[Virtualacorn-list] Triple or quadruple click on Windows7

[Jeremy Nicoll - ml virtualacorn]

Paul Sprangers <p.sprangers at sprie.nl> wrote:

> Op 20-6-2011 1:01, Jeremy Nicoll - ml virtualacorn schreef:
> 
> > OK; does the program (started by right-clicking the .exe) start cleanly?
> > Does it then shut down cleanly?
> No, it makes no difference at all.

Sloppy terms, Paul.

"No"... you mean that right-click & run... to start the program does not
work properly?  That's an important discovery because it means all the
n-click mouse stuff is irrelevant.

Or did you mean that the program started via right-click & run starts
properly but then fails to end properly?

Or something else?


 
> > Under XP right-clicking the .exe and choosing Properties allows me to
> > see amongst other things 'Compatibility' options, none of which are set
> > here. Does W7 have a similar display?  Is anything set?

> Yes, W7 has a similar display.
> Originally, nothing was set. But I've tried quite a few settings now, 
> especially the compatibility modes (that go back all the way to Windows 
> 95!).
> None of those settings made any difference. I still had to quadruple 
> click, and it still failed to shut down properly.
 
> > Umm, surely all the stuff about trying to see if a process - any
> > process, but probably VA - starts on the first double-click is very
> > relevant.  I find it very hard to believe that nothing at all happens
> > then, because until VA starts to run, none of what happens (or doesn't)
> > has anything to do with VA.

> > (I don't find it hard to believe that nothing visible happens. Finding
> > out what happens seems to me to be important here.)

> Of course, you're right. Apologise if I suggested otherwise.

> In my reply to Alan Adams I've tried to describe the extremely modest
> effects that are visible when starting the program by a normal double
> click. It is obvious that at least SOMETHING is happening, but I haven't
> the faintest clue whatsoever.
> 
> > It's a great pity that Windows doesn't offer the sort of detailed log
> > that !Reporter gives us under RO.  The Event log info I described is the
> > nearest I've been able to find to getting info on processes starting&
> > stopping.
> >
> > If it comes to that, do your event logs record anything, for example
> > when VA fails to shut down?

> I'm afraid this is largely exceeding my skills. For example, where can I 
> find the 'Event Manager's Security Events Log'. Is it part of the 
> Windows Task Manager?

It isn't.

In XP, the Events Logs (of which there are several recording different types
of event in the system) are at Control Panel -> Administrative Tools ->
Event Viewer.  (I use them often enough that I have a desktop shortcut
straight to them.)  Under XP there's normally at least Application, System
and Internet Explorer logs.  The Security log records the sort of 'security'
info that might concern a corporate network administrator, which is why the
stuff in it gets turned on (as I described in an earlier post) by changing
'Audit' policies on the system.

I have no idea how the event logs in W7 are organised.  However before you
try to turn any extra logging on, you need to look at the System and
Application logs (if they exist) for both the times of the failed starts and
the failed shutdowns to see if any events are recorded. 



> > Was the recent install done 'as administrator' or whatever the right
> > term is for W7?
> Yes, I installed it 'as administrator'. W7 uses the same term and the 
> same policy.
> 
> > When you say it fails to shutdown properly, what actually gets left?  Do
> > you get a fault reported (as Brian reported)?
> I get exactly the same as what Brian reported.
> 
> > What happens if (with your machine not connected to the internet) you
> > shut down your antivirus app?  Do you run any a/v or anti malware app
> > that has 'real time protection'?  Or indeed a firewall that regulates
> > what programs may start and what they may do - eg as Zone Alarm does
> > under 'program control'?  What happens if you turn all of this off?

> I run the commercial version of AVG since a few months. Before, I used 
> the free version.
> Unfortunately, I've no idea how to shut down AVG, other than uninstall it.

If you have the commercial version surely it comes with a manual?

Also, not knowing is a bit worrying bearing in mind the oft-repeated advice
(by software vendors) that a/v software should be turned off while
installing an app because it can prevent installers from working properly. 

[That's to say you download an installer, a/v scan it, disconnect from the
internet, stop the a/v tool & firewalls etc, do the install, restart the a/v
and anything else you stopped, rescan the installed components (if you think
it's necessary)...]


> If no other suggestion is left, I will give it a try, but I'd rather 
> leave it switched on.

Yes of course, but if AVG is causing the problem disabling it might provide
some useful info.   

I'm wondering how well you know the configuration options for your AVG
software, assuming it has any - after all getting more configurability is
one of the normal reasons for using a commercial product.
Are you certain there's nothing VA-related in any option, or alternatively
that the a/v app hasn't somehow disabled anything VA-related?

-- 
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.