problem with updates

i’m having a problem with program updates.the error i get says “Not enough user rights to continue” i check the log and it says somewhere at the end:
“30.03.2005 18:33:32 registry: ERROR!:Cannot access registry HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\avastTestService, error code: 0x000005AA
30.03.2005 18:33:32 general: Err:Not enough user rights to continue.”

cannot uninstall or reinstall either.this is really starting to get on my nerves as i’ve been using avast for 3 years and i never had a problem of such kind.

Are you using version 4.6.635?
Did you allow avast.setup to connect the Internet into your firewall?
Can you manually update or it does not work either?

i’m using 4.623
the settings in my firewall are ok
also,i’m logged in as admin
cannot update it manually either.i tried to uninstall it same message.also downloaded latest buld and ran setup,i got the same message.i’m not using any software like “process guard” or anything like that,the system has been working fine till now…

also,the iAVS update executes fine.program update,install,unistall gives me that error

i checked in registry and the specified key does not exist indeed.should it?and idea how to restore/create it?

edit :grrrrr cannot create any key it says “cannot create key:error writing to the registry”
edit 2:i get this error only when i try to create a key in the “system” branch in the registry tree.in all other branches i can create and modify anything.odd…

anyway i did a system restore to a couple of days earlier and the problem seems to have been fixed…weird stuff… anyway…

Aren’t you using a thing like ProcessGuard?
Also, are you logged on as an administrator?

Thanks Vlk

I’m having this same problem.
I’m logged in as a sysadmin. I have been able to update avast! without a problem until to day, and no hardware or software on the network has changed since then. There is no known spyware of any kind on this machine.

Earlier today, some kind of file bloat filled the system drive, and I got a windows error messages about the registry not having enough space, and writes to it being blocked.

Avast log follows.

11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: Started: 11.10.2006, 17:33:16 11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: Running setup_av_pro-37c (892) 11.10.2006 17:33:16 system: Operating system: WindowsXP ver 5.1, build 2600, sp 2.0 [Service Pack 2] 11.10.2006 17:33:16 system: Computer WinName: XXXXXXXX 11.10.2006 17:33:16 system: Windows Net User: XXXXXXXX\YYYYYYYY 11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: Cmdline: /downloadpkgs /noreboot /silent /progress 11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: DldSrc set to inet 11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: Operation set to INST_OP_UPDATE_GET_PACKAGES 11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: Old version: 37c (892) 11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: SGW32P::CheckIfInstalled set m_bAlreadyInstalled to 1 11.10.2006 17:33:16 system: Computer DnsName: XXXXXXXX 11.10.2006 17:33:16 system: Computer Ip Addr: 192.168.XXX.XXX 11.10.2006 17:33:16 internet: SYNCER: Type: use IE settings 11.10.2006 17:33:16 internet: SYNCER: Auth: another authentication, use WinInet 11.10.2006 17:33:16 package: Part prg_av_pro-37c is installed 11.10.2006 17:33:16 package: Part vps-64102 is installed 11.10.2006 17:33:16 package: Part news-4b is installed 11.10.2006 17:33:16 package: Part setup_av_pro-37c is installed 11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: Old version: 37c (892) 11.10.2006 17:33:16 registry: ERROR!:Cannot access registry HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\avastTestService, error code: 0x000005AA 11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: Err:Not enough user rights to continue.

Does anybody have any idea what’s going wrong here, and how to fix it? x.X

Well that error code (windows) is ‘Access is denied.’ Why that would happen is a mystery if it previously worked. I suggest you check that registry key and ensure you have permission to access it.

[url=http://Earlier today, some kind of file bloat filled the system drive, and I got a windows error messages about the registry not having enough space, and writes to it being blocked.]Earlier today, some kind of file bloat filled the system drive, and I got a windows error messages about the registry not having enough space, and writes to it being blocked.[/url]
However, this is more likely the culprit but why you would need right access I don’t know, perhaps avast sets a flage or something.

I would suggest you clear out any temporary files to increase space ClearProg - Temp File Cleaner or CCleaner - Temp File Cleaner, etc. and then a defragment of your HDD may free up some space.

Ok, tried it and the problem is still there.

The registry key the log cites does not exist.

  1. What did you try as cleaning temp files followed by a defrag I would think would take more than an hour and a half.

  2. Which would probably be the access problem if it doesn’t exist.

I don’t know if this would work but you could try a repair of avast. Add Remove programs, select ‘avast! Anti-Virus,’ click the Change/Remove button and scroll down to Repair, click next and follow. You need to be on-line to do this.

If the repair doesn’t work try, uninstall, reboot, run the uninstall utility, reboot, install the latest version you downloaded (see below), reboot.

I may also be best to ensure all avast registry entries are gone. Download the avast! Uninstall Utility, find it here and save it to your HDD so you can find it later.

It would probably be best to download the latest version of avast and save it to your HDD, somewhere you can find it again. Use that when you reinstall.

Took me 20 minutes. I keep my system on a seperate partition (In retrospect, it should have been closer to 10 gigs than 6. Live and learn)

Same exact error.

I will be trying this now.


Update: Still getting the error.

If you can’t use the regular uninstall (because I feel your current installation is corrupt or stuffed (sorry about technical terms), so you should miss that step and use the uninstall utility, reboot and reinstall with the latest version.

That’s what I did.

“Not enough user rights to continue.”

Of course, looking up the Windows errorcode here:

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1138931

Yields this:

Windows Error 0x000005AA - 1450
Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service.
ERROR_NO_SYSTEM_RESOURCES

I really don’t know what to suggest, if as you say the fact that you have a 6GB partition and you are running out of space that might do it.

But, if there is enough space to defrag (which usually requires 15% free space at least), that shouldn’t be the resource it is on about. Unfortunately it doesn’t say in any detail what that resource might be.

The user rights also concerns me, If you were trying to install as either ‘the administrator’ or a user with administrator rights that shouldn’t be a problem. If you did log on as the administrator in theory there shouldn’t be any rights issues, then you have to overcome the system resources issue.

I freed up about a gig before defragmenting, so that’s not the problem.

Also, I know exactly what the problem is. It can’t do something to/with the registry key mentioned here:

11.10.2006 17:33:16 registry: ERROR!:Cannot access registry HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\avastTestService, error code: 0x000005AA
11.10.2006 17:33:16 general: Err:Not enough user rights to continue.

I checked the code, it simply does a test if you can write to the specified place in registry and if not (for whatever reason), it then explain that to itself, that you don’t have the rights to do so.

Althought this is not your case - it seems you have the problem with too big registry file.

If as kubecj said your registry is too big, you might consider compacting it to get rid of redundant and empty entries. I have used a registry hive compactor (RegCompact.net.exe) for a while now with no problems (but I also take regular disk images to recover from any disaster), but working with the registry carries a government health warning.

If you acept the risk and wish to try it you can get it here http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=465.

See, I thought it might be something like that, but that doesn’t seem to make much sense because XP doesn’t have a registry size limit → http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292726

I think what happened is that the system failed to write to the registry, and so locked it. Does anybody know if that could be the case, and if so then how to fix is?

If it helps, try ERUNT (backup/compact Windows Registry features).
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt/