Unable to upgrade Win-XP to Service Pack 3

Burgess · Sep 8, 2012

Hello fellow CPF'ers --

Perhaps someone here can help me.

My desktop PC is seven years old, but still serves me well.

It's a Dell Dimension 8400 3.2GHZ PC. It has 2 GB of RAM. Plenty of room on my 2 Sata HDD's.

Running Windows XP-professional. That's what it came with.

Every time i attempt to upgrade to Service Pack 3,
(using the official Microsoft website)

i get about 2/3's of the way through the process,
and then a bold Error Message stating " ACCESS DENIED " (or very similar)

Then, it goes ahead and "un-installs" everything it had just spent the past ~15 minutes loading.

This is VERY frustrating for me ! ! !

:banghead:

Want to install a new program, which INSISTS on having Service Pack 3 installed.

:hairpull::hairpull::hairpull:

Don't know WHAT to do !

:anyone:

Note: i am surprisingly Stupid when it comes to Windows.
So any suggestions you may have, please keep that point fresh in your mind.

:stupid:

:thanks:
_

CamoNinja · Sep 8, 2012

pack 2 installed ?

mvyrmnd · Sep 8, 2012

Have you run a chkdsk?

Also, from the command prompt, run "sfc /scannow ". It will check all your system file are healthy. Also, disable your antivirus.

will · Sep 8, 2012

Security issues with XP - like a non licensed version?

That is a guess....

CrazyIvan2011 · Sep 8, 2012

Sounds like some of your registry keys maybe held open or altered by some programs? I would first try what mvyrmnd said, and disable any/all antivirus softwear and try again.

If no luck, you will have to try reset the registry and file permissions. To do this follow below;

Download and then install the Subinacl.exe file. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...56-d8fe-4a91-93cf-ed6985e3927b&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...56-d8fe-4a91-93cf-ed6985e3927b&displaylang=en)
Start Notepad.
Copy and then paste the following text into Notepad. cd /d "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Resource Kits\Tools"
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CURRENT_USER /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subkeyreg HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %SystemDrive% /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
subinacl /subdirectories %windir%\*.* /grant=administrators=f /grant=system=f
secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\repair\secsetup.inf /db secsetup.sdb /verbose

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure. However, they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.
Save this Notepad file as Reset.cmd.
Double-click the Reset.cmd file to run the script.

Note This script file may take a long time to run. You must run this script as an administrator.
Install Windows XP SP3.

That should work (from microsoft support, 949377).
Hope you get it sorted!

MojaveMoon07 · Sep 8, 2012

Here's another possible cause:

Last month or so, Microsoft updated the Windows Update Center.

I had to download and install "Windows Update Agent v3.0" and follow these instructions:

Error number: 0x80240036 for windows update.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...27?msgId=9751ff52-dc81-44db-9a26-569b48a966bc

Had same problem, this worked great for me.

1. download "Windows Update Agent v3.0":
http://download.windowsupdate.com/W...one/7.4.7600.226/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe

2. open Command Prompt: type: net stop wuauserv

3. Command Prompt Type : net stop bits

4. Run windows update agent

5. Command Prompt Type: Net Start Wuauserv

6. Command Prompt Type: Net Start Bits

MojaveMoon07 · Sep 8, 2012

.
If, like me, you accidentally follow those steps out of order, then do this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144/en-us#LetMeFixItMyselfAlways

To register the Wups2.dll file in Windows, follow these steps:

(1) Stop the Automatic Updates service. To do this, follow these steps:

(1a) Open the Command Prompt window. To do this, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

(1b) At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER: net stop wuauserv

(2) Register the Wups2.dll file. To do this, follow these steps:

(2a) At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER: regsvr32 %windir%\system32\wups2.dll

Note For a computer that is running Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, type the following command, and then press ENTER:
regsvr32 %windir%\syswow64\wups2.dll

(2b) Click OK if you receive a verification message.

(3) Start the Automatic Updates service. To do this, type the following command at the command prompt, and then press ENTER: net start wuauserv

(4) Exit the Command Prompt window. To do this, type exit at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.

StarHalo · Sep 8, 2012

Owned a pair of Dell 8400s back in the day; if I still had them now, I would buy a new small capacity hard drive, clean install Windows 7 on it, and make that the boot drive (which you could have a local tech/neighborhood geek do cheaply). I'd wager it would run notably faster (and safer) running basic and crapware-free 7 than any manufacturer-installed version of XP.

Burgess · Sep 8, 2012

Thank you to Everyone for your responses and suggestions !

To answer a few of your questions:

-- Yes, i currently have Service Pack 2 installed

-- No, i really don't think it's a non-licensed version.
I got it direct from Dell Computers, and this Win-XP Prof. is what was installed on it.

-- Yes, i did run a CHKDSK (fix problems), but nothing was found.

-- I've run PC Optimizer program, which "checks out" my System.
Including the Registry. It was "happy" with the results it found.

Now, tonight, I tried (once again) to install SP3, directly from Microsoft update.

This time, i got a DIFFERENT error message !

(although it still came about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to completion)

" Service Pack 3 Setup Error

Failed to install catalog files.

Select OK to undo the changes that have been made. "

:hairpull:
_

StarHalo · Sep 8, 2012

Burgess said:
:hairpull:

Sorry to hear that, and I totally relate; I understand my answer above isn't entirely what you're looking for, but I'm looking at the problem as a time+money whole - what you're dealing with could be a failing hard drive, could be a configuration problem somewhere that will require hours of troubleshooting forum reading and doing obscure registry hacks, could require dropping off the computer at a repair place for days, etc. I prefer the solution that fixes the problem completely ASAP, even if it's a little more money, which my advice above would do - the cost of a cheap drive and a basic copy of 7, and thirty minutes later you'd have the latest/safest/fastest OS that anything will install to, done.

will · Sep 8, 2012

Are the system requirements the same for XP and Win7 ? I was under the impression that Win 7 required a larger system, more memory and faster processor. Putting it on a separate drive certainly won't hurt anything.

StarHalo · Sep 9, 2012

will said:
Are the system requirements the same for XP and Win7 ?

7 just needs 1Ghz/1GB, and will be faster at some tasks than XP (shutdown, processor-intensive work, etc.) Add in that it'd be a clean install versus Dell's crapware-laden install from many years ago, plus on a new and empty drive, and I bet that computer will be much faster than it's ever been..

Marmaduke · Sep 9, 2012

It is a maddening situation, I experienced the same thing. I tried everything to get SP3 installed, with no luck. I seem to remember the problem was one or more items in the registry had been deleted or altered in some way. I eventually gave up going gray and bald for a lost cause and wound up doing a fresh install of XP - SP3 installed with no problems during the updates after the install.

PhotonWrangler · Sep 9, 2012

If you have any third party antivirus and malware / pop-up blockers, turn them off. I ran across this once,m although I don't remember what I was trying to upgrade at the time. The "update progress" screens were being treated as pop-ups by the anti-malware software, so disabling it allowed me to proceed.

Obsessed · Sep 10, 2012

Have you tried using the standalone installer?

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24

It is designed for Network Admins to install to clients without having them all go through the Microsoft update site and steal bandwidth. A lot of times the site is just a little squirrely and gives you issues. Also, boot with everything disabled (But NOT safe mode, the windows installer agent doesn't work in safe mode). You can do this buy going to start>run>msconfig, then on boot tab, change it to a diagnostic startup with everything disabled (I don't remember the exact wording in this tab, I have been out of Professional PC repair for about two years now, and I use W7 exclusively now).

Hope that helps!

Burgess · Sep 14, 2012

Thank you, everyone (once again) for your comments and suggestions !

I have 2 SATA hard-drives installed.

-- Boot Drive, with all my Program Files

- and -

-- Data Drive, which holds my Many Thousands of digital camera photos, from the past Decade

My PC can only handle maximum of 2 SATA drives.

to StarHalo --

I would certainly consider your suggestion, but then wouldn't that mean
i'd hafta' RE-INSTALL every single one of my Windows programs ? ? ?

:eeksign:

I moved 4 years ago, and have NO IDEA where my original program installation discs are.

( Somewhere in the Basement ! )

Am i correct in assuming that " Windows programs " cannot simply be " copied " to
a new hard drive ? They must be Re-Installed -- correct ? ? ?

If so -- then this is something which I would prefer not to hafta' Do !

Cyclops942 · Sep 14, 2012

You are correct; Windows programs need to be re-installed rather than just copied, because of all the Registry entries they make/need. And you can't just copy the Registry over to the new drive, either, because it contains hardware-specific information, too.

StarHalo · Sep 14, 2012

Burgess said:
I would certainly consider your suggestion, but then wouldn't that mean
i'd hafta' RE-INSTALL every single one of my Windows programs ? ? ?

I've already taken that into consideration; you already know your programs will install just fine, and allowing maybe an hour to find all the discs and another hour or two to sit and install - that's still exponentially faster than the many hours of reading through troubleshooting forums and process-of-elimination tinkering with registry entries, or the many days of waiting for the repair shop, with absolutely no idea what the outcome will be (if it's the hard drive, none of this will have made any difference, for example.)

AnAppleSnail · Sep 14, 2012

StarHalo said:
I've already taken that into consideration; you already know your programs will install just fine, and allowing maybe an hour to find all the discs and another hour or two to sit and install - that's still exponentially faster than the many hours of reading through troubleshooting forums and process-of-elimination tinkering with registry entries, or the many days of waiting for the repair shop, with absolutely no idea what the outcome will be (if it's the hard drive, none of this will have made any difference, for example.)

I'll second this. Document backup and reinstall of everything is almost ALWAYS faster than any computer troubleshooting. A clean, barebones install reboots and installs things quickly. As long as you have external document storage, each CD and license key needed, and the networking drivers necessary, this will be a fast and painless process. Much faster than debugging, which only results in a slow, works-for-now computer.

Source: University tech support for a few years. "But I didn't DO anything to it" was the universal complaint, with plenty of contrary evidence.

Cyclops942 · Sep 14, 2012

Burgess said:
:eeksign:I moved 4 years ago, and have NO IDEA where my original program installation discs are.( Somewhere in the Basement ! )

Guys... did you catch this part? I think "maybe an hour" isn't going to cut it in this case. If Burgess's basement looks anything like mine did (back when I had one), it wouldn't even come close. However, having said that... I have to agree that IF the documents and other data are backed up and readily available, spending the time (even if it's several hours) to locate the installation discs and license keys would be time well spent. The advice about a clean installation of Windows, drivers, and programs is spot-on. And finding all the installation media and associated license keys would be time well-spent, anyway. You never know when your system hard drive will take a header.

Unable to upgrade Win-XP to Service Pack 3

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