vsflt67.sys not removed when uninstall
I un-installed True Image Home trial version. Now, when I run a competitor product's copy, I get a BSOD in vsflt67.sys. Why is vsflt67.sys still on my system and how can I remove it?
I've opened a support ticket but thought someone here may have experienced the same type of problem and might be able to recommend a solution.
TIA,
Phil
Thanks for your reply, Pat.
The BSOD is occurring when I run a certain application. It isn't occuring at boot time. For now, I avoid the BSOD by not running that application.
I'm not keen on restoring the system prior to the uninstall. Why do I need to restore?
What is ATI 2012? Is that an acronis utility? If so, isn't there some other way to download it short of restoring?
Thanks,
Phil
duh! ATI 2012 is Acronis True Image 2012?
So, instead of restoring to prior to the uninstall of True Image, could I just re-install? And then, instead of doing a Windows uninstall, do the cleanup you refer to? I wonder if I'll have a problem getting the product key again.
Phil
Phil,
I believe Pat was under the assumption that your machine would not start. His suggestion was to put you back at a known good starting point. You could then uninstall and use the clean up utility to remove the vsflt67.sys driver left behind.
There are cases where orphaned registry entries remain. The clean up utility often removes them. In other cases, it's recommended that these entries be removed manually.
ATIH2012 = Acronis True Image Home 2012
Here is a link for the Clean up utility. **Very important to follow ALL the instructions
Phil,
Our posts crossed one another. The trial version has a time limitation. In addition if a second activation is requested, it might cause another issue for you. Pat's recommendation to restore while slightly more time consuming does give you a "clean" way to remove the product and any entries left behind.
It's recommended that you use the Add/Remove Programs applet before running the clean up utility.
Again, there are a few steps that need to be followed in order to ensure normal windows function returns. Also, if other Acronis products are installed, this utility will damage them. This is covered in the KB article I referred to.
I have not used the clean up utility without uninstalling first. It will probably work but, that is only a guess.
I re-installed True Image, then started the cleanup utility. I did not see any instructions on what it does or how to use it, so I clicked the change settings link. It ran for a while with no indication of what was going on and eventually terminated. No completion messages. I don't know what, if anything, it did.
I started the cleanup utility again and clicked the help (?) button. It shows the following list of operations:
System Clean-up
The System Clean-up wizard enables you to securely remove all traces of your PC actions stored by Windows.
It can carry out the following operations:
Securely destroy data in the Windows Recycle Bin
Remove temporary files from appropriate Windows folders
Clean up hard disk free space of any traces of information previously stored on it
Remove traces of file and computer searches on connected disks and computers in the local area network
Clean the recently used documents list
Clean the Windows Run list
Clean the opened/saved files history
Clean the list of network places to which the user has connected using network credentials
Clean the Windows prefetch directory, where Windows stores information about programs you have executed and run recently
Which of these will get rid of vsflt67.sys?
Thanks,
Phil
Phillip,
The System Clean-up tool you are referring to is the tool built into Acronis True Image Home 2012. This is not the cleanup tool that Pat and Shadowsports are referring to. What you need is the Acronis True Image Home 2012 Cleanup Utility, and is found here http://kb.acronis.com/content/24545. Please download this utilty, then uninstall Acronis True Image Home using Windows add/remove a program or Uninstall a program in Control Panel, depending on the version of Windows you are using. After un-installing, then run the Acronis True Image Home 2012 Cleanup Utility you downloaded earlier. Be sure to read the instructions for manually removing vsfltxx.sys from the registry, as it will not be removed during the un-install or using the Acronis True Image Home 2012 Cleanup Utility.
PHilip,
James is correct. Just read the instructions carefully! Again, do not let the utility reboot your system. Go through the final steps of the instructions prior to rebooting.
You can also go through this attached PDF to evaluate whether other filters are still on your system.
Thanks to everyone who has replied.
I'm reading through http://kb.acronis.com/content/24545 and have some questions. It sounds like I can really mess up my system if I'm not careful with the cleanup utility, so I hope you all will bear with me.
Please see attached pdf.
Phil
The first step is to disable True Image Home Windows integration. Just take the check marks out of the three boxes and click apply.
Then close ATIH 2012, and then uninstall Acronis True Image Home using Windows add/remove a program or Uninstall a program in Control Panel, depending on the version of Windows you are using. Be sure to check all the boxes to remove the optional components. If you did not ever create an Acronis Secure Zone, you don't have one. After removal is complete, then run the cleanup utility following the instructions you have already looked at.
I uninstalled and ran the cleanup utility. No errors reported.
However,vsflt67.sys is still present:C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vsflt67.sys,and a similar-looking entry is in the registry:vidsflt67. See attached image of registry entry. vidsflt* is one of the strings that is not supposed to be found after the cleanup utility runs.
What now?
-Phil
You will find the vidsflt67 and related entries in three locations in the registry. Please see the attached screen captures. You may not have the filter driver "fltsrv" in your registry if the "Cleanup Utility" removed it. Delete only the upper and lower filter values specified in the screen captures, then delete the service(s) last. Do not delete any other upper or lower filter entries, or you will have big problems. This should remove the vidsflt67 filter driver and its service, but the vidsflt67.sys file will remain on your system, do not delete it. To verify that the driver has been removed, open Device Manager, double click on your hard disk drive, and click on the driver tab, then click the driver details button. If you do not see the driver(s) any longer, then you should be able to reboot safely. See attached screen capture.
Thanks for the assistance from the community.
Of the 5 registry changes prescribed in James' latest posting, 3 of them had already been done -- presumably either by the uninstall or by the cleanup tool. I did the other 2 and verified the absence of the driver as described in driver_list.png.
I'm now able to run successfully the application that was getting the BSOD.
Again, thanks to all of you for your help,
Phil
Glad you were able to remove the filter drivers successfully.
Helo there. At http://kb.acronis.com/content/24545 I have" "Access denied You are not authorized to access this page." Briliant! To uninstall Acronis True Image I need an authorization. Who is granting this autorization ?
The original question above is not answered. “Why is vsflt67.sys still on my system?” Why it is so difficult to remove Acronis True Image?
http://kb.acronis.com/content/24545 has been updated. The new link is http://kb.acronis.com/content/34876.
Acronis uses a disk filter driver (vsflt67.sys or some variant depending on version of True Image). Versions of True Image before 2013 would leave this filter driver installed after uninstall (including after running the True Image Cleanup utility).
Only the programmers would be able to answer as to why they chose not to include removal of this driver during uninstall.