Opera won't install - keeps going round and round in a loop

[thomasnash]

thomasnash last edited by

An IT colleague at work suggested I download CCleaner to clean up my hard drive so I did. I ran the program and when a list of files came up that it suggested I delete I was very careful not to check anything that I wasn't sure of in case I deleted anything by mistake. Not sure if installing CCleaner has caused the problem below but the Opera problems started straight after (although it may have been a coincidence).

So, next time I try using the internet with my Opera browser it just doesn't work. So I uninstalled it and installed it again and this is where the problems started.

When Opera installed it had the red Opera symbol but with a blue & yellow shield on the bottom right. So when I click on Opera it says "do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?" I click on 'Yes' but then nothing happens. Opera just sits there trying to open and it just keeps saying "loading ...."

If I then close Opera and double click on the Opera icon again I get the same messaqe. Even when uninstalling Opera and installing it again I still get the same problem. So I'm just going round and round in the same loop.

Any suggestions please? Does CCleaner have anything to do with it? Sorry if I've not followed protocal, this is my first post!

[joshl]

joshl last edited by

Where did you obtain your CCleaner download?
You meant to rule this out or not, didn't you?

BTW, you didn't mention which version of Opera you were having trouble with.
Also, where were you trying to/did you download it from? And mention your system (and hardware - in case) specs.

[thomasnash]

thomasnash last edited by

Thanks for the reply.

I downloaded CCleaner from piriform.com and I downloaded the free version.

I got my Opera browser from Opera.com and chose the download near the top in the green button that says "download now" which I presume is the latest version. The file is 33.0.1990.115

Someone with a similar problem was advised to install and run malwarebytes so I did that and also ran a virus scan using AVG.

I'm not a techie and have quite an old PC but keep all the software updated via the Microsoft updates. I have an Acer Aspire X3400 PC with Windows 7 Home Premium and an AMD Athlom (tm) II x 2 220 Processor running at 2.8 GHz.

Thanks

[blackbird71]

blackbird71 last edited by

Assuming the CCleaner download was legitimate (and it should have been from piriform.com), it should be set up as an on-demand cleaner. It's presence on the system will only be noticed when you operate it to clean out files; that is, it doesn't just sit there running and somehow interferes with other apps. However, it is a powerful tool, and one can accidentally remove some of an app's essential files during a clean-up operation. Ordinarily, while that might 'break' an app installation, it should not render the app non-reinstallable thereafter.

Consequently, it's possible that a CCleaner file-cleanup session broke the old Opera installation. But when you tried to reinstall Opera, presumably CCleaner was 'off' and out of the way - hence CCleaner itself should not have directly interfered with the Opera reinstall. On the other hand, during the cleanup, CCleaner may have corrupted or cleaned out a key personal file in your profile folder whose files would be auto-detected and auto-imported into a reinstall of Opera and thereby might cause problems.

Something that remains unclear from your posts is exactly where the reinstall red Opera icon with the blue/yellow shield appeared, and was it during the install attempt per se as part of the installer itself, or after the install whence it was part of a shortcut to start up Opera (in which case, was it on the desktop, the TaskBar, in the Start Menu, or as the icon for the Opera launcher file itself in Windows Explorer?

Finally, is the re-installation of Opera being attempted from within a limited user account, or within one with admin privileges? Are you attempting to reinstall to the same folder name it was in previously or a different, new named folder?

[thomasnash]

thomasnash last edited by

I'm not 100% sure CCleaner had anything to do with the Opera installation problems, it may just have been a coincidence that the Opera problems started right away. But as you suggest I get a feeling a deleted some sort of file by mistake when I ran the CCleaner (which I've now removed from my PC).

To answer your questions - yes, when I've tried to reinstall Opera, CCleaner has not even been on my PC because I uninstalled it.

The red Opera icon with the blue/yellow shield is on my desktop and also as a shortcut on my Taskbar. Opera put them in those places when I reinstalled it.

I am installing Opera on my personal PC so I have all the privileges and I am installing Opera into the default folder it suggests when I install.

Just as an aside - when I installed malwarebytes I was able to install and run it but the malwarebytes icon also has the blue/yellow shield and every time I double click it, it says "do you want to allow the following program to make changes to this computer?" message. The only difference between that and Opera is that when I double click the Opera icon and say yes to the message it doesn't load but just keeps hanging there and the browser never opens.

[joshl]

joshl last edited by

It's presence on the system will only be noticed...

"Its", shame on you!

[blackbird71]

blackbird71 last edited by

Something seems peculiar about the icon with the blue/yellow shield. It seems like it's not a normal Windows icon, but it is telling you something, perhaps related to permissions or anti-malware blocking by an AV or some such. I run Win7-64 Pro, and I've never run into that kind of icon/shield with any of my software, so I wonder if it's being injected as an overlay by a setting on an anti-malware program or some peculiar Windows blocking/permissions setting. The problem with those kinds of permissions, blocks, or controls is that if you permission-start a program executable that itself must auto-start yet another executable, that secondary (or later) executable can be invisibly blocked and cause the whole chain of actions to simply hang or fail.

Have you temporarily disabled your AV and ALL other anti-malware software on the system to see if the Opera icon loses the shield overlay, and if so, does Opera then start properly?

[donq]

donq last edited by

This shield is UAC overlay. Check UAC (User Account Control) settings, change them - does that help? Right-click on Opera shielded icon, Run As Administrator - will it run?

If not, uninstall Opera, locate its folder in ProgramFiles(x86), delete that entirely. Delete all Opera icons/shortcuts. You may locate Opera folder in AppData and remove that too (you lose all settings and extensions this way; you may backup this folder first). Reinstall Opera - will it run now?

I would think that CCleaner changed some internal security settings somehow, or deleted some important file or similar. I have seen some customer PCs, rendered unusable by CCleaner - what they have changed, I have unfortunately no knowledge.

[thomasnash]

thomasnash last edited by

Thanks for the last 2 replies.

I think the problem has been solved. A friend suggested I do a "system restore" to an earlier date and now Opera is running OK and I don't get the yellow/blue shield on the Opera icon and it's installed fine.

One problem still though is that any programs I now download have the blue/yellow shield on the icons and instead of being able to just click on them to open I get the "do you want to allow this program to make changes to your computer" message!!