Ran Windows Repair- Install date now same for all programs in Add/Programs list

[pandafoot]

I did a recent repair of my system running the Windows Repair-Teaking.com Utility yet I have found that the "install date" listed in my add/remove programs seen via Revo Uninstaller are all NOW the same (8-28-2014) for all programs.  I previously had the actual dates listed of installation before running the utility and I would like to reset things to that date. 

 I have a WIN 7 Home Premium system with Avast AV Internet Security. I ran the Tweaking.com-Windows Repair program with ALL things checked. I ran each step as directed including CHKDSK & SFC SCANNOW. I had two corrupted unrepairable files from the SFC scan which I tried to replace the files via other instructions  (xxx.sevenforums. dot com/tutorials/42776-dash-extract-files-windows-7-installation-dvd dot html ) but was unable to do this successfully (I may not have configured permissions etc properly).

I ran the repair with the CLEAN BOOT per site  instructions.

I ran the Tweaking program  as my system seems to be booting much more slowly lately.  Multiple malware/AV program scans have not yet corrected things so malware "may not be the main problem". It is still a long boot time with Avast disabled per Clean Boot yet the Avast may be slowing things down anyway.  I have also found that my IAStoreUI.exe service does not start-up/ work as it should. [Just noting this although I'll probably need to post on a different forum for help with this]  My drivers seem to be up-to-date per going into the Device manager and clicking/updating each but I do not know for certain.

Please advise how to recover proper list of "Install date".  If i should do anything else with this program please let me know.
Thank you.

[Boggin]

I tried that Win 7 tutorial as well and found the last command wouldn't work, so it may be the tutorial.

Does your Win 7 install disk include SP1 ?

If it doesn't then you can Save a Win 7 SP1 ISO from http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/page-2#post-124821 and use http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool to create a bootable USB/DVD.

Tapping F12 (usually) as you switch on will give you a one off Boot order change - using the cursor keys to select the media you are using.

Insert the media and press enter.

I've never done this on a Win 8 machine but would think the steps similar to Win 7.

Press any key when prompted to boot from the media and navigate to the Recovery Environment and select Command Prompt.

At the command prompt enter bcdedit |find "osdevice" and using whichever letter it gives for the partition enter (assuming C: )

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows and see if that will repair the previously unrepaired files.

[pandafoot]

I tried that Win 7 tutorial as well and found the last command wouldn't work, so it may be the tutorial.

Does your Win 7 install disk include SP1 ?

If it doesn't then you can Save a Win 7 SP1 ISO from http://www.w7forums.com/threads/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads.12325/page-2#post-124821 and use http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool to create a bootable USB/DVD.

Tapping F12 (usually) as you switch on will give you a one off Boot order change - using the cursor keys to select the media you are using.

Insert the media and press enter.

I've never done this on a Win 8 machine but would think the steps similar to Win 7.

Press any key when prompted to boot from the media and navigate to the Recovery Environment and select Command Prompt.

At the command prompt enter bcdedit |find "osdevice" and using whichever letter it gives for the partition enter (assuming C: )

sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows and see if that will repair the previously unrepaired files.

I downloaded and installed the  hxxp://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58997.iso Windows 7 Home Premium x64 English ... Size: 3,243,070KB, MD5 hash: da319b5826162829c436306bebea7f0f previously and used the download tool. I have WIN7.

I will try the boot from the Recovery environment and run SFC /scannow from the cmd.  Maybe this will work.  I recall reading in one 7forum that a cmd use was one method to run SFC.  xxx.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-DASH-command-system-file-checker.html

I still do not know why all programs were installed with currrent date with Windows Repair instead of maintaining the ACTUAL dates.  This may be a BUG in this program.

[pandafoot]

..........................
I ran the v.2.8.8 and it took much longer than 30 minutes (noted by Willy2) to run the 42+ Repairs. After about the first 5 Repairs the program finished at lightning speed".

I checked the LOG file in Programs/ Tweaking.com for the run. It turns out that Repair #5 took a VERY long time.  Looks like I may have a problem with Repair #5.

LOG (partial)
Starting Repairs...
   Started at (8/29/2014 1:50:00 AM)

01 - Reset Registry Permissions 01/03
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER & Sub Keys
   Start (8/29/2014 1:50:03 AM)
   Running Repair Under Current User Account
   Done (8/29/2014 1:50:57 AM)

01 - Reset Registry Permissions 02/03
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE & Sub Keys
   Start (8/29/2014 1:50:57 AM)
   Running Repair Under System Account
   Done (8/29/2014 1:54:46 AM)

01 - Reset Registry Permissions 03/03
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT & Sub Keys
   Start (8/29/2014 1:54:46 AM)
   Running Repair Under System Account
   Done (8/29/2014 1:55:49 AM)

02 - Reset File Permissions: C:
   C: & Sub Folders
   Start (8/29/2014 1:55:49 AM)
   Trying To Run Repair As Trusted Installer.
   This Repair Is Hidden By Windows Itself.
   You Can See The Repair Working In The Task Manager.
   Running Repair As Trusted Installer
   Done (8/29/2014 2:13:12 AM)

02 - Reset File Permissions: All Profiles
   C:\Users & Sub Folders
   Start (8/29/2014 2:13:12 AM)
   Running Repair Under System Account
   Done (8/29/2014 2:20:06 AM)

02 - Reset File Permissions: Current Profile
   C:\Users\OWNER & Sub Folders
   Start (8/29/2014 2:20:06 AM)
   Running Repair Under System Account
   Done (8/29/2014 2:25:58 AM)

02 - Reset File Permissions: Cleanup
   Repairing Restricted Folders Permissions To Avoid Infinite Loops
   Start (8/29/2014 2:25:58 AM)
   Running Repair Under Current User Account
   Running Repair Under System Account
   Done (8/29/2014 2:26:03 AM)

03 - Reset Service Permissions
   Start (8/29/2014 2:26:03 AM)
   Running Repair Under System Account
   Done (8/29/2014 2:27:29 AM)

04 - Register System Files
   Start (8/29/2014 2:27:29 AM)
   Running Repair Under Current User Account
   Running Repair Under System Account
   Done (8/29/2014 2:28:14 AM)

05 - Repair WMI
   Start (8/29/2014 2:28:14 AM)

   Starting Security Center So We Can Export The Security Info.

   Exporting Antivirus Info...
   avast! Antivirus Exported.

   Exporting AntiSpyware Info...
   Windows Defender Exported.
   avast! Antivirus Exported.

   Exporting 3rd Party Firewall Info...
   avast! Antivirus Exported.

   Running Repair Under Current User Account
   Done (8/29/2014 4:08:47 AM)

06 - Repair Windows Firewall
   Start (8/29/2014 4:08:47 AM)
   Running Repair Under Current User Account
   Running Repair Under System Account
   Done (8/29/2014 4:09:28 AM)

[Shane]

The reason the add/remove programs showed a new date was because of 2 reasons.

In the uninstall information in the registry a setup program can add the date it is installed and that will show up in the add/remove programs. When a setup program doesnt add the date it was installed then windows will use the date modified on that registry key. So when the permissions get updated the last modified date gets changed, and so that is the date you are seeing.

I havent looked yet, but one thing I could do is see if MS has an API that would allow me to read and set the date modified on a registry key, if so I can simply backup the date modified before the repair and then reapply the date modified after. Not sure if MS gives a way to do that but it would be worth me looking into

Shane

[pandafoot]

The reason the add/remove programs showed a new date was because of 2 reasons.

In the uninstall information in the registry a setup program can add the date it is installed and that will show up in the add/remove programs. When a setup program doesnt add the date it was installed then windows will use the date modified on that registry key. So when the permissions get updated the last modified date gets changed, and so that is the date you are seeing.

I havent looked yet, but one thing I could do is see if MS has an API that would allow me to read and set the date modified on a registry key, if so I can simply backup the date modified before the repair and then reapply the date modified after. Not sure if MS gives a way to do that but it would be worth me looking into

Shane

Thanks for getting back to me on this issue. How can I restore my initial installation dates for these programs?  Should I run the 'System Restore" just prior to running the Tweaking.com Repairs? This would undo everything.  If I did this how would I adjust the config. settings of Tweaking.com so it would then maintain the original installation dates. I assume that this would require SKIPPING a repair but then again that repair might not be needed.

Is there another way to recover from this? Thanks.  I think that it would be a good idea to backup and save the original (actual) installation dates for programs. If I need to go into the Registry myself to correct things that could then be done.

[pandafoot]

Regarding my LOGS of the first 6 steps:
Do you have advice for the long duration for Step #5? What should I do there?
Thanks.

[Shane]

You can restore the registry from before the repairs, my program should have made a registry backup for you unless you told it not to. You currently cant backup the date modified on the registry keys. MS doesn't offer any way to do that. So when you restore the registry you can run the repairs again but you will have to skip the registry permissions repair as that is the one that will change the date modified. Windows actually does, since it shows the last time a registry was changed.

As for #5, Repair WMI, it can take a while as it searches the whole drive for any mof files that have to be added back to the WMI. Doing the clean boot before the repairs can help a ton with the speed of the repairs because you wont have a lot of background programs or the antivirus getting in the way.

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

I don't know if I should start a new thread but I run Windows Repair 2.9.2 and only run 01 Reset Registry Permissions.
I did a repair install of windows 7 - 16 July 2014 and originally, I installed Windows 7 - 23 December 2013.

In Revo Uninstaller Pro the installation for all the program is the date of today 2014-10-02, in Iobit Uninstaller 4, the install date, displayed dates from 16 July 2014 to the date of my latest install and in windows "uninstall or change a program" some program show from 2013-12-23 until to the date of my latest install.

I'm wondering why not IObit and Revo shows the correct install date after I run "Reset Registry Permissions"?

Tomas

[Shane]

I don't know if I should start a new thread but I run Windows Repair 2.9.2 and only run 01 Reset Registry Permissions.
I did a repair install of windows 7 - 16 July 2014 and originally, I installed Windows 7 - 23 December 2013.

In Revo Uninstaller Pro the installation for all the program is the date of today 2014-10-02, in Iobit Uninstaller 4, the install date, displayed dates from 16 July 2014 to the date of my latest install and in windows "uninstall or change a program" some program show from 2013-12-23 until to the date of my latest install.

I'm wondering why not IObit and Revo shows the correct install date after I run "Reset Registry Permissions"?

Tomas

Windows will look at 2 things to determine the install date of a program.

First in the uninstall registry section it will look for the key "InstallDate" and use what ever is there. If that is missing then Windows will look at the last date modified of the registry key instead and use that date.

So from the looks of it Revo is looking at the last modified date ONLY and not looking for the "InstallDate" registry key. While Iobit is looking for the "InstallDate" registry key, which is the proper way to do it

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

Thanks for clearing that up! 

But Windows own "uninstall or change a program" is the ONLY uninstall that show the install date correct!
IObit shows wrong because it show from the date I made a "repair install of windows 7" and not from the date I originally installed Windows 7.

I will contact both Revo and IObit and see that they say!

Tomas

[Shane]

Let me know what they say

In windows XP there was never a "InstallDate" regirty option, even if there was one the add/remove programs never showed date installed. Starting with vista they added support for the reg key "InstallDate"

Maybe the 2 programs are using what ever tricks they do for XP on the newer OSs as well. But it was simple for me to make the tool in my repair. Loop through the uninstall sections, any reg section that doesnt have a installdate then add it and pull the date modified.

So for them it should be as easy as
"If InstallDate = "" then pull install date from somewhere else
else
installedOn = InstallDate
End if"

Shane