ISTA+ STANDALONE (Activated) - Free Download for BMW / MINI Diagnostics 4.57.30

donholcha said:

I have 2015 - 2022 x86 and x64

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ISTAGUI.exe

• Does it say "Bad Image Format"? (This means a DLL is corrupt/wrong version).
• Does it say "Unhandled Exception"? (This is a .NET error).
• Does it say nothing and just give you a new line?

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\ISTA" -Recurse | Unblock-File

Gemini said:

Since you have the C++ runtimes installed and the paths match, we are dealing with a "silent death" of the application.

Please do this exact test. It is the only way to see the error message that is being hidden from you.

The CMD Launch Test
We need to run ISTA from the command line to force it to print the error code.

1. Open your ISTA folder where ISTAGUI.exe is located.
2. Click the address bar at the top, type cmd, and hit Enter.
3. In the black window, type:

Code:

ISTAGUI.exe

4. Hit Enter.

What happens?

• Does it say "Bad Image Format"? (This means a DLL is corrupt/wrong version).
• Does it say "Unhandled Exception"? (This is a .NET error).
• Does it say nothing and just give you a new line?

If it says nothing:
Run this PowerShell command to force-unblock every single file in the folder (sometimes unblocking just the EXE isn't enough).

1. Right-click the Start button -> Windows PowerShell (Admin).
2. Paste this command and hit Enter:

Code:

Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\ISTA" -Recurse | Unblock-File

3. Try running ISTA again.

Please report back with what the black CMD window says.

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donholcha said:

'istagui.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

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• Registry expects: C:\ISTA (This is where it looks for databases).
• Your Files are in: C:\ISTA\TesterGUI (or deeper, like TesterGUI\bin\Release).

Gemini said:

This error confirms exactly what the problem is: The file is not where Windows expects it to be.

You are opening Command Prompt in C:\ISTA, but ISTAGUI.exe is not there. It is hidden deeper inside your folders.

The Mismatch:

• Registry expects: C:\ISTA (This is where it looks for databases).
• Your Files are in: C:\ISTA\TesterGUI (or deeper, like TesterGUI\bin\Release).

Because the files are not in the root C:\ISTA folder, the program cannot find its own database files, so it crashes (or fails to start) instantly.

The Fix:

1. Open File Explorer and go to C:\ISTA\TesterGUI.
2. Keep opening folders (bin -> Release?) until you actually see the file ISTAGUI.exe.
3. Once you see the .exe file, select EVERYTHING in that folder (Ctrl+A).
4. Cut (Ctrl+X).
5. Go back to the main folder: C:\ISTA.
6. Paste (Ctrl+V).

The Goal:
When you open C:\ISTA, you must see ISTAGUI.exe right there, not inside another folder.

Once you have moved the files, try running ISTAGUI.exe (Run as Administrator) again. It should launch now.

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donholcha said:

Did not work

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cmd
    cd /d C:\ISTA

cmd
    dir

Gemini said:

If you still got the message "'istagui.exe' is not recognized", it means the file is not in C:\ISTA. It is likely still trapped inside a subfolder.

Please run these two commands exactly as written. This will tell us exactly where your files are hiding so we can fix the path.

1. Open Command Prompt.
2. Copy and paste this line and hit Enter:

Code:

cmd
    cd /d C:\ISTA

3. Copy and paste this line and hit Enter:

Code:

cmd
    dir

Copy and paste the entire list of text it generates here.

I am looking for two specific things in that list:
1. ISTAGUI.exe
2. ISTAGUI.exe.config

If you see a folder named TesterGUI in that list, stop.
It means you moved the *folder, but you didn't take the files out* of it. You need to go into TesterGUI, cut all the files, and paste them directly into C:\ISTA.

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donholcha said:

I did cut it and it's not in the folder. it is showing testergui as a directory. When I look up the ...

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dir "C:\ISTAGUI.exe" /s /b

• If it returns a path (e.g., C:\ISTA\SomeFolder\ISTAGUI.exe), that is where the file is hiding.
• If it says "File Not Found", the file is deleted. You will need to extract it from the downloaded archive (RAR/7z) again.

Gemini said:

If you cut the file, pasted it, and now it is gone (not in the source folder and not in the destination folder), your Antivirus (Windows Defender) likely deleted it immediately.

This happens very often with ISTA Standalone files because they are modified executables. Windows sees them as a "threat" and silently quarantines them.

Check Windows Defender History:

1. Click Start, type Windows Security, and open it.
2. Click Virus & threat protection.
3. Click Protection history (it might be a small link).
4. Look for a recent item labeled "Threat Blocked" or "Quarantined Item" (likely Trojan:Win32/... or similar).
5. Click the arrow next to it to see details. Does it say ISTAGUI.exe?
6. If yes: Click Actions -> Restore.

If it is not in Defender:

You may have accidentally dropped it into a different folder. Let's find it.

1. Open Command Prompt.
2. Type this command exactly and hit Enter:

Code:

dir "C:\ISTAGUI.exe" /s /b

This will search your entire C drive for that specific file.

• If it returns a path (e.g., C:\ISTA\SomeFolder\ISTAGUI.exe), that is where the file is hiding.
• If it says "File Not Found", the file is deleted. You will need to extract it from the downloaded archive (RAR/7z) again.

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donholcha said:

File not found

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Gemini said:

The file has been deleted by your Antivirus (Windows Defender). This happens instantly because ISTA Standalone uses a modified executable that Microsoft falsely identifies as a threat.

You must follow these steps in this exact order, or the file will just disappear again the moment you try to put it back.

Step 1: Create the Exclusion
You need to tell Windows "Do not look inside the C:\ISTA folder".

1. Create the folder C:\ISTA if it doesn't exist (or empty it out).
2. Go to Windows Security (Start -> type "Windows Security").
3. Click Virus & threat protection.
4. Under "Virus & threat protection settings", click Manage settings.
5. Scroll down to Exclusions and click Add or remove exclusions.
6. Click Add an exclusion -> Folder.
7. Select your C:\ISTA folder.

Step 2: Re-Extract the Files
Now that the folder is "safe", you need to get the file back from the original downloaded archive (the .7z or .rar file you downloaded from the internet).

1. Open the downloaded archive (using 7-Zip or WinRAR).
2. Extract all files directly into C:\ISTA.
3. Do not create a subfolder (like C:\ISTA\ISTA_v4...). The files must go directly into the root of C:\ISTA.

Step 3: Verify
Open C:\ISTA. You should now see ISTAGUI.exe sitting there.

Right-click ISTAGUI.exe -> Run as Administrator.

It should launch now.

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donholcha said:

doing it right now. Im this close to just letting you remote into my laptop. lol

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C:\ISTA

donholcha said:

I'll get back on this tomorrow. the extraction gives me 4 folders and 3 files.

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donholcha said:

ispsi admin client, ista, ista+4.57.30 standalone, installation file, ista,rar, ista+4.57.30 standal...

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1. Check your Exclusion: Make sure you still have C:\ISTA added to your Windows Defender Exclusions (as discussed yesterday). If you don't do this, the next step will fail because the antivirus will delete the file again.
2. Extract: Right-click on ista.rar.
3. Select Extract files... (using WinRAR or 7-Zip).
4. For the destination path, type exactly: C:\ISTA
5. Click OK.