gary...
Yay! It's always a thrill to work through the steps necessary
to resolve a computer problem at a distance. Your responsiveness
and feedback made it an enjoyable exchange.
As a formal answer, I will summarize the information I posted
in the steps which led to the resolution:
----------------------------------------------------
Have you tried deleting the specified file from the specified
location, or simply moving it to another location and then
running scandisk and defrag?
Since it's an installer file, I also have to wonder if perhaps
you installed something and never rebooted afterwards, leaving
the installer still active, since it never had a chance to
delete the setup files (which it would do on the next reboot).
Also, you might want to run scandisk in DOS, prior to Windows
booting up. This would also eliminate the possibility that
Windows is still actively using the file, and is therefore
unable to defrag or move it.
To find the file, just open Windows Explorer and type,
or paste, the address you gave into the navigation window:
C:\windows\installer\
Or, you can follow the tree of directories in the left
frame down from the C drive to the Windows directory,
and then to the installer directory, and click on it.
Then look in the right-hand frame for the file - they should
be in alphabetical order.
If you're not familiar with where the shortcut is for
Windows Explorer, just go to 'Start' -> 'Run' and type
in 'Explorer' - no quotes - and hit 'Enter'.
You also have the option of right-clicking on the C drive
icon in Explorer and doing a 'search' or 'find', whichever
it is in the Windows you're using, and enter the filename,
'055gmrd3.msi'. Once you've found it, I'd suggest moving
it to another location temporarily, and the immediately
running a thorough scandisk and defrag, if you make it
through scandisk.
Oh - It occurred to me you might not know how to move
the file. you can just left-click on it and hold the
mouse button down while you drag it to another directory
in the left-hand frame. If you want to create a directory
that's easy to find, just click on your C drive icon, and
then go up to the menubar in Explorer and click on 'File'
-> 'New' -> 'directory', and name it 'a', so it will be at
the top of the directory tree under the C drive.
Given weaver-ga's comment, you may want to copy it
to a floppy disk in your A drive, and then delete
it from your hard drive altogether. Many, but not
all, .msi installer files are small enough to fit
on a floppy disk, which holds 1.44MB. You can see
the size of the file in the right-hand frame when
you locate it in Windows Explorer.
If it's too big to fit on a floppy, you may want
to just delete it anyway. There's little likelihood
that you'll ever need it. It probably came from a
Windows Update installation.
Oh - and just to be sure, make certain to empty the Recycle
Bin, or Trash, or whatever it's called on your Windows system.
To enable 'show all hidden files', open Explorer and go to the
menubar at the top. Click on 'Tools' -> 'Folder Options', then
go to the 'View' tab and select 'Show Hidden Files & Folders'.
You might also want to uncheck 'Hide file extensions for known
file types'. Click 'Apply' and 'OK', then search again.
You may as well uncheck "Hide protected operating system files",
as well, since .msi files are Microsoft installation files, they
*might* fall into that category, but I doubt it. Usually, that
refers to vital files of the Windows operating system, like
pagefile.sys.
It's okay to make those visible as long as you don't go
changing any of them. I don't know about Windows ME, but in
Windows 2000, those files will show with the icon slightly
clouded, even if you make them visible.
So now, look at the size of the file. If it's less than
1.44MB, copy it to a floppy disk using the process I
suggested in an earlier post. If it's too big to copy
to a floppy, and you don't have a CD-R drive you can
copy it to, or a separate partition or drive (which
would be labeled 'D' or 'E', then go ahead and delete
it. Then empty your trash bin and run Scandisk, followed
by Defrag.
If it's possible to make a copy of it to save somewhere other
than your C drive, by all means do so. Otherwise, I wouldn't
worry about this .msi file being a critical file. I can
guarantee you it's not a file required by the Windows
operating system. As I noted earlier, it's likely the
installer file for a Windows Update session you
accomplished some time in the past.
To further assuage your concerns, let me point out that the
location of the file is an indicator of its function, as
well as the .msi extension. Given its location in the
'installer' directory, it is clear that it's an installation
file, and not of the critical importance of files in the
'windows' or system' directory. The 'installer' directory
is simply an archive for storing MS install files, just
in case they might be needed to reinstall the program, or
update, at some time in the future.
This is equivalent to me saving a copy of the install file
for some commonly available utility such as Adobe Acrobat.
After installing the program, the install file is no longer
needed, and I could delete it without consequence. I could
also save a copy in a folder of similar install files, but
chances are that the program itself will be outdated, and
updated, long before I might need/want to reinstall that
program, and a newer version would be readily available on
the internet.
The 'copy' (.CPY) file you mentioned looks to be the same
file, given the identical size, saved in an ME 'restore'
directory. I'm not familiar with the workings of ME's
'System Restore' function, but I would bet this is ME's
version of the ability to restore the system to it's most
recent working state, in the event of a crash from which
you are unable to recover. This function would save copies
of the system registry files and other files which it has
deemed 'necessary' - but which you may not.
Incidentally, given the .msi extension, for Microsoft Installer,
and the likelihood that this is an MS product, I searched for
PictureIt and found this MS product with that name:
http://www.microsoft.com/products/imaging/products/pipinfo.asp
If you remember installing this product, it might make it
easier by simply uninstalling this product for the time being,
assuming you still have the product install CD, and re-installing
it after you straighten out this problem. Uninstalling it would,
theoretically, eliminate both the .msi and the .CPY file from
the system archives.
However, there is also a component of the MS Internet Explorer
browser which is named PictureIt, and it's possible that this
.msi file refers to that component.
Working with things as they are, however, we need to know a little
more about ME's 'System Restore'. Here's a page from MS support
which details its inner workings:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;267951
Note where it says:
"Restore points are created by Installer packages that use
the new Microsoft Software Installer (MSI) technology."
Also realize that non-MS programs can, and do, use the MSI
technology.
What this means is that the 'PictureIt' program, whether or
not it is an MS program, used the MSI installer format, and
so Windows ME created a 'restore point' when the program was
installed, archived and secured the install file in the
'installer' folder, and then archived and secured a copy of
the install file in the 'restore' folder. Microsoft is sparing
no effort in saving us from ourselves and our presumed
ineptitude... :)
Now we have to fool the 'System Restore' function.
One way to do this is, after making sure that the system
didn't *already* restore the 055gmrd3.msi file to the
'installer' directory by using its 'copy' in the 'restore'
directory, open the System Restore Utility and create a
new 'restore point' which won't backup the (now missing)
.msi file.
Reboot and check to make sure the .msi file is still gone,
and then check and see if the system eliminated the .CPY
file from the 'restore' directory. If it didn't, try to
delete the .CPY file from the 'copy' folder.
Empty your Trash bin.
If this works, then reboot and proceed with Scandisk and
Defrag.
If System Restore isn't cooperating, you could follow the
instructions at the bottom of the page cited above in order
to temporarily disable the System Restore Utility; reboot;
make sure the .msi file is still gone, and delete the .CPY
file. Empty your Trash bin, and run Scandisk and Defrag.
If you get through them okay, re-enable 'System Restore',
reboot, and create a new 'restore point'.
----------------------------------------------------
You noted: "...when I restarted the computer following
defrag it still behaved as though there was some type of
shut down problem." If you mean that it ran Scandisk on
rebooting, I'm pretty sure that this was a temporary
behavior, which will not recur once the system stabilizes.
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by way of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
sublime1-ga
Searches done, via Google:
"picture it"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22picture+it%22
"Windows ME" "System Restore Utility"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22Windows+ME%22+%22System+Restore+Utility%22 |
