XP SP3 failed install: failed registry update to cure Access Is De

I tried various preparations for installing Service Pack 3 in XP Professional
and failed installation in all attempts, receiving the error message "Access
is denied" and "Service Pack installation did not complete." I referred to
Article ID: 949377 "When you try to install Windows XP Service Pack 3, you
receive the error message "Access is denied" or "Service Pack installation
did not complete" and tried all of the methods, including the most advanced:
"Reset the registry and the file permissions." When SP3 installation failed
after trying to update the registry, I confirmed, running
%windir%\svcpack.log, that the registry update failed. The log results in
part stated the following:

6296.891: PruneCatalogsFromHotfixes:RegQueryValueEx Failed: 0x2
6296.891: Num Ticks for Copying files : 3029329
6334.625: DoRegistryUpdates:UpdSpInstallFromInfSection Failed for
ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install error: 0x5
6334.625: INF_REGISTRY Failed
6334.625: DoInstallationoRegistryUpdates failed
6341.703: Unregistration of sprecovr successful
6341.703: Access is denied.
23496.781: Message displayed to the user: Access is denied.
23496.781: User Input: OK
23496.797: Service Pack 3 installation did not complete.


At this point Microsoft gives up. Do any of you have any ideas for
proceeding?

Thanks, Paul







http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377/en-us

 

At this point Microsoft gives up

Did you open a free support incident* and MS Tech Support gave up?

Did you try Advanced Troubleshooting Method 1 in
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377?

Did you try
http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/reset-the-registry-and-the-file-permissions-in-windows-xp/
??

* Free unlimited installation and compatibility support is available for
Windows XP, but only for Service Pack 3 (SP3) and *only until* 14 Apr-09.
Go to http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=1173 | select
"Windows XP" then select "Windows XP Service Pack 3"

 

Thanks very much PA Bear. I'll try your suggestions.

 

I further searched MS Discussion Groups and successfully installed XP SP3 in
XP Safe Mode. The installation was so straight forward that it should be an
additional method in the Article ID: 949377 "When you try to install Windows
XP Service Pack 3, you receive the error message "Access is denied." In
fact, when receiving this specific error message, I would recommend the Safe
Mode installation before attempting to update the registry in Normal mode.
Incidently, while not necessary to install SP3, I also uninstalled IE7 before
installation of SP3 and then reinstalled IE7 afterwards (see
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/05/05/ie-and-xpsp3.aspx)

 

If SP3 installed in Safe Mode, one suspects that one or more third-party
security applications (which are disabled in Safe Mode) had been interfering
and causing the "Access denied" errors in normal (Windows) mode (cf,
KB949377). I would strongly recommend finding out what the application(s)
was and how you can avoid such problems in future.

Now, have you checked in at Windows Update since you installed SP3 and
gotten the machine fully patched?