Specified device not open or not recognized by MCI

[Ready2Rock]

Hi,

I've been using Spybot for years without any problems till now. The problem I'm having is that Spybot freezes at the end of the scan (full progress bar), and I've also waited over an hour to see if it was just taking a long time to finish. When I press the "stop check" button, I get a message that says "The specified device is not open or is not recognized by MCI", and the only way I can get the program to close/exit is through the task manager and using the "end task" option.

What I've done to try fix the problem : Uninstalled, re-installed, updated, as well as followed these instructions that were posted by "spybotsandra" : I emptied the windows temp folder, I used the "Secure Shredder", I dissabled the "display confirmation dialogs" setting, and I dissabled the "Create system restore point when fixing spyware/usage tracks" setting.

Also : I installed Spybot and Norton AV on my new computer the day I got my new pc and everything was working fine for the first couple of months, and then this "freeze up" problem started without having installed, updated, or changing anything on my computer, and I'd used Spybot since the previous updates to windows and norton av, without any problems, so I'm pretty sure that a win or norton update isn't causing the problem. This "freeze up" problem seemed to come from nowhere, so I'm stumped by what the cause is.

And : I should mention that no other programs on my computer are acting out of the ordinary, only Spybot, and that I am the only person that uses this computer, so nothing has been downloaded or installed by anyone here.

Tech. details : Fully updated Spybot 1.4, fully updated win xp home ed, int exp 7, fully updated norton av, 2.8 ghz celeron d processor (no dust), and 512 ram.

Any ideas on what to do next?

Thanks, Rich

[md usa spybot fan]

When you stated that you followed the instructions that were posted by spybotsandra (http://forums.spybot.info/member.php?u=5) I assume that the instructions were from the following thread:
Spybot S&D Freezes after scanning
http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?p=52979
Since neither of the two posters in that thread prior to your post indicated that they were successful in resolving the problem, I am going to take a different approach.

There was a similar message received using different software detailed in the following Web page:
10090 » Specified device not open or not recognized by MCI? 26-Jan-06
http://www.jsifaq.com/SF/Tips/Tip.aspx?id=10090
That post indicates that the cause of the message was due to a missing registry entry.

Do you know how to use regedit?
If so using regedit inspect the content of the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32
The entries should look like this (mine do – Windows XP Home):

AVIVideo REG_SZ mciavi32.dll
CDAudio REG_SZ mcicda.dll
Sequencer REG_SZ mciseq.dll
WaveAudio REG_SZ mciwave.dll
MPEGVideo REG_SZ mciqtz32.dll
If not post back and I will make a query that may help.

[Ready2Rock]

Hi, thanks for your help.

I don't know much about regedit, but I can open it and browse folders, so I looked up what you asked.

My MCI32 folder has these 2 entries :

Default REG_SZ (value not set)
(BTW - this entry is in all the reg folders that I looked in)

MPEGVideo REG_SZ mciqtz32.dll

I found similar named entries to what you posted in the plain MCI folder, but they are .drv files, not .dll files, so I didn't list them here.

Thanks, Rich

[md usa spybot fan]

Ready2Rock:

I deleted the four (4) registry entries from my system that appear to be missing from your system. Unfortunately I was not able to reproduce the problem even after rebooting the system. So, it is up to you if want to try to add those entries and see if it resolves the problem.

If you want to try:
Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the following directory:
C:\WINDOWS\system32
Make sure that the following files exist:
mciavi32.dll
mcicda.dll
mciseq.dll
mciwave.dll
mciqtz32.dll
Download the attached REGFix1.zip file.
Extract REGFix1.bat into its own folder (see Note #1).
Execute REGFix1.bat by double clicking on it.
The execution of the REGFix1.bat will create a backup (REGFix1_Backup_A.reg) of the current content of the following registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32
Add the following entries to that registry key:
AVIVideo REG_SZ mciavi32.dll
CDAudio REG_SZ mcicda.dll
Sequencer REG_SZ mciseq.dll
WaveAudio REG_SZ mciwave.dll
It will also create a file (REGFix1_Query_A.txt) that shows the content of that registry key before and after the entries are added.
Note #1: Content of the REGFix1.bat file:


ECHO REGFix1

If exist REGFix1_Backup_A.reg goto skip1

REG EXPORT "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32" REGFix1_Backup_A.reg

:skip1

REG QUERY "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32" /s > REGFix1_Query_A.txt

REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32" /v "AVIVideo" /t REG_SZ /d "mciavi32.dll" /f

REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32" /v "CDAudio" /t REG_SZ /d "mcicda.dll" /f

REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32" /v "Sequencer" /t REG_SZ /d "mciseq.dll" /f

REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32" /v "WaveAudio" /t REG_SZ /d "mciwave.dll" /f

REG QUERY "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32" /s >> REGFix1_Query_A.txt

exit

[Ready2Rock]

Hi,

Your idea worked, Thank You :D:

Since the registry is fixed, should I enable the "display confirmation dialogs" and the "Create system restore point when fixing spyware/usage tracks" settings that I disabled earlier?

Thanks, Rich

[md usa spybot fan]

I don't know. Give it a try.

Be aware that in the past some people reported problems using both "Create system restore point …" and "Display confirmation dialogs …" together. There was a workaround for the problem:

When fixing problems in Spybot-S&D and a "Creating System Restore Point" dialog is being displayed for more than a few seconds, there may be a Spybot-S&D "Confirmation" dialog hidden behind the "Creating System Restore Point" dialog.

To bring the Spybot-S&D "Confirmation" dialog to the foreground so that it can be answered, do the following:
Press and hold the Alt key > hit Tab > if necessary, continue to hit Tab until the Spybot icon is selected > release the Alt key > answer Spybot's Confirmation dialog. The system should complete taking the Restore Point, the "Creating System Restore Point" dialog should clear and Spybot-S&D should continue to fix the problems that were selected to be fix.