic.

Stephen

[Jito463]

Try installing in Safe Mode.

[skeightley]

Thanks, I got it to install. But now every time I run Alcohol 120% it says:

Loading Alcohol Device drivers failed.
Emulation options and native driver interface of Alcohol 120% will not be available!

and sure enough no emulated drive will show up...

[Charalambos]

Alternativly please

Uninstall Alcohol 120%

Set the "start" registry entry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\sptd to 4.

Reboot.

Delete the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\sptd registry key and all of its subkeys and entries.

Reboot.

Run the stand-alone install for SPTD again. http://www.duplexsec...om/en/downloads

Right-click Alcohol 120% setup and select Run as Administrator

Install as usual

Or just change the default Alcohol's virtual drive interface with the Windows one in the Alcohol's options, it may do the job and you can go on with it if you want.

[spoon138]

Alternativly please

Uninstall Alcohol 120%

Set the "start" registry entry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\sptd to 4.

Reboot.

Delete the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\sptd registry key and all of its subkeys and entries.

Reboot.

Run the stand-alone install for SPTD again. http://www.duplexsec...om/en/downloads

Right-click Alcohol 120% setup and select Run as Administrator

Install as usual

i had the constant prompts to reboot during the initial steps of installing version 1.9.6.5429 on vista .it was after the stdp installer had run it would prompt for reboot and then on reboot it would run the installer and try to install the stdp again or tell me i needed to reboot before i could proceed even though i had just rebooted. however using the above method i managed to get it to install , posted by pheonix .
a few things though....
i did not uninstall alcohol as i was not able to but i deleted every folder in program files accosiated with it ..(had to use Dr.delete(force deletion) for some) although i think this did not cause the problem.
i set the reg key to 4, as shown in the above post, rebooted.
then tried to delete the stdp key (entire key ) but was unable to. i deleted everything i could find within that key and narrowed it down to a key called'cfg'
to delete this i had to right click it go to permissions and check to boxes that allowed full control of the key ,apply ,ok, then i was able to delete it and subsequently delete the stdp key within which everything was origionally placed.....rebooted,installed stdp within installer(not standalone)rebooted and wow it installed correctly.
this was all done in normal windows vista ultimate x86 (not safe mode ) with everything on ,virus protection the lot.
just thought id share my experience with this prob as ive spent days tryin to sort it. oh and thanks to phoenix.

[Phoenix]

Am pleased that you got your problem resolved, the differences in users systems often mean using a slight variation on the most common solutions.

[Christoph]

Dear people at Alcohol,

I have to say I am dissappointed by your service.
Having purchased your software, I would have expected you to come up with some sort of patch for users to make it convenient to solve the "Vista Ultimate" issue.

I have just wasted 2 hours trying to get Alcohol to work.

Now I don't care whose fault this is. I think your software is the best for what its worth, that's why I chose to pay good money for it.
Maybe it's the OS's fault. But I paid good money for that, too.

Neither Microsoft nor you are willing to come up with any kind of convenient solution.
Do you really expect everyone to know how to edit a registry?

Besides: I think your eula-terms are a bit weird - am I subscribing to some kind of membership, or am I buying a product? If it's a membership, then I would expect service, service, service. If it's a product, why wouldn't I be able to sell it to somebody else if I don't need it? Like, in my case, I am pretty much at the point where I think I can't USE your software at all, because of your poor service attitude.

Now I am not going to argue with you on legal grounds - but in terms of common sense - do you really think you are doing a good job here?

Thanks for your time, your help is of course appreciated

---Christoph---

[ptolomeus3]

Christoph,

Hi,
As a purchased user,
Please use this form http://support.alcoh...mailsupport.php and request access to our purchased users forum please include in your mail the email address that you use to access your account on our main site, and your forum name i will then adjust your access so that you can ask your question in the purchased users section.

[Phoenix]

Christoph,

Wow what a first post.

The EULA terms are no different from most other software that you purchase, i just picked up my Call of duty 4 and looked at the software license agreement, (As it happend to be on my desk) its actualy worse than our softwares.

Here are a few extracts

Activision grants me non-exclusive, non-transferable limited right and license to install and use one copy of this program solely and exclusively for your personal use.
This program is licensed not sold for your use.
You shall not use this program or permit use of this program on more than one computer, computer terminal, or workstation at the same time.
Sell,rent,lease,license,distribute or otherwise transfer this program.

And it goes on and on etc etc, i guess you get the idea. if you did not fully understand our EULA you could have contacted us by email for an explination.

Your comments.

your poor service attitude.

and

I am dissappointed by your service

Hold on, this is your first post, you have not explained what your problem is you have not even given our dedicated support team a chance to help you but your throwing comments around like

poor service attitude,

and

do you realy think your doing a good job here.

Do you not think that comments like that are unfounded in this case ?

You give no indication of your problem, you give no explination of your system and if you have upgraded to Vista or if its a clean install, in fact you actualy give us no information to work with at all. As far as i can see you have not even attempted to contact our 24\7 email support techs.

Here is an extract from a mail one of our support techs has just recieved after helping a customer with their problem, i think it says alot about the type of support you can expect from the support techs in this forum and the email support techs.

You have been so patient and helpful with me I can never tell you how much I appreciate all the work you have gone through to help with this!

Thank you soooooo much! Now I have a program that I UNDERSTAND so that I can make disk copies to share with my family! I have so many disks of family pictures and family keeps coming up from no where asking for pictures and info. Now I can do multiple disks copies made with a program I understand and trust to do that with!

THANKS!