Windows Installer 3.1 (Error code 0x80070005)

Having completed a repair to my Windows XP (Home Edition) SP2, all my
previous updates have been overidden. Fine I thought, I'll reinstall them ..
it'll take a while but it'll be worth it. And boy has it taken a while ....

.... not to reinstall everything, but just to try and overcome not being able
to install Windows Installer 3.1. It downloads but has so far failed to
install 15 times, with error code 0x80070005. I've searched hundreds of posts
on here over a range of dates through 2004-2006. With all sorts of solutions
suggested from editing the registry, WGA reinstalls and on and on ... none of
which work for me.

Is there no single, definitive, diagnostic tool from Microsoft to run and
get a clear idea of what is wrong and action to fix it?

After so much searching I found the answer posted elsewhere. It worked a
treat and I'm now able to start adding all the security updates etc.

Here is the fix .... it requires 2 files - secedit.chm and secedit.exe. Copy
them to the machine with the problem, open a command prompt from that folder
(where the files are) and run this command:

secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\repair\secsetup.inf /db secsetup.sdb
/verbose /areas REGKEYS
(must be entered on one line)

This will reset all your registry key permissions back to default.

Without rebooting re-run the Windows Installer 3.1 from either Windows
Update or the Redistributable version.

As with all things Microsoft you'll need a little luck on your side, but
this fix worked fine for me. Thanks to Naki, who posted the fix details.

After much searching I've found a fix which works for me. Thanks to Naki for
posting the details. As with all things Microsoft you'll need a whole lotta
luck on your side, but I hope it works for you. I'm back to catching up with
all the security updates etc.

You'll need to get two files and copy them to your pc. Search the net for
them and download secedit.chm and secedit.exe. From the folder you copy them
to, open a command prompt and type:

secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\repair\secsetup.inf /db secsetup.sdb
/verbose /areas REGKEYS
(must be entered on one line)

This will reset all your registry key permissions back to default. Without
rebooting re-run the installer 3.1 setup and away you go (hopefully)!