Error When Installing or Opening Programmes "ShellExecuteEx failed; Code 21. The Device Is Not Ready"

Hi Bhalanapop,

From the issue description, I understand that you had used a registry cleaner named “JV16 PowerTools” and after which you are unable to install or open any programs on the computer and you are getting the error message “ShellExcuteEx failed; Code 21. The Device Is Not Ready” when trying to install any programs on the computer. I would like to know these information:

1)       Did you create a registry backup before you ran the registry cleaner program on the computer?

2)       Do you suspect any virus or malicious software infection on the computer?

Microsoft does not recommend using any registry cleaner programs on the computer. This is because, such software are extremely powerful applications that can damage the registry due to their aggressive cleaning routines. We have found many instances where these kind of software has deleted some important registry entries and thus leading to similar issues that you are currently facing.

If you have created a registry backup before you ran this program, then you may try restoring the registry and check if that helps. If a registry backup was not taken, then let’s try running an SFC Scan and check the result. Please try these steps and let’s know the result.

Run an SFC Scan

The “sfc /scannow” command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

a)       Press “Windows Logo” + “X” keys on the keyboard and select “Command Prompt (Admin)” from that menu.

b)       On the command prompt window, type the following command, and then press “Enter”

sfc /scannow

c)       Follow the on-screen instructions and complete the scan.

If you suspect any virus or malicious software infection on the computer, then you may try booting the computer in Safe Mode with Networking and then perform a complete security scan using the Microsoft Safety Scanner. Please follow these steps:

Step 1: Boot the computer in Safe Mode with Networking

In Windows, we can start the computer in different advanced troubleshooting modes to find and fix problems on the PC. One of such troubleshooting mode is Safe Mode with Networking. Here we start Windows with a minimal set of drivers and services, including the network drivers. Please refer to the steps in this article to boot the computer in safe mode with networking:

Windows Startup Settings (including safe mode)

After booting the computer in Safe Mode with Networking, you may download the Microsoft Safety Scanner and check if you are able to run it in the Safe Mode.

Step 2: Run Microsoft Safety Scanner and check if there are any infections on the computer.

You can download and run the Microsoft Safety Scanner from this link:

Download Microsoft Safety Scanner

Important: When running a scan using an anti-virus program, any data files that are infected may be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.