Unable to install Returnil

I tried 3 times to install Returnil. The install thermometer almost finished each time & then -- Poof! -- a black screen. No activity whatsoever. Black. Dead stop.

With each retry at installing I shut down more stuff, but nothing fixed the issue. I then tried to install a somewhat similar software & got the message that it would not proceed to install until I got rid of phylock.sys. My guess is that phylock is also what is messing up the install of Returnil.

Phylock.sys was installed long ago when I installed Image for Windows. Phylock runs as a service at bootup. IFW uses phylock to freeze all Windows file activities while IFW images the system disk.

I no longer use IFW. I use Image for DOS instead, which doesn't need phylock. So I uninstalled IFW, but doing so did not remove phylock. So I tried various ways of disabling, killing, renaming, or removing phylock. In every case, a reboot resulted in a blue-screen message that Windows was broken. I have requested Terabyte (IFW's owners) to tell me HOW to get rid of phylock without breaking Windows. I *hope* they answer & can tell me what to do.

Any ideas (or sympathy) will be greatly appreciated. (sob)

 

Hi bellgamin,
For the moment, I am inclined to believe that you have identified the root cause pending contrary evidence (driver conflict). Please follow up with the proper removal instructions from the phylock.sys driver's developer and then monitor your system for a period of time to ensure it remains stable and then try a new installation of the version of RVS/RSS that you were attempting to install.

Please update the thread with your results either way and we can go from there.

Mike

 

Thanks Mike. Based on counsel from Terabyte & 2 folks from Wilders, I downloaded & used the installer for the latest version of IFW (my version is a few years older). Therein was an uninstaller for phylock. It's gone now. Terabyte support's email also said that the job could be done manually by searching for phylock in the registry.

A broader-based discussion of Returnil & related apps/issues is going on HERE

 

My main concern is verifying that the removal of the orphaned driver resolved the problem you were having installing RVS/RSS.

Thanks
Mike