Global hooks not being allowed

Discussion in 'ProcessGuard' started by Mele20, Oct 9, 2005.

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  1. Mele20

    Mele20 Former Poster

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    I told PG some time ago to allow vmware-vmx.exe to create gobal hooks. Just now, I started my virtual machine and had no mouse and no keyboard availability on the Windows XP Welcome screen so I could finish loading XP. PG had blocked global hooking by vmware-vmx.exe. I checked the Protection tab and PG knows to allow global hooking for this application so why did it block it?

    PG really needs to pop up a box when it does something like this. I can barely see the color of the tray icon and I don't use balloons. I turned that off in the registry right after I got XP. I wouldn't mind a PG balloon but I would get a lot of others also if I turn that on again. The only reason I knew it was PG that was causing me to have no mouse or keyboard for the virtual machine was because the first time it happened it took about a week to figure out that it was PG blocking two global hooks. I had just recently turned on global hooks in PG and hadn't had VMWare very long either so I thought it was a problem with VMWare for days and then finally thought to look at PG. So, I'd like a popup in the middle of my screen anytime PG blocks a global hook or stops a driver from being installed, etc. (I guess this paragraph should be in the wish list).

    Anyhow, why did PG stop these global hooks when on the Protection tab under "other" options I have explicitly told PG to allow vmware-vmx.exe to create global hooks?
     
  2. WSFuser

    WSFuser Registered Member

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    did u check the log? maybe it blocked hooks for a different program. u can also try using LM and see if theres any other permissions vmware may need.
     
  3. Mele20

    Mele20 Former Poster

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    I didn't need to check the log. PG icon turned red and stated that it had blocked vmware-vmx.exe from creating two global hooks. I had run PG in learning mode again when I first turned on global hooks protection. I used VMware repeatedly during that time. The moment I took PG off learning mode, it blocked global hooks for VMware and as I said earlier, I didn't realize for about a week that the problem was PG and not VMware. Once I did find the source of the problem, I specifically told PG to allow global hooks from the two VMware processes that need that. What more could I do? Then PG ignores my instructions.

    I intensely dislike any software that disobeys instructions. PG forced me, a couple of days ago, to allow every single application in the systray when I rebooted. Why did it do that? All of those have been allowed for months. PG FORGETS. That is the problem and that is not something I will put up with. Just like I don't use BoClean because it spikes RAM usage to 50% or higher every ten seconds forever. That is plain crazy. I don't know what is happening to applications these days. CounterSpy has a zillion major problems also. Now PG has amnesia. :(
     
  4. brutal truth

    brutal truth Guest

    Ok, so in the first paragraph you say you allowed vmware to create global hooks some time ago. Second paragraph you say you knew it was PG messing up vmware because it took you a week to figure out PG was blocking 2 global hooks (incidently you said it was days in the next sentence). So how did you resolve this the first time?? You just magically had no keyboard & mouse all of the sudden, again, for no reason?

    PG would have alerted you, had you not disabled them. The icon is visible just fine.

    ~snip....Personal attack removed....Bubba~

    Maybe it kept blocking them because you didn't restart the application. That's one reason anyway.
    You didn't need to check the log? You said you disabled balloons, how did it state anything to you otherwise?

    Running PG in learning mode doesn't mean it would automatically allow global hooks for that program. It only sets them as programs ask for them. You need to use the programs extensively, while in learning mode, if you expect anything to be automatically set for them.

    After you allow global options you usually need to reopen the program from scratch, as they usually become permanently non-responsive to what was blocked otherwise. Which sounds like your problem since you are quick to gripe without even checking logs.

    You go on to state PG blocked hooks for the 2 vmware processes, which you just now mention at the end of all things, and conflicts with your first post. I have doubts you have everything related to vmware found and sorted out now.

    Your problem is entirely user error. You need to learn the program (and everything else for that matter) better, and you need to form questions in a nicer (aka not faulting the program outright) and more coherent fashion if you expect any help from other people online.

    One last question, do any of your "protected applications" have "modify protected applications" checked? There's one reason settings could change over time, but I somehow doubt that is your problem...


    Post edited to remove personal insults. Please try to refrain from these activities
    bigc
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 9, 2005
  5. Bubba

    Bubba Updates Team

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    A few off-topic posts were removed and simply ask that We stay on topic Please.
     
  6. Mele20

    Mele20 Former Poster

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    Yes, I had no mouse or keyboard for VMware when I booted my virtual machine last night. I hadn't booted the virtual machine for several days but the last time I had booted PG allowed the global hooking needed for the mouse and keyboard to work. Because I had this very problem a month or more ago and at that time (after about a week of looking for the reason), I finally figured out that it was caused by PG blocking global hooking for VMware and I then allowed global hooking for it, this time when it happened I knew to first check PG.

    I looked at the icon in the systray. It had changed to red. So, I opened PG and went to the Alerts tab. There was an alert stating the time (just moments earlier) that PG had BLOCKED a global hook for the VMware mouse and another for the keyboard. I then looked on the Protection tab. I scrolled down to VMware. I found vmware-vmx.exe entry. In the right column under "Other options" I confirmed that the entry "allow global hooks" was still there. It was still there yet PG had just blocked this application from creating 2 global hooks.
    That should not have happened. I don't know how to say it any plainer.

    You asked how I resolved the problem the first time. Obviously, when I finally figured out that it was caused by PG and not by VMware Tools which I have had problems with before causing mouse problems (but not keyboard), I entered "allow global hooks" on the protection tab for vmware-vmx.exe. I didn't blame PG as it was my fault that I didn't think sooner that PG might be doing something that was messing with VMware. I didn't think the first time about it being PG possibly for a while because I just recently turned on global hooking. So, I didn't know very much then about global hooking and needing to allow some applications to be able to do this. If I had balloons turned on, I would have seen a balloon alert but I have that turned off in the registry and I have to make a conscious effort to constantly look down at the icon in the systray to see if it has changed colors as that is the ONLY alert I get. Obviously, I didn't look at the icon when this happened the first time as if I had and saw it was red, I would have investigated and found out that PG had blocked the global hooks. I would not have spent about week thinking it was a VMware problem and posting on boards/NGs about VMware.

    That fixed the problem until October 9 at 12:20AM when I started a virtual machine and PG blocked the needed mouse and keyboard global hooks even though the instruction to allow global hooks for this application was still there on the protection tab.

    I still think PG is a great application but I am understandably a little ticked off presently at it and I would like to get to bottom of this so this doesn't happen again. I think this is probably connected to the earlier problem when I rebooted on Friday afternoon and PG popuped on every single startup application and ask me if I wished to allow such and such an application to start. It was like PG was brand new and I was using it for the first time (but not in learning mode). After I told it to allow all my startup applications and the desktop finally fully loaded, I opened PG and on the Security tab I found strange entries for "Last Action" for most everything to do with the reboot that I had just completed. There were entries under "last action" for some processes that said "allow once" (unable to ask user). These were processes that start early in the boot process such as bootskin, script sentry and PG itself! ALL of those entries had been set to "permit always" but now they were set for
    allow once"!

    I posted this in a new thread here titled "PG Forgets". I have no replies to the thread. Process Guard acted Friday afternoon when I rebooted into my admin account after having set up another admin account (for networking), as though it had never run before on this computer. Then Sat night, it blocked those global hooks when it shouldn't have. Again, acting as though it is brand new on this computer. So, I tentitively conclude that creating another admin account and then rebooting to my original admin account did something to PG. Until Friday afternoon, I have only had ONE account on this XP Pro box (besides the default admin account that comes with XP)...my admin account which is not password protected. I have the guest account disabled. So that I would not need to password protect my main admin account for networking purposes, I created a new admin account that is password protected to be used for networking with my 98SE computer. Then after much effort to no avail in actually networking my two computers, I rebooted into my main admin account on this XP box that has PG installed and had PG act as though it had just been installed.
     
  7. Gavin - DiamondCS

    Gavin - DiamondCS Former DCS Moderator

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    Hi,

    You'll be happy to know we identified some *QUITE* interesting issues with multiple user accounts, and with multiple admin accounts. All should be fixed for the next version, which is virtually ready to beta test.
     
  8. Mele20

    Mele20 Former Poster

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    Great! Can't wait for it. :)

    So. you are saying that what happened to me did have to do with my creating that new Admin account and then rebooting back into my main admin account?

    You may be interested to note that I actually do have the Guest account enabled. I said in my post above that it was disabled. I did disable it, but I have since learned that it is actually enabled because I use simple file sharing on XP Pro SP1a and that causes forced enabling of the Guest account according to Microsoft.

    EDIT: I guess this is also connected to multiple user/multiple Admin accounts? I just tried to use Task Manager to end a process that was not responding. I got a pop up saying I was forbidden to end the process! Huh? Then I saw the PG icon was red. Sure enough, somehow the permission I had give taskmgr.exe in PG, on the protection tab, for rights to terminate was gone! That right disappeared in the last 24 hours because I was able to terminate a process from Task Manager a yesterday. It seems the permissions I have set in PG keep getting changed and I am not changing them!! Could a replacement of my mobo cause this sort of problem? I have had the mobo replaced three times by Dell in the last month and I see PG problems each time after that replacement. I'm getting a fourth mobo replacement probably this Friday (the problem we now think is an incompatible processor replacement not the mobo but it is being replaced again anyway along with the processor and memory).
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2005
  9. Gavin - DiamondCS

    Gavin - DiamondCS Former DCS Moderator

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    There are very strange issues with 2 admins, and probably the cause of your problems..

    The only other likely cause would be corruption of the data on disk, I do a chkdsk /f every month or so. This is a very fast check and does sometimes find file index errors so well worth the couple of minutes during reboot.

    Also chkdsk /r will do a complete disk examination (surface testing) which takes a very long time so best done overnight if you want to run this test.
     
  10. Mele20

    Mele20 Former Poster

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    Thank you for suggesting I do chkdsk...even the shorter one. I hate to admit I have done neither since I got this computer almost two years ago. I was sort of intimidated by the length of time for the longer check but I certainly can run the fast one and one night do the longer one.
     
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