virtualbox.org

For Windows 7 64-bit, fully updated and VirtualBox 4.3.6.

The VirtualBox 4.3.6 installation process goes into "deep space" and never completes. It seems to be stuck in an infinite loop.

I've tried starting the installer as Admin (rather than granting privileges after starting it) and disabled my AntiVirus program. Despite these steps, the installation program still runs through the initial set of prompts then goes into "deep space": It provides no status updates and seems to be stuck in an infinite loop.

After this happens, the W7 64-bit system becomes very slow to respond to any inputs including mouse movements. I've resorted to forcing the system to stop, then re-booting. Re-running the VB 4.3.6 installer says it must undo changes, begins that process, then it too goes into unresponsive deep space.

I've been running previous versions of VirtualBox on this computer for a while. The version before 4.3.6 took a long time to install but eventually completed. Version 4.3.6 seems to be a magnification of that previous release's problem.

Any ideas? I'm generally able to work through these issues but something clearly ain't right and none of my usual tricks are working.

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EDIT: I started a timer after the VirtualBox-4.3.6-91406-Win installation program. Fifteen minutes later the progress bar remained stuck at roughly 98-percent. This is the behavior regardless of whether the installation program is trying to remove or to install.

A peek at Process Explorer shows the installation program "stuck": no active reading or writing, no apparent movement. It just dies…

I wonder if there's a robust un-install utility that would enable me to start completely from scratch…

Cheers & thanks,
Riley
SFO

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A bit of additional information via the attached screenshot.
The VirtualBox-4.3.6-91406-Win installation program gets this far and no further. I've waited 15 minutes for it to proceed and it doesn't, regardless of whether I'm trying to install or uninstall.

However, an "incomplete" install somehow left a working instance of VirtualBox-4.3.6-91406-Win on my computer. And an "uninstall" refuses to remove it.

In essence the VirtualBox-4.3.6-91406-Win is toxic for my system. I'd love to find a way to completely clear VirtualBox off my system. I'm contemplating reloading a backup image just to get this poison out of my computer

Any other ideas?

Cheers & thanks
Riley
SFO

sfosparky wrote:... VirtualBox-4.3.6-91406-Win is toxic ... this poison...

Well a simple Google search for "VirtualBox toxic" returns 9 results, for "VirtualBox poison" returns 4 results and for "Fix Windows installer" returns 1.5 million results. I'm willing to bet that your installation database and your installer is not working correctly. Start by trying to repair that and see if it works.

socratis wrote:I'm willing to bet that your installation database and your installer is not working correctly. Start by trying to repair that and see if it works.

Great idea. Any constructive suggestions for how best to do that?

Cheers & thanks!
Riley
SFO

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Well I'm not sure I've actually fixed my problem, but I have at least cleaned up a lot of "broken glass".

What I've done so far:

• Ran Revo Uninstaller Pro in the program's Forced Uninstall mode. It found a lot of VirtualBox detritus that wan't getting cleared out by new installations or by VitualBox's uninstaller.
• Logged in to the system's virtually never used Admin account and ran Revo there. Interestingly it found stuff VirtualBox stuff that it didn't find when I ran it under my everyday user account…
• Ran Bleachbit for Windows. It didn't find anything specifically VirtualBox, but did clean up a lot of additional WinCrap…
• Ran a couple of trusted (as in known to not break things) Registry cleaning utilities that found a few other odds and ends.

Having had so much unusual difficulty with the VirtualBox-4.3.6-91406-Win installer, I'm now going to step back and review my options. (A couple of years ago I abandoned VMware for what at the time seemed to be an easier to use alternative in VirtualBox. It appears it may now be time to revisit VMware, or even learn about other alternatives…)

Cheers, thanks, & hope this helps,
Riley
SFO

I'm afraid it's not VirtualBox to blame, it's the Windows way of installing/uninstalling things. BTW, first check for official Microsoft updates, patches and KB articles to repair your installation database.

socratis wrote:I'm afraid it's not VirtualBox to blame, it's the Windows way of installing/uninstalling things. BTW, first check for official Microsoft updates, patches and KB articles to repair your installation database.

Did you happen to notice where I began my original post with?

For Windows 7 64-bit, fully updated

More to the point, of what value have your responses to my problem been?

My problem was, and as far as I know remains, that I can neither install nor uninstall VirtualBox VirtualBox-4.3.6-91406-Win. This was so unlike roughly two or so years of previous experience that I thought it might be a release-specific issue.

Evidently it's not. So be it. IF you have some actual help to offer or are actually able to inform the issue, THEN please do so. ELSE please quit wasting my time with your RTFM snarkiness and non-answers…

Cheers,
RBV
SFO

sfosparky wrote:More to the point, of what value have your responses to my problem been?

You seem to confuse fully_updated with not_broken. I said that you should look for official Microsoft fixes for the installer and/or a corrupt installation database. They are out there. They are not offered as part of the updates.

sfosparky wrote:IF you have some actual help to offer or are actually able to inform the issue, THEN please do so. ELSE please quit wasting my time with your RTFM snarkiness and non-answers…

Hey! Happy New Year to you too!!! And as a new year's resolution you really should RTFM. Then I wouldn't be wasting my your time.

Well, whatever aspect of my Windows installation is broken, VMware pPayer installed straightaway and seems to be working.

So the only problem I encountered has been with the newest VirtualBox installer. So the only time I've wasted has been in trying to get someone with some actual knowledge and a willingness to actually help to reply…

Cheers,
RBV
SFO

Your MSI (Microsoft Installer) database is corrupt. That is a common problem in Windows.
With a corrput database many different installation problems appear from time to time, but not for every installation of a program.
Your problem is not specific to the Vbox installer just because you don't see it with a single test installation of another program,

Martin wrote:Your MSI (Microsoft Installer) database is corrupt. That is a common problem in Windows.
With a corrput database many different installation problems appear from time to time, but not for every installation of a program.
Your problem is not specific to the Vbox installer just because you don't see it with a single test installation of another program,

Thanks. I'm done worrying about it. VMware Player is working, and so is everything else on my system. Whatever the true source of the problem I had with the VirtualBox installer, it has, practically speaking, become irrelevant.

Cheers & thanks 'gain,
Riley
SFO