ActiveSync 3.1 (and other apps) will not install.

A client running Windows 2000 Professional (SP4) was experiencing something very odd trying to install his new Dell PocketPC. When he clicked the link to install ActiveSync 3.1, the hourglass would show up, the computer would work a little bit, but nothing would happen. No error messages, no setup screens, nothing.

If you look at Task Manager, you see a "SETUP.EXE" process running, but it never goes anywhere. Also, this happened with other apps: Procomm Plus for one. So it wasn't strictly an ActiveSync/PocketPC issue.

I found the solution digging around on ActiveSync installation problems. It turns out that the software for my client's HP All-In-One device interferes with many installation routines. The solution is to end all the processes beginning with 'hp'. Once those are terminated, both installations ran flawlessly, and of course after a reboot all the hp processes had returned and the printer still worked fine.

Posted under the influence of [[Mighty Mighty Bosstones :: Noise Brigade]]