Simple clear advice in plain English

Sonic Activation Module problem solved

A Windows message about a missing CD causes concern, but it is just looking for software to repair a fault

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Q A message appears every time I start up my PC. The title bar says Sonic Activation Module.
The message says ‘The feature you are trying to use is on a CD-Rom or other removable disk that is not available. Insert the Sonic Activation Module disk and click on OK.’

I do not know what it is for or what it means and am worried it may be a virus. I have Windows XP installed.

Edward Ellis

A You can rest assured there is no virus on your PC. This message appears when Windows tries to repair a program that has been partially uninstalled but cannot find the files needed to do so.

The software in question, Sonic Activation Module, is often installed on computers during manufacture along with other Sonic software, which is normally used for CD and DVD burning.

In an ideal world, the best way to fix this problem is to insert the disc with the Sonic software installer or click on the Browse button and find the file used to install the software.

Assuming that you don’t have the disc, though, there is a way of stopping the message. Download and install the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.

Once it has downloaded, double-click on the file. Click on Next, Select ‘I accept the License Agreement’ and click on Next twice more and then on Finish. Click on the Start button, then All Programs and then Windows Install Clean Up.

It will scan the computer and display a list of all the software that was installed using the Windows Installer.
Scroll down the list to the offending program, left-click on it once and then click on Remove. This utility only removes the installer files, not the software itself. Even so, take great care to select the correct program from the list.

This utility is also useful if an installation is interrupted by a power cut for example.

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Reader Comments

Roxio Creator - Dell Edition

We have had a similar problem. Our Dell computer, purchased in 2006 was installed with Sonic Software - Roxio by Sonic Solutions. We have used this software to burn copies of CDs and DVDs, without problem until a few days ago. Now when we click on Roxio Creator LE a pop up window says "Looking for Installation package", followed by "The feature you are trying to use is on a CD-ROM or other removable disk that is not available", then "Insert Roxio RecordNow Copy disk". After exiting several error messages come up and then Roxio comes on but will not burn DVDs. Any idea what has gone wrong.

Posted by Sandy, 08 Sep 2010

Sonic Activation Module problem

With ref to above answer... how do you know which is the "correct program" to remove, since there is no indication from the error message to say what it was trying to install!

Posted by Andy, 05 Sep 2011

Roxio problem and Sonic Activation Dell XP Edition

I am having the same problem as Andy on a Dell Dimension I purchased in 2006 but I have never used the Roxio or burned disks. Is this problem Age related I wonder. I managed to stop the Roxio,by deleting references in Registry +All Programs then I got Corel popping up which which I deleted in All Programs.Now I get this Sonic Activation Module which I deleted in Registry but it keeps on returning and it is a nuisance. Very persistant. I tried a lot of suggestions by different Forums.Ihave stopped Roxio and Corel, but Sonic is difficult to remove and I am wary about my CD's.

Posted by Emma (withold details), 02 Oct 2012

   

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