SPTD.sys critical driver is missing, or corrupt

Dear Tech Support:

I've been using Alcohol 52% 1.9.7 without any problem for a while. It WAS the best!!!

I've attempted to upgrade to newest version which was released recently. The installation process prompted me to restart my computer in its attempt to do something about SPTD. My computer won't boot (not even in the safe mode) after the restart. The error message includes the following error messages: sptd.sys OXc0000221 critical driver is missing or corrupt.

I was able to boot with Last Known Good Configuration and ran System Restore to recover my system to the previous state.

My system is of the followings:
Vista Ultimate 64-bit SP1
AMD 9600 Quad 2.5GHz
A-Data 2x2GB DDR2 800MHz RAM
FOXCONN Motherboard A74MX-k
NEC DVD ND3550A

Your prompt response is greatly appreciated.

Obviously something went wrong with the installation of sptd.sys, which is a driver that Alcohol uses. Try to reinstall again( you can redownload the installer just to be sure), if you still have problems try installing in Safe Mode and, if the problems still persist, try installing SPTD alone first with the SPTD standalone installer/uninstaller from www.duplexsecure.com

hello,
i'm running vista ultimate SP1 64-bit from some DELL xps M1330 laptop and i tried to install the last alcohol 52% last day.
except when i rebooted i had this error about the file corrupted except i couldnt do anything in F8 mode,
all choices finished with same result, the OS didnt start at all and with the error of corrupted file sptd driver.
vista proposed me to use repair tool with my DVD so i tried it, it looked for the prob, searched long minutes then finished by : no way to repair the OS.
so my system was dead and impossible to do anything.
but now that i use pcs for sometime, i have this application acronis trueimage echo and i make backup of my system everyday or not far so the story finished good for me. i could backup the crashed OS to recover some important files, and i used my backup i made 2 days before to restore my machine,
after that i mounted the crashed OS and copy all i needed so that was not dramatic.
but what can i do ? i read that alcohol is compatible with vista 64 and my personal experience locked me out of my machine.
is there a way to install alcohol 52% on vista 64 that is 100% sure and i'll not have the same problem again ?
cause alcohol 52% is really my favorite tool to mount images, i got a license for it.
someone can give me a solution he's sure it will work at 100 ?
in other case i'll have to check for some other tool like the one of slysoft or the one of magic iso maker as i got the app magic iso maker but alcohol 52% is really better for me than all others tools to mount images...
can u help me please ? :-(

ok so i tried to install the driver first from www.duplexsecure.com, then i rebooted and had no issues.
i installed alcohol 52% and activated it, all works fine on vista ultimate SP1 64-bit
thanks for your advice, now i can use my favorite tool to mount my images. :-)
didnt know what happened trying to install directly alcohol, maybe some bad luck,
but if u use 64 bit, try to install this way to not get the same problem as me, locked out from your machine with no way to boot with any option on F8, always same error on dling the sptd driver and the DVD is unable to repair the OS.
thanks acronis, backup tools are best protection against anything, virus, errors, system crashed, u can always come back with the system u saved the last day like nothing happenned to your system.
be carefull with vista 64 coders, i hope microsoft will not give u too many privilèges to control the system, it's better that coders stay away from the kernel to not mess with the system, we got lot of experiences of progs we installed that totally broke our system, dont say no, cause u'll lie.
dont touch the system and all will be fine, for my prob i cant tell why installing directly alcohol crashed my OS...

Hello ailef, the problem more than likely is due to something on your system which doesnt like Alcohol or SPTD I also use Vista64 and have no problems installing every available Alcohol version.

Gosh, can't you guys do an update w/o screwing up something? Same issue here: SPTD driver missing or corrupt!

Your (Alcohol 52% Free) installer f**ks up my system, and I should mention that I do take very good care of my PC.

Running Vista Ultimate x64 SP1

Edited by Aqualung, 28 November 2008 - 01:27 AM.

all systems are differents so it's not cause u got no bug that it doesnt exist in certain conditions.
we dont use the same hardware, same drivers,
but if something could mess with the driver install it can be defense+ of comodo FW wich is a very powerfull security tool and control absolutly anything a file is trying to do so u got an alert for each activity or u can set the file as installer so it installs with no question.
and the crash i had was with the free version too,
then i installed my licensed 52%, i stopped using it when u released it for free (i know i can set more drives but who needs 30 drives anyway? 6 are enough) but what i dont like is that on the version i paid for i got also the toolbar, dont u think u should not add this toolbar for people that bought the product by the way ?

i remember i had a problem very long time ago with alcoholl 120% in some random conditions, i rebooted then, same thing, xp was dead, impossible to repair or fix and i never found the fix, after i used just alcohol 52% as i dont need the 120% burning tool, i dont play, alcohol 120% is to duplicate some games protected hard way, that's not normal u cant copy what's yours, why they didnt just use some serial that is registered with the machine installed then if u want to use your license again, u log into your acount, u delete your registration and u can install on new system but the key will activate just one game, for people without internet ? phone way, u give your name adress etc u note your key and they activate for u.
anyway, it's to say that Microsoft is right to block coders with vista 64, but it seems even vista 64 was crashed by some driver unable to repair.
and the man used the same free edition on same OS for same result, so maybe there's a prob to fix, and will be cool to say it instead of doing like all others coders, never communicate on some error they made, but it's easier to incriminate progs installed or system cause no one will ever know what was the origin, for me the origin is sptd in free edition corrupted so it's no more possible to start vista 64,
and if aqualung got no backup and couldnt access his os like me in anyway, he's in troubles.
maybe some boot thing to clean the system without needs to load drivers then reboot with fixed OS.
but we're not sure of nothing, but my system was fine, then i decided to install free edition and on reboot this sptd,
and u can search for google how many people have probs with this driver, but now i dont care at all about fixiing things that are not my job, that's why acronis is running very often to keep backups free from that kind of thing with no way to fix in my case.

It works, and thank you for your suggestion.

Yeah, that works. Which goes to proof that there's something rotten w/Alcohol's installer.

yes maybe it's possible there's a prb on the free edition install.
i didnt test on retail one, i directly used the solution u told, install the driver, reboot, then install alcohol.
no issue this way.
i can test if something is fixed as i always do system backup, that's not a prob.
or there's some app we got installed that got prob with alcohol installer as Robbo had never any prob with alcohol installer.
was it 120% or 52 ? cause my prob was with the free 52% build.

Well as we are less than 12 hours into the 1st of December and so far 732 people have downloaded and installed the free trial version today, yet we have had less than 3 people with install problems I will hazard a guess here that it is a problem on a few systems that is causing this rather than a general failure of our installer.

Our installers are checked on as many computers as possible and like Robbo i have no problems on Vista x64, my son has a problem with installing Vista on his laptop am i to assume then that it is MS installer that is to blame?

I am guessing that not many people can afford to take the time and register in order to submit complaints; furthermore, many of those encountering such issues might have already browsed this forum as guests and read the solution. Others are pro'lly too busy re-building their Vista x64 systems from scratch, just as I was initially tempted before I figured out that I could use the "restore the last known good configuration" boot option. Last but not least, there may be some that simply succumbed to cardiac arrest or some other circulatory events occasioned by the sight of a dark screen following what was supposed to be a more-or-less routine reboot. That was quite the scare, I must confess!

P.S. What I find especially intriguing, is that I am one of those that keep their systems up to date on a regular--even obsessive--basis, and clean ans scrub their systems day in day out...

Edited by Aqualung, 01 December 2008 - 08:20 AM.

Since my earlier post the number of downloads has increased to 1719 so based on that and the lack of other users reporting problems either here or in emails to support, and following the last three hours of installing and uninstalling all versions of the software on three desk top PCs and 4 Laptops all with different configurations with no problems I stand by what I said earlier, nothing further is to be gained from this topic so it is now closed.

Thought I'd just add that I'm running Vista Business 32Bit and have not experienced any issues with installing Alcohol, nor on XP Home.

I have now re opend this topic
We have now re uploaded Alcohol 52% so any one with this problem is advised to re download and see if the problem is resolved.

I also have this problem. I just installed a fresh Vista Home Premium SP1. After I install Alcohol 52% FE, my system can't boot. Luckly, I can boot from last known good. I will try to install driver from www.duplexsecure.com and then resinstall Alcohol 52% FE. I will let you guys know after I tried.

KC

One more information, Vista 64 complainted that the SPTD device is not signed before it restarted. It may be the installed wrongly identify the OS version.

KC

Which version of Alcohol 52% are you trying to install? Also please post your system report from within Alcohol as it is required in this forum.