Easy CD Creator 5.3 doesn't work any more (E80041916: TrackWriter error - Insufficient memory) ???

CD Guy wrote:
At some point between 2 to 4 weeks ago, a problem has developed with
Easy CD Creator 5.x on a Win-98 computer.

As I read the rest of your post and all the things that you've done and are
investigating - don't loose site of that point you mention above which is
that it worked fine a few weeks ago, and so keep it simple.

When using Easy CD Creator 5.3 to burn some files onto a blank CD-R,
my experience is:

-------------
Select files for burning onto blank CD-R media
- Two progress bars are shown
- When the "burn" button is hit, the first bar is active and goes to
100% (several times?) as the files to be burned are checked out.
Then that bar stays at 100%
- Next, the second bar (burn process) remains blank, and it seems for
a few seconds that the burn process will start, but then the drive
spins down and the CD is ejected. An error message appears saying
the burn was not successful. When details are selected, it reads:

CD Creation Errors

E80041916: TrackWriter error
- Insufficient memory to complete the operation

When the messages are closed, and when CD Creator is closed, a
final error message appears with "Creatr50" in the title bar:

- This program has performed an illegal operation and will be
shut down.
Details: Creatr50 caused an invalid page fault in module
KERNEL32.DLL (etc).
--------------

The specs of the hardwa
OS: Windows-98se, Intel P-4, 512 mb ram
80 gb hard drive partitioned as:
C drive 32 gb (20 gb free)
D drive 32 gb (32 gb free)

CDRW drive:
Made by LG (formerly Goldstar)
Model HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8527B

This computer has been burning many CD-R's over the past year or two
with no change to the amount of RAM installed, and any other changes
have been updates or patches from Microsoft WindowsUpdate, as well as
updates to Norton AntiVirus 2002, AdAware, and Spybot. The last CD
that was burned successfully was in late November - 2005. Between
approx. Nov 25 and Dec 20 is when this problem developed.


It's after the fact but, it would of been nice if you previously used an
uninstaller only for the benefit of keeping track of registry/file changes
made over tracked periods, because if you did, you would know exactly what
happened to cause your problem.

You know I must say that you did quite a good job with searching and giving
detailed information in your post here - nice job on that.

Internet and usenet searches don't really turn up much information.
Some posts (in April and October 2002) indicate that some people have
seen this befo

"I have 512 MB of memory, and 20 Gb of free disk space in
the specified temporary directory" and "I have 512 megs of
RAM, how much is enough?"


Those people and their post there though that you are referring to were
using 1 GB of RAM and so they only talk back and forth about the simple
edit that need to be done when you use that much, but since you are only
using 512 then no changes are needed; besides referring back to what your
first sentence point out is that your setup has worked fine for years with
it and all the sudden within a two week period it stopped working - and so
the answer lies within that two weeks.

This problem has been replicated on 3 other computers with similar
hardware (they all started with the same cloned disk image of Windows
98 that was created about 2 years ago).


Well if you were using a disk image that had the error in the fist place
then no matter how may different setups you cloned it to will still contain
the problem. I hope these computers that you cloned a specific computers
image too though was hardware identical in every single way or you will
have all sorts of other issues, but that's getting OT from your post.

You mention Cloned Image above. Are you saying that you use Imaging
software? Do you have backup partition images of your OS from perviously?
Explain more details of all this and your comment above to clear the air on
that, but again since your unit worked fine a few weeks ago my focus goes
back to the time inbetween and what was done.

Some people have indicated that having too much ram (ie 1024 mb) can
cause this problem (but in my case I have 512 mb). It has also been
mentioned that a Klez virus can be responsible for this problem - but
special Klez scanning and removal software has been run and has found
no trace of Klez.


Again since you only have 512 then it's not an issue for you.

I have un-installed Easy CD creator on one machine (and have gone into


Excellent and is the first thing to do is uninstall from A/R in the Control
Panel the program, however I would not advise you go into the registry and
delete anything like you said below, unless you were adept and knew exactly
what you were doing. Alternately you could just use roxizap.exe

the registry and manually deleted all adaptec/roxio/easy_cd entries)
and re-installed the software as follows:

Fresh install from CD
Easy CD Creator (basic) Version 5.3.0.107

Good, and was the most important thing to do was to reinstall.

Still can't burn a cd (get same error).

...interesting indeed and don't loose site of that point.

I then install this item:
ecdc_v5.3.5.10_basic_enu.exe (version 5.3.5.10)

Good, and that exe install is the last overall official Software update
made for v5

follows by this:

5.3.5.10q_up.exe (version 5.3.5.10q)

That is simply a DriveUpdate, and the version you mention is old although
should work just fine since if it's what you used in the first place and as
you say it was working! ....fwiw the latest DriveUpdate they made for it,
and the naming pattern was changed and is now called DriveUp5.3.5v.exe and
is almost 1 year newer that what you have, but again don't loose site of
the fact you had it working fine with what you had and so that is the key,
and getting a latest DriveUp5.3.5v.exe is only useful if you installed a
newer burner since DriveUpdates sole purposes is to simply add support for
newer Drives - and that's it!

And still get the same error when trying to burn.

Right, and if you get it with your first v5.3.0.107 install then it stands
to reason the updates won't solve it either.

There have been 2 recent microsoft updates applied to the computer
that coincide with the appearance of this problem:

You didn't mention it, but Importantly did you happen to install
WindowsMediaPlayer v9 at anytime? If you did then did you First install
the adaptecblock.reg first? etc,


DirectX update KB904706
Cumulative IE update KB896688

The following updates have not (yet) been applied:

Cumulative IE update KB905915
Win98 Security update KB908519
Security update KB891711

None of which are relevant to ECDCreator


A google web search for "E80041916" returns this link:



http://boards.support.roxio.com/roxi...message.id=714

But that link just seems to display the main forum page and not a
specific message.

When viewing Google's cached version of that link, it appears that
there was a thread relating to error number E80041916 posted in May or
June 2003 in the Easy CD-Creator 6 forum. Strange - but it appears
that Roxio has wiped out all the old posts and I can only see posts
(in any forum) no older than Jan 4 / 2006.

Google is indicating that it has 20 results cached from the above
thread, but results 11 through 20 do not seem to bring up the
associated posting (so I don't know how, or if, that issue was
resolved in that forum).

I can give you all the links to the rest of those posts you want, but they
do not address your problem since they are only talking about those with
1GB or RAM and the simple changes you need to make for that, but you say
you only are using 512 MB and there are no adjustments needed. It seems
the error can come about for numerous reasons and not just the ones that
particular post you searched out talks about; but again as you have said
that your unit worked a few weeks ago and so it would seem none of this
applies; but those other posts can be found here if you click the 'cached'
links on the right of each listing - but your answer mostlikely is not
within there so save your time and effort (if you want)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...om+ E80041916


I tried to register on the Roxio discussion groups so I could post my
question there, but the "new user" registration page doesn't seem to
be taking my registration information.

This is really bugging my ass. Has anyone running Easy CD Creator 5.x
have any problems recently with error E80041916: TrackWriter error?

I'm leaning towards Microsoft updates KB904706 and KB896688 because
that's the only thing that has changed recently. Are there any known
issues with those updates?

[...]

What's strange is that on the computer I'm currently using (Win-98 but
different motherboard and different OS installation history) I also
have the previously mentioned suspect microsoft updates (KB904706 and
KB896688) but not (KB905915, KB908519 or KB891711). Easy CD Creator
works just fine on this system.


What? ...Please explain then what systems you have that it's working on,
and the ones that it's not!?
Are you saying that it only doesn't work on systems that you forced cloned
one specific OS image onto another with mostlikely different hardware?
Please clarify the details.

In looking into this problem I located a more recent Creator update
(5.3.5.17)
and will apply that update to the problem systems later today.

The latest official version that you can get is v5.3.5.10v
Keep in mind the alphabet letter at the end only represents the version of
DriveUpdate that you have and that's it! They went down the alphabet form
a to v as they released drives updates, and they stopped at v

Now I see the Dell version 5.3.5.17 update you are talking about:
http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=113880
..interesting, but read the Release Title on that page and its contents
and I suspect it does not include W9x, also you need to install it from the
basic version and not 5.3.5 ..but I will find out if this update would
install on 9x sometime for my own interest, but for you this has nothing to
do with your problem since you can't even run 5.3.0.107.


Does anyone know how to un-install KB904706 and/or KB896688 from a
Win-98 system?

It's highly unlikely that the KB896688 which is an IE Cumulative update
caused your problem.

The other DirectX 9 Security Update KB904706, MS05-050... here again I
doubt it and the only thing that install does is specifically swap out the
quartz.dll and it's corresponding registry version information.

Since it's a track write error, did you and can you test record just a few
mb of data onto a CD instead of filling it full - does it matter?

Also important because it does happen, are you sure your CDRW drive itself
has gone bad?

fwiw I have had custom installed EasyCDCreator v5.3.5.10v installed on W98
for years now and works flawless, not to mention I use 1 GB of ram. I
don't care at all for the recent versions beyond 5 of this program. When
I say custom installed for certainty I mean nOt installing DirectCD,
TakeTwo, etc... BS! g here's the only thing I installed on it
(screenshot) http://img472.imageshack.us/img472/6...omsetup4sa.gif
...my point is that installed with those settings it works flawless on 9x

Have you tried installing it on a fresh install of windows yet?

Rick

Rick Chauvin wrote:

This problem has been replicated on 3 other computers with
similar hardware (they all started with the same cloned
disk image of Windows 98 that was created about 2 years ago).

Well if you were using a disk image that had the error in the
fist place then no matter how may different setups you cloned
it to will still contain the problem. I hope these computers
that you cloned a specific computers image too though was
hardware identical in every single way or you will have all
sorts of other issues, but that's getting OT from your post.

4 computers - identical motherboards, identical CPU's, identical
amount of RAM (512 mb), identical video cards, identical make and
model hard drive, LG CD-RW drive. One master drive was created
(Win-98se, patched/updated via MS update in April 2004 - including WMP
9). Various software apps installed after all Windows updates. Drive
was cloned with Norton Ghost and 3 copies were made and installed in 4
computers. Computers were then updated individually since then as
necessary.

You mention Cloned Image above. Are you saying that you use
Imaging software? Do you have backup partition images of your
OS from perviously?

I might still have a master drive as described above. I think I will
try to find it and get it up and running and see how it works.

5.3.5.10q_up.exe (version 5.3.5.10q)

That is simply a DriveUpdate, and the version you mention is
old although should work just fine since if it's what you used
in the first place and as you say it was working!

I haven't mentioned it, but over time, the CD-RW drives in these
computers were swapped once or twice with newer versions. They were
always LG drives. Changing the drives had no impact - Creator kept
working just fine. The last time a swap happened was probably 6
months ago.

You didn't mention it, but Importantly did you happen to install
WindowsMediaPlayer v9 at anytime? If you did then did you First
install the adaptecblock.reg first? etc,

I've only vaguely become aware recently of some sort of possible
interaction between WMP 9 and Easy CD creator. As I mentioned above
when the drive was first created, all aspects of Windows-98 was first
updated, patched, installed, etc. This included WMP 9. All apps were
installed after that. I had no idea (nor reason to suspect) back 2
years ago that there was some special precaution regarding WMP 9.

I will have to look into this issue. Were there any WindowsUpdates
recently that would touch on WMP and feedback to Creator?

What's strange is that on the computer I'm currently using
(Win-98 but different motherboard and different OS
installation history) I also have the previously mentioned
suspect microsoft updates (KB904706 and KB896688) but not
(KB905915, KB908519 or KB891711). Easy CD Creator works
just fine on this system.

What? ...Please explain then what systems you have that it's
working on, and the ones that it's not!?

The problem I am having is with 4 computers with identical hardware
built 2 years ago and had the same cloned hard drive. They all have
WMP 9 and Creator 5.3.x and were all able to burn data CD's until
about a month ago.

A completely different Windows-98 computer (the one I am currently
typing this message on) shares nothing in common with the
above-mentioned 4 computers, except that it too has Win-98, has WMP 9,
and Creator 3.5.x, but it CAN burn data CD's without kaking and
throwing up error E80041916. Specifically, this computer has:

Easy CD Creator version 5.3.7.17
Windows Media Player 9.00.00.3250

In looking into this problem I located a more recent
Creator update (5.3.5.17) and will apply that update
to the problem systems later today.

The latest official version that you can get is v5.3.5.10v

The version 5.3.5.17 came from Dell I think. Doesn't matter - I put
that version on one of the "problem" computers and still get the
error.

Since it's a track write error, did you and can you test
record just a few mb of data onto a CD instead of filling
it full

Yes, just maybe 20 or 30 mb. On several completely different types of
media.

Also important because it does happen, are you sure your
CDRW drive itself has gone bad?

I've been moving back and forth trying different things on 2 of the 4
problem computers. But I've verified that error E80041916 happens
with all 4 during a burn session, and I've installed OEM basic version
of Nero 6.x on one of them and done a successful test burn with it.

When I say custom installed for certainty I mean nOt
installing DirectCD

I probably have DirectCD installed on the 4 problem computers, but if
I do - I have it deactivated in the run registry key (via msconfig) so
I know it's not running in the tray.

(screenshot)

Heh. As I've only ever had the OEM version, I really didn't know that
other stuff existed.

Have you tried installing it on a fresh install of windows
yet?

At some point soon I think I'm going to create a new master
drive.......

CD Guy wrote:
Rick Chauvin wrote:

This problem has been replicated on 3 other computers with
similar hardware (they all started with the same cloned
disk image of Windows 98 that was created about 2 years ago).

Well if you were using a disk image that had the error in the
fist place then no matter how may different setups you cloned
it to will still contain the problem. I hope these computers
that you cloned a specific computers image too though was
hardware identical in every single way or you will have all
sorts of other issues, but that's getting OT from your post.

4 computers - identical motherboards, identical CPU's, identical
amount of RAM (512 mb), identical video cards, identical make and

I have to say I personally love to do that too. Right on..... Nice job.
But when I say identical I do mean identical.

model hard drive, LG CD-RW drive. One master drive was created
(Win-98se, patched/updated via MS update in April 2004 - including WMP

a red light here... WMP9 installed 'without' the RoxioBlock

9). Various software apps installed after all Windows updates. Drive
was cloned with Norton Ghost and 3 copies were made and installed in 4
computers.

Computers were then updated individually since then as necessary.

Ahhh, well then that's a jungle of differences now that only a software
file/registry tracker can decipher.

You mention Cloned Image above. Are you saying that you use
Imaging software? Do you have backup partition images of your
OS from perviously?

I might still have a master drive as described above. I think I will
try to find it and get it up and running and see how it works.

Okay, but...

5.3.5.10q_up.exe (version 5.3.5.10q)

That is simply a DriveUpdate, and the version you mention is
old although should work just fine since if it's what you used
in the first place and as you say it was working!

I haven't mentioned it, but over time, the CD-RW drives in these
computers were swapped once or twice with newer versions. They were
always LG drives. Changing the drives had no impact - Creator kept
working just fine. The last time a swap happened was probably 6
months ago.

As long as the specific drive is listed.
For instance with your listed one before of:
CDRW drive:
Made by LG (formerly Goldstar)
Model HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8527B

....you can find that one listed (at least I can with my DriveUp5.3.5v.exe
installed) in the registry at this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Adaptec\Adaptec Shared\CDEngine\Devices1
device329 - HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8527BN,HL-DT-ST,CD-RW
GCE-8527BN,DVD+-R/RW,cdrmmc.drv,172,,9

Anyway, can you can plug in any of your other CDRW drives into the OS you
have that is working and still have it working with EZCDC?

Even if you don't have the drive listed now though the
ecdc_v5.3.5.10_plt_enu.exe upsate did implement a 'default record' for
non-recognized drives, up to a certain extent. But you said you had it
working so I belive you.

You didn't mention it, but Importantly did you happen to install
WindowsMediaPlayer v9 at anytime? If you did then did you First
install the adaptecblock.reg first? etc,

I've only vaguely become aware recently of some sort of possible
interaction between WMP 9 and Easy CD creator. As I mentioned above
when the drive was first created, all aspects of Windows-98 was first
updated, patched, installed, etc. This included WMP 9. All apps were
installed after that. I had no idea (nor reason to suspect) back 2
years ago that there was some special precaution regarding WMP 9.

At this point I can't remember exact details but back then I emphatically
just made sure I did it, but it was something to do with the fact that WMP7
WM Player 9 Series will install the Roxio Adaptec CDBurning Plug-in's
and that causes clonflict with EZCDC installed too, so to avoid conflict by
installing that adaptecblock.reg blocks WMP9 from installing it Adeptec
plugins. Also there is conflict with InCD and ECCDC and is why I showed
you the custom install screenshot I did and said Don't install those extra
things which you don't even use! I can't help you otherwise.

This reg stops WMP versions from installing the adaptec plugin.
Make it with Notepad ..you know the drill

adaptecblock.reg consists of:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\ Setup]
"AdaptecBlock"="1"

..however you already have WMP 9 and all that other Roxio Cr*p that I
showed you in options not to install and it needs to be done in the
beginning Before WMP9 is installed.

What? ...Please explain then what systems you have that it's
working on, and the ones that it's not!?

The problem I am having is with 4 computers with identical hardware
built 2 years ago and had the same cloned hard drive. They all have
WMP 9 and Creator 5.3.x and were all able to burn data CD's until
about a month ago.

hmmm, interesting, but you've done so much though as mentioned tracking
would of been the only way to isolate what was done and then it would be a
easy task.

A completely different Windows-98 computer (the one I am currently
typing this message on) shares nothing in common with the
above-mentioned 4 computers, except that it too has Win-98, has WMP 9,
and Creator 3.5.x, but it CAN burn data CD's without kaking and
throwing up error E80041916. Specifically, this computer has:


Okay, so you have one that works fine and it's the others that do not.
That's a good thing and so you have the information at your fingertips to
decipher.


Easy CD Creator version 5.3.7.17

I'm sure you don't mean Dell's v5.3.7.17 but v5.3.5.10

Windows Media Player 9.00.00.3250

Yes that's the version number I have.
With your recent updates did you happen to install any of the WMP9's four
or five security updates? Also there is a custom way to install you WMP9
too and I have no idea what you did with it or how you have your settings
set; basically it's to uncheck all the checks...

Since it's a track write error, did you and can you test
record just a few mb of data onto a CD instead of filling
it full

Yes, just maybe 20 or 30 mb. On several completely different types of
media.

Is a clue, but still...

Also important because it does happen, are you sure your
CDRW drive itself has gone bad?

I've been moving back and forth trying different things on 2 of the 4
problem computers. But I've verified that error E80041916 happens
with all 4 during a burn session, and I've installed OEM basic version
of Nero 6.x on one of them and done a successful test burn with it.

Oh gosh now you've got another program installed for burning - what a mess,
and these two programs Nero/EZCDC were known not to work well with each
other - you are on your own here, and you're over you head.

When I say custom installed for certainty I mean nOt
installing DirectCD

I probably have DirectCD installed on the 4 problem computers, but if
I do - I have it deactivated in the run registry key (via msconfig) so
I know it's not running in the tray.

(screenshot)

Heh. As I've only ever had the OEM version, I really didn't know that
other stuff existed.

When you first put in the CD and there is a screen where you click the
Custom Options settings - I'm sure it's on your CD to it's prolly you just
overlooked it - it's mandatory in my eyesight to catch those at every turn.

Have you tried installing it on a fresh install of windows
yet?

At some point soon I think I'm going to create a new master
drive.......

Why not just make a clone of the one your on and use it for all the other
ones since it works on that system?

You know, I'm normally inclined to agree with the others advising not
messing with EZCDC these days, heck even the latest v7's of Nero is getting
to big - but not as bad as the new Roxiso Media Creator though and that's a
given.

My only reason replying to your message in this case for this specific old
version v5.3.5.10 of EZCDC is that I first hand know this version works
Excellent with W9x when installed as noted, even if WMP9 is installed as
noted and eluded to.

I can tell you have the knowledge to figure it out and I have given you
some information that I hope proves to be helpful.
Either clone your current... etc
Resurrect your old Image... (it's really out of date, not recommended)
If you fresh install W98SE again then next time be sure to use the Roxio
Block reg I gave you, and be sure to do a custom install of EZCDC as shown,
and the same with WMP9 but the reg needs to be installed BEFORE you install
WMP9, and never install WMP9 via WU, always use the offline installer.
..but forget about the install WMP9 untill after you get EZCDC working.

Make backup images as you go along

Rick

Re-cap:

About 2 years ago, a master installation drive of Win-98 was created.
This included WMP 9 and all microsoft updates available at the time.
Easy CD Creator 5.3.x was also installed. This drive was then cloned
and at least 7 copies were created and installed in 7 computers with
identical hardware. The computers were individually updated as time
went on. The "AdaptecBlock" key was not entered in the Windows Media
Player 9 section of the registry in any of these computers.

One of those drives (A) was removed and shelved last February.
Another has had no Windows Updates performed since last july (B).
Another was last updated in October (C). The last four were updated
between Dec 9 and Jan 6 (D, E, F and G).

Computer E had performed a successful burn in late December. It was
updated (Windows Update) in mid-december, and then a few days or a
week later a burn was attempted - but it failed, and has since
reported the same error every time a burn is attempted. The failure
happens at the point where the burn is physically going to start. The
error message is:

E80041916: TrackWriter error
Insufficient memory to complete the operation

When Creator is subsequently closed, it exits with a page fault error
in Kernel32.DLL.

A similar data burn was attempted on computers C, D, and F after Jan 6
and they all similarly failed.

Current situation:

A burn recently attempted on computer B was successful. Also, drive A
(which was shelved last february) was transplanted into computer F,
and it was able to burn just fine (no errors).

Observations:

Analysis of the Windows Update history of all these computers
indicates that updates (KB904706) or (KB904706 and KB905915) were
performed on C/D/E/F/G but neither were performed on A/B.

Computers C and D have KB904706 but not KB905915.

Preliminary conclusion:

The application of update KB904706 seems to be the sole determining
factor causing this problem with Easy CD Creator.

Item KB904706 is MS05-050:
Vulnerability in DirectShow could allow remote code execution
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904706/en-us
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms05-050.mspx

Microsoft is not very informative as to how this item relates to
Windows 98. However, this link is more informative:

http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cve...=CAN-2005-2128

Description QUARTZ.DLL in Microsoft Windows Media Player 9
allows remote attackers to write a null byte to arbitrary
memory via an AVI file with a crafted strn element with a
modified length value.

This link also has useful information:

http://www.eeye.com/html/research/ad...20051011a.html

Here is a detailed summary of KB904706:

Windows Media Player 9 uses QUARTZ.DLL to decode and play
AVI movie files. Due to a lack of validation, QUARTZ can
be made to store a null byte to an arbitrary memory
location by creating a malformed "strn" element with a
specifically chosen length field.

Does the application of this patch cause WMP to re-register or
re-install one of the Roxio CD-burn engines that the AdaptecBlock key
is supposed to prevent?

If so, is there some way I can check for the presence of specific
files that would indicate that an inapropriate Roxio/Adaptec file has
over-written a file that should be there?

CD Guy wrote:
Re-cap:
About 2 years ago, a master installation drive of Win-98 was created.
This included WMP 9 and all microsoft updates available at the time.
Easy CD Creator 5.3.x was also installed. This drive was then cloned
and at least 7 copies were created and installed in 7 computers with
identical hardware. The computers were individually updated as time
went on. The "AdaptecBlock" key was not entered in the Windows Media
Player 9 section of the registry in any of these computers.

One of those drives (A) was removed and shelved last February.
Another has had no Windows Updates performed since last july (B).
Another was last updated in October (C). The last four were updated
between Dec 9 and Jan 6 (D, E, F and G).

Did you pick and choose what you wanted to install, or did you just let
WindowsUpate have at it and do what it wanted automatically?

Computer E had performed a successful burn in late December. It was
updated (Windows Update) in mid-december, and then a few days or a
week later a burn was attempted - but it failed, and has since
reported the same error every time a burn is attempted. The failure
happens at the point where the burn is physically going to start. The
error message is:

E80041916: TrackWriter error
Insufficient memory to complete the operation

When Creator is subsequently closed, it exits with a page fault error
in Kernel32.DLL.

A similar data burn was attempted on computers C, D, and F after Jan 6
and they all similarly failed.

Current situation:

A burn recently attempted on computer B was successful. Also, drive A
(which was shelved last february) was transplanted into computer F,
and it was able to burn just fine (no errors).

I like your style with this recap and they way you detailed pertinent
details, nice job ..but don't let it go to head smile

Was wondering why you just don't make an image of your current working
drive and image that in to all your other drives..?


Observations:

Analysis of the Windows Update history of all these computers
indicates that updates (KB904706) or (KB904706 and KB905915) were
performed on C/D/E/F/G but neither were performed on A/B.

Are those 3 updates the only thing it did?


Computers C and D have KB904706 but not KB905915.

Preliminary conclusion:

The application of update KB904706 seems to be the sole determining
factor causing this problem with Easy CD Creator.


Even though you have it listed on paper this simply, I have a feeling more
'may' have been done which just humanly is being overlooked, but we'll go
with this for now.


Item KB904706 is MS05-050:
Vulnerability in DirectShow could allow remote code execution
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904706/en-us
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sec.../ms05-050.mspx

Microsoft is not very informative as to how this item relates to
Windows 98. However, this link is more informative:

http://www.cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cve...=CAN-2005-2128

Description QUARTZ.DLL in Microsoft Windows Media Player 9
allows remote attackers to write a null byte to arbitrary
memory via an AVI file with a crafted strn element with a
modified length value.

This link also has useful information:

http://www.eeye.com/html/research/ad...20051011a.html

Here is a detailed summary of KB904706:

Windows Media Player 9 uses QUARTZ.DLL to decode and play
AVI movie files. Due to a lack of validation, QUARTZ can
be made to store a null byte to an arbitrary memory
location by creating a malformed "strn" element with a
specifically chosen length field.

Does the application of this patch cause WMP to re-register or
re-install one of the Roxio CD-burn engines that the AdaptecBlock key
is supposed to prevent?

Maybe, don't think so, but I would have to duplicate 'your' setup to prove.
As important in this case is the other questions I asked before that you
never answered which was did you let WU Autoupdate everything or did you
pick and choose, I also asked you if you installed WMP9 via WU or did it
manually?

If so, is there some way I can check for the presence of specific
files that would indicate that an inapropriate Roxio/Adaptec file has
over-written a file that should be there?

Yes of course but it's in hindsight, iow, no one can give you that answer
'unless' they have it installed with all the parameters that you have, and
tracked the update, and then the answer would be in plain view, and most
importantly is 'one click* reversible' ..and you would be on your way.
(*one click reversible in all registry and newly added files situations,
but replaced files simply require that you copy those out of your backup
image and place them where they go)

Now curious about a few things myself (one of which was that Dell supplied
update) I decided to take a moment and check some things for you, and on an
isolated test partition install, I removed the adaptecblock key,
uninstalled WMP9 & EZCDC then reinstalled them 'as is with no custom' then
reinstalled 904706 and tracked it, and as far as your 904706 goes I can see
that it installed the same simple install and nothing extra as you were
wondering, and it only replaced the quartz.dll again. Looking at it from
before and even today here's my screenshot I just uploaded to show you my
trackers gui logs of the 904706 install (there's a few other file/registry
tabs that have entries but all of it is cosmetic so I won't show it - the
only Active change that 904706 did was this:
http://img496.imageshack.us/img496/6052/kb9047064ri.gif

Yes installing WMP9 without the block I can see all the extra it does too..
but none of that matters for me since no matter what I have done on my
test setup through reinstalling everything stock again, still EZCDC works
perfectly every time and I can't duplicate the errors you are getting....

I also just noticed something you said before that you installed:

ecdc_v5.3.5.10_basic_enu.exe

...and you didn't pick up on it either but I said I had installed:

ecdc_v5.3.5.10_plt_enu.exe

...which dawns on me that the difference is that I have the Platinum version
where you are using the Basic version - the difference between the two is
not that much and don't think it is but is it enough that gets by the
problem we are addressing - I highly doubt it, but I can't track to see.
Also when unpacked that Dell v5.3.7.17 and tried to install the
ecdc_v5.3.5.17_basic_enu.exe from it, it prompted me I can only update it
from the Basic version and not the Platinum that I have... ..oh well.. I'm
more than happy with my versions and can see that their version is
something specifically for what Dell may have needed as the prompt
showed...

There are too many variables here and if I had your computer in hand I
could figure it quick enough for you, but I don't - the answer is simple
though as it always is but is futile if not in hand and via internet .

If you insists for you that it's the quartz.dll then here - I just uploaded
the original quartz.dll you had before the update - you can
replace it back if you think that it's your problem.
http://www.ptcnh.net/~rdchauvin/QUARTZ.DLL

fwiw, I never do an update without first creating a backup partition image,
so no matter what I install I have an easy way out - why did you not do
that too?

Why don't you just image in your current working partition to your other
drives since as you say all are hardware identical..

Rick

Rick Chauvin wrote:

Did you pick and choose what you wanted to install, or did you
just let WindowsUpate have at it and do what it wanted
automatically?

I generally always let WindowsUpdate perform all critical updates that
come down the pipe for these Win-98 systems. The exception was
KB891711, which seemed to cause a lot of discussion when it came out
because it added an extra process to the run key section (which is
highly unusual for an update). At this point I believe that most of
these computers have KB891711 installed and running - but I still
don't like the fact that it has to run as a background process for
some reason.

I like your style with this recap and they way you detailed
pertinent details, nice job ..but don't let it go to head
smile

Better to provide as much info up front and get to a solution faster
(hopefully).

Was wondering why you just don't make an image of your current
working drive and image that in to all your other drives..?

That would require also extracting various customized user settings,
as well as documents, e-mail and network settings, mailbox files,
etc. Very time-consuming.

Analysis of the Windows Update history of all these computers
indicates that updates (KB904706) or (KB904706 and KB905915)
were performed on C/D/E/F/G but neither were performed on A/B.

Are those 3 updates the only thing it did?

The following is a list of updates (sorted numberically) that have
either been installed on some or most of these computers, or are
pending (but not installed) based on a recent sessions of
WindowsUpdate:

KB905915
KB904706
KB903235
KB896727
KB896688
KB896358
KB891781
KB891711
KB890923
KB890175
KB888113

This list goes back to 2004 (chronologically). Some computers did not
have combinations of KB890923, KB903235, KB896727 and KB896688 while
others did. I believe these are IE cumulative rollups, and when new
rollups come out, the old ones are not offered for update anymore.

Does the application of this patch cause WMP to re-register or
re-install one of the Roxio CD-burn engines that the
AdaptecBlock key is supposed to prevent?

Maybe, don't think so, but I would have to duplicate 'your' setup
to prove. As important in this case is the other questions I
asked before that you never answered which was did you let WU
Autoupdate everything or did you pick and choose, I also asked
you if you installed WMP9 via WU or did it manually?

According to the installation history (as listed by the "view history"
link while on the WindowsUpdates web site) I have "Windows Media
Player 9 Series" installed via WindowsUpdates on March 16, 2004.

The Program Files/Roxio directory is listed as having a creation date
of March 17, 2004. This supports my statement earlier that all
critical (and a lot of non-critial) windows components were updated or
installed prior to the installation of application programs.

From that point on, pretty much all critical components (be they some
core part of the OS, or for IE, or for DirectX, etc) were installed
from WU when-ever I noticed them (auto update notification was not
used on these computers).

If so, is there some way I can check for the presence of
specific files that would indicate that an inapropriate
Roxio/Adaptec file has over-written a file that should be
there?

Yes of course but it's in hindsight, iow, no one can give
you that answer 'unless' they have it installed with all the
parameters that you have, and tracked the update,

I don't see why. Isin't the file-name of the burn engine or plug-in
well known and constant? Isin't it a matter of simply checking the
version of a specific file in order to know if WMP did update the burn
engine without my knowledge? If so, what is the file name of the burn
engine plug-in?

If you insists for you that it's the quartz.dll then here -
I just uploaded the original quartz.dll you had before
the update - you can replace it back if you think that
it's your problem.

I don't think that Quartz is the problem.

But unless I know the -name- of all the files that are involved in
the CD burning process, I won't be able to compare those files and see
if there are differences between the computers where ECDC works and
those where it is giving the burn error.

I never do an update without first creating a backup
partition image, so no matter what I install I have
an easy way out - why did you not do that too?

Way too many applications on these computers to be able to test their
functionality after an update. To be honest, I've never had a problem
like this in the past 2 years where an app has broken and hasn't been
easy to repair. The more time that elapses between an update and the
discovery of a problem, the more reluctant I would be to simply revert
the whole drive back to a previous image because of new user files
that would also have to be identified and moved.

Why don't you just image in your current working partition
to your other drives since as you say all are hardware
identical..

As I said in a previous reply (maybe to someone else), there are lots
of user files, documents, post-office files, policies and settings,
etc, that would have to be transplanted to each clone. I did that 2
years ago, and I don't want to do it again simply because ECDC is
broken.

CD Guy wrote:

I generally always let WindowsUpdate perform all critical updates that
come down the pipe for these Win-98 systems. The exception was

I don't - but I'm in a better position to do that.
Nothing gets installed for me without my having full revert capabilities
over the entire process and all that I mean with that; it's easy though.

KB891711, which seemed to cause a lot of discussion when it came out
because it added an extra process to the run key section (which is
highly unusual for an update). At this point I believe that most of

Yes I understand and agree, but it's not a big deal in the scope if things.

these computers have KB891711 installed and running - but I still
don't like the fact that it has to run as a background process for
some reason.

Was wondering why you just don't make an image of your current
working drive and image that in to all your other drives..?

That would require also extracting various customized user settings,
as well as documents, e-mail and network settings, mailbox files,
etc. Very time-consuming.

Okay then so it seems you may manage a number of stations.
At the very least Mr Manager g Best results would be had if you
periodically made a backup partition of each computer. You have been
living on a prayer all this time that you haven't, and have been lucky so
far (except for this minor ezcdc issue)

The following is a list of updates (sorted numberically) that have
either been installed on some or most of these computers, or are
pending (but not installed) based on a recent sessions of
WindowsUpdate:

KB905915
KB904706
KB903235
KB896727
KB896688
KB896358
KB891781
KB891711
KB890923
KB890175
KB888113

[...]

According to the installation history (as listed by the "view history"
link while on the WindowsUpdates web site) I have "Windows Media
Player 9 Series" installed via WindowsUpdates on March 16, 2004.

Okay so you just let WU do everything for you and you have no control g

That's fine and recommend for the general population who don't know the
difference; I'm not going to get into the details and preferences of why
some do it differently. I can see I'm p**sing in the wind here.

The Program Files/Roxio directory is listed as having a creation date
of March 17, 2004. This supports my statement earlier that all
critical (and a lot of non-critial) windows components were updated or
installed prior to the installation of application programs.

From that point on, pretty much all critical components (be they some
core part of the OS, or for IE, or for DirectX, etc) were installed
from WU when-ever I noticed them (auto update notification was not
used on these computers).

If so, is there some way I can check for the presence of
specific files that would indicate that an inapropriate
Roxio/Adaptec file has over-written a file that should be
there?

Yes of course but it's in hindsight, iow, no one can give
you that answer 'unless' they have it installed with all the
parameters that you have, and tracked the update,

I don't see why. Isin't the file-name of the burn engine or plug-in
well known and constant? Isin't it a matter of simply checking the
version of a specific file in order to know if WMP did update the burn
engine without my knowledge? If so, what is the file name of the burn
engine plug-in?

g
I'd expect my mother to make that statement no offense to either
Meaning that while yes it is true in a very basic way, but if you could see
the sheer amount of changes that is made with the install of WMP9
especially within the registry, and the changes made with or without the
block. Your problem could of been caused by any number of things now, but
should of been up front having had a tracking (uninstaller) snapshot would
of made this situation easy to resolve..

But unless I know the -name- of all the files that are involved in
the CD burning process, I won't be able to compare those files and see
if there are differences between the computers where ECDC works and
those where it is giving the burn error.

Your issue could easily be registry realted as well ...combination of both.

I never do an update without first creating a backup
partition image, so no matter what I install I have
an easy way out - why did you not do that too?

Way too many applications on these computers to be able to test their
functionality after an update. To be honest, I've never had a problem
like this in the past 2 years where an app has broken and hasn't been

As I said you have been living on a prayer and I'm glad you have been lucky
in prevention, but in reality you have gone longer than most without a
routine backup. This ezcdc thing is minor to my point.

easy to repair. The more time that elapses between an update and the
discovery of a problem, the more reluctant I would be to simply revert
the whole drive back to a previous image because of new user files
that would also have to be identified and moved.

Why don't you just image in your current working partition
to your other drives since as you say all are hardware
identical..

As I said in a previous reply (maybe to someone else), there are lots
of user files, documents, post-office files, policies and settings,
etc, that would have to be transplanted to each clone. I did that 2
years ago, and I don't want to do it again simply because ECDC is
broken.

I only agree it makes sense not re-imaging 2 years back just because of
EZCDC, but the point is the last backup should of been just 2 weeks ago not
2 years. Actually if you take care of that many machines then over the
network, or even locally, you could easily do weekly or even monthly backup
images of each of their OS partitions; if it's in a work environment and
data is important, then if you don't do current backups it's almost
irresponsible.

Your seemingly lack of appreciation for time spent while pushing and
re-posting for more has turned me off now..
I do wish you the best of luck though.

The problem mostlikely when known will be simple but it's just that you
don't have the tools or ability to use them to resolve your problem.
Therefore mostlikely a complete uninstall of WMP9 and EZCDC, and a
reinstall of 'only' ESCDC is recommended since you don't have the tools to
do your own troubleshooting; and realize that may not even do it since it's
mostlikely a second hand related to something else that was done recently
that affect all - it's too much data to blindly wade through without
pinpoint tracking.

Rick