[willie4]

I have tried several times to install XP SP3 on my DELL Inspiron 6000, XP SP2 and get and “Access Denied” error. I understand that this occurs if one or more registry keys are restricted so that the software cannot alter them. I have retired installing SP3 after disabling both Zone Alarm and AVG antivirus programs w/o success. (do they need to be uninstalled?) I also understand that there is a way to reset registry and file permissions, but I am afraid that this would be beyond my comfort level.

From the installation log, the first major logged failure is:
846.266: PruneCatalogsFromHotfixes:RegQueryValueEx Failed: 0x2 --- does this have any meaning.

So far, these attempts have not changed the computers functionality, however, I am not able to make the restore function work.

Can you help me to complete this installation? What are the consequences of not installing SP3?

[Rollin' Rog]

See if the suggestions here are helpful >>

http://support.microsoft.com/default...t=windowsxpsp2

Or you might just want to give this a run (it has a "fixit" which parallels "method 2" in the above article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313222

[willie4]

Thanks for your response, but it looks like I would have to get into the registry and I am not sure that I can handle that. Your second suggestion seems to relate to security settings. How is that related to denial of access?

[akueden]

Try the site below
http://www.windowsupdatesdownloader.com/
and see if it's of any use to you. I tried it after when faced with the problem of MS Updates not working. After I've downloaded the XP SP3 and installed all the files manually my automatic updates still didn't work and I resorted to the MS Solution Center and installed MicrosoftFixit50199.msi and MicrosoftFixit50203.msi. Everything is in tip top condition now.

[Rollin' Rog]

A "denial of access" message is a Security configuration issue.

Try the "fix it" in "method 2"

If you are uncomfortable with that -- you are going to have to forget about SP3.

If that doesn't fix it then you have to go the route of manually identifying and deleting certain registry keys using the registry editor.

I can help you with that, but won't go there unless the "fix-it" fails and you feel capable of following procedures that are at-least "intermediate" in experience level.

[akueden]

Wille4, here's the link to MS Fix It. Scroll to almost the bottom of the page "You are not offered the option to install Windows XP Service Pack 3 when you use Windows Update or Automatic Updates"

http://support.microsoft.com/fixit#tab2

[Rollin' Rog]

akueden I don't think that really addresses his problem -- since he is not having problems with Windows Update itself -- but with the actual install.

In any case he can probably get along just fine without SP3 if he chooses -- it's mostly just hotfixes since SP2 -- and those can be installed individually.

[philtivvy]

Hi
This is exactly the problem I had. Complete removal of all firewalls and antivirus did not help. I suspect that remnants of one of these, probably Zonealarm, which remain after removal of the program held its grip on the file where "Access is denied"
I received a lot of advice through these pages but was still unable to load SP3. My solution was to reinstall Windows AFTER removing all the traces of security programs that I could find and reinstall them after the update.
I cannot begin to imagine what causes the problem for I had several computers with exactly the same things on them and only one exhibited this problem.
CAVEAT: the description "senior member" refers solely to my age and not to my inadequate knowledge of computers.
Best of luck
regards
phil

[willie4]

Thanks for all the input. I will try to digest it. BTW, I have a desk top computer in the same wireless network that accepted SP 3 w/o a problem. It also was running Zone Alarm and AVG Pro at the time and neither was disabled at the time of installation. ???

[willie4]

Thanks for all the input. I contacted M.S. and they told me that a tech person would call me with in 4 hours. I waited 4 hours on a beautiful MN day and no one called. Turns out the lady for India did not know what she was talking about. I called again and found out that M.S. would have to charge me since I bought my operating system thru Dell and they would not accept responsibility for any problems with it.

Anyway, it seems to me that the risk of messing with the registry in my now well-functioning laptop may be more that the risk of not installing SP3. What do you think? Can I get by w/o installing SP3 and still keep my computer secure and operating in the future?

[boo5790]

Willie, your computer can function ok without service pack 3. Read the second paragraph in post # 7. That should answer your question.