WinXPSP2 breaking installer service

[Guest]

One person at work recently upgrade from XP Pro SP1 to SP2. Everything
appeared to load fine. Then a couple of days later, we tried installing a
typical .msi package and got the error: 'Windows Installer service could not
be accessed. This can occur if you are running in safe mode....' This
happened with any .msi that we tried to install. I downloaded the latest
windows installer (3.1 v2), installed it and it didn't fix it. Then I
noticed that Windows update didn't run, telling me that my security options
were preventing it, after I clicked on Custom. One other thing - in the
services.msc window, when I clicked on Windows Installer and then the
dependencies tab, it gave me a Win32 Access denied error. I ended up
Uninstalling SP2 and everything worked fine. Does anyone have a clue?

 

[Guest]

I hope you get an answer. I posted the same thing about 2 weeks ago, and got
0 responses. Can we be the only ones who have experienced this? Anyone have
ideas about how to get Microsoft to work with us on this?

 

[Bill Drake]

The following KB articles lead to downloads which patch the
Application-Compatibility Database and its associated DLL
files - which commonly allows updates to install that are otherwise
locked from installing properly.

Please note that the 886716 update documentation does *not*
readily implicate the installer - until you look at the filenames the
patch actually updates. Regardless, the 886716 patch updates
the application-compatibility database with a later version of
sysmain.sdb than found in 885894; along with a later version of
the acgeneral.dll - which is the master application-compatibility
DLL and is therefore highly implicated in all compatibility issues.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;885894

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/886716


Caveats:

These two fixes are *not* a magic panacea for application-install-lock
problems caused by the installation of updates over-top of existing
malware infections.

If you were already fanged by malware before you installed Windows
Installer Update 3.1 - this may not fix your problem. A full-pull reinstall
from behind a HARDWARE FIREWALL may be the only sure way to
know your system is properly updated.


In today's Internet-reality, a base-install will commonly be infected
during the opening minutes of a WXP install - before the updates are
able to close the security holes that malware writers exploit to
auto-install their stuff.

IMO, a hardware firewall is no longer a luxury but an absolute necessity.



Best I can do for now. <tm>


Bill