If no one offers a fix soon, you might want to go into Programs/system tools/ and run System Restore to a choose a restore point just before your 'last evening's use of ccCleaner&Defrag

I would go for the simplest fix.
start/all programs/accessories/system tools/system restore

Thanks guys, but that is the first thing I tried and it did not clear the nuisance pop-up.
Any other ideas?
I noticed if I click on cancel when it pops up or just leave it to do it's own thing. It takes the same amount of time to disappear from the screen. Then the site I clicked on comes up, as I said before.
I'll try another system restore and see what happens.
Thanks again.
"Horton"

Still the same after doing another system restore back to last month.
"Horton"

Is there an error message ,, what's it say... web search what it says, you may turn up with the fix. If error number, might tell us or go to here.

Think I'd first look in Event logs for errors since last nite. Maybe uninstall java and reinstall most current java version ,, not the beta version.

Then possibly if still irritating, go to download.microsoft.com and search windows installer and reinstall it,,, think v3.1, which should be up towards the top of the most popular downloads list.

Hopefully that kind of simple stuff will fix it.

Or Or,, Idea... does CCCleaner have an undo last?

Does the installer ask for any action or CD for any particular program - or give any other message of value in trying to sort this out?

Hi guys, sorry for being a bit tarrdy in getting back to you, but I have been busy painting, in between trying to find out what caused this problem.

What I have done so far is a couple of sytem restores which unfortunately,did not cure the problem.
Checked the events log for errors or whatever, prior to using or after ccleaner. It shows "warning" re installer and "error" re, installer on the evening of 4th June. No details on what the warning or error is about?
On the sytem restore, I went back to the 4th, June, in the morning. This puts everything back to where it was before these warnings etc, came up on the events log.

Uninstalled Java and re-installed latest version......verifyed instal;lation...okay. Problem still there!

There is no error message just the pop-up box with Windows Installer printed on a blue background along the top.
Below is the message, "Preparing to install.............
Below that in the bottom right corner is the cancel button.

It does not ask that any action be taken or for a CD or anything else. It just sits there for around 20 seconds then drops out.Or it will drop out and come back up again two or three times.
Each time it drops out, I can hear the hard drive "grunt". At least I think it is the hard drive thats "grunting"?
[It can't be happy with this situation either!]

As soon as it drops out for the last time the site or file that I had selected/clicked on comes up.

It has me stumped!
"Horton"

Horton, you mentioned using CCleaner. Did you do the registry clean? If you did, did you keep a back-up? A few times when I've told it to clean up the registry, I've gotten a glitch and reopened the back-up. It always worked.

Jane

Hi Jane, no I did not do the registry clean that particular time. I did the time before and kept a back-up.
I'll try going back to that one and see what happens!
Thanks for the suggestion.
"Horton"

Having tried all the previous suggestions I think I would now settle for a Windows repair. Somehow I feel there are corrupt files in your Windows itself. Either do the repair or try System File Checker first. To do that click Start click Run and type sfc - you will need your XP CD in the drawer

A word of caution on the repair route, it does take you back to the initial SP2 install which means you will need to connect to the MS update site and grab the 87 updates and hotfixes issued since XP2 was put out. I suspect but am not sure if that may be the case with using System File Checker. Either method retains all your installed programs and any personal data you may have created.

Here is a link that might be useful: Windows installer fix

obist, thank you very much for your suggestions. I was kind of on the same wave length as you and figured that something had been corrupted, since all the back tracking, tweaks and twirls did not clear the problem up.
I will try doing a windows repair as you suggest.
Thanks again for your time.
"Horton"

Let us know how it all works out please, we do have lurkers and some may be watching for the answer. Plus we all need to know you are back on track again.

owbist, thank you, My son-in-law is going to look into this problem on his next visit. He is a computer technician and much more adept than I, in fixing these things.
The problem has decreased slightly and become at least bearable. The last couple of days when it pops up, it is only a quick blip and goes away instantly, instead of sitting upon the screen like a bump on a log, doing nothing!
I can live with that minor irritant for now and we will report back when the fix is in.
Thank you again,
"Horton"

I had the same problem a month ago. I went to the Microsoft website and downloaded everything it said I didn't have that seemed relevant. It took a while to download everything but it was worth it.