Apr 23 2007
Vista: Still more questions than answers…
On the Sony laptops I’ve recently been struggling with is a Control Panel extension named “Software Updates”, which is generated by ‘\Windows\System32\ISUSPM.cpl‘. On one system (which I’ve done nothing with) this launches an application called “Software Manager” from, inauspiciously, Macrovision Europe Ltd (boo! hiss!). On the other machine, which I’ve done very little to, clicking this item from the Control Panel for the first time asked me whether the panel worked, or needed elevated privileges. How am I supposed to know? – I’m running it for the first time!
Anyway, I inadvisedly clicked “Run with elevated privileges” and now the damned thing doesn’t work at all. My question (other that why Microsoft allows an experienced user to get into such a confusing state in the first place) is: How do I unmark the control panel item as requiring elevated privileges? The shortcut menu lists only “Open” and “Create shortcut” as options. This sort of thing such not require a delve into the registry to fix – but, unless I’m missing something major, there really is no other alternative.
I hope I have a sudden turn of fortune, as currently this really doesn’t look as if it’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship…
7th September 2009 @ 1:37 am
This site (http://blog.stuart.shelton.me/archives/53) seems nothing much else than a ‘well, at least I tried and I feel better’ stress relief (in that one, no post date afforded, and two, not much response, let alone even sympathy). I too just found the update manager on ‘my’ (ha!) vista’s xp prem x86 (32-bit) OS when I for 1st time ever poked around and opened the system’s “task scheduler” (located & opened easiest by start>search>task scheduler). While maybe of little or no use to you, I see that’s where a user can delete task’s that run in background, ie; the impetus for those nuisance popups for updates, upgrades, anything software designer’s and OEM’s want to try and either make you try and overlook the fact that they didn’t test it before they ripped us off as not fully tested, that and they’re trying to make us believe they know how to fix their crap when they didn’t know how to design it right in the first place (eg; not leaving a lot of room to reasonably hope to assume they can ever fix it). Anyway, rant off, but likely we can use the task scheduler to at least disable/delete unneeded crap (likely needlessly bogging down things) as well as lead us to files we can disbale by merely changing it’s file name and/or relocating it to a ‘crapware’ folder. Surely with a smidget of constraint and caution, this can be safely done, even if we need to make those changes in safe mode while assuring that system restore is turned on and probably working *tip there is to never use sys restore while external hard drives are connected as thereafter any restore point that you try had better have the same EHD plugged into the same USB port AND also assuredly have the drive letter exactly the same as that restore point saw it, or sys restore will surely fail).