XP SP3 Installation Problems and Solutions

[ju.c]

During installation, setup would stop with this error message:


Copy Error

An error occurred while copying file . . .

and then again:

Setup cannot copy the file . . .


Using Process Monitor I found that update.exe had failed when trying to
copy files to

C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386

Process Monitor showed that the folder "i386" was "Path not found"

What I found when I opened

C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles

was a file named i386 with no extension. Aha! I deleted the file (8kb)
and created the i386 folder then pressed the "Retry" button on the SP3
setup window. Setup continued without further problems.


ju.c

 

[Kayman]

During installation, setup would stop with this error message:
Copy Error
An error occurred while copying file . . .
and then again:
Setup cannot copy the file . . .
Using Process Monitor I found that update.exe had failed when trying to
copy files to
C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386
Process Monitor showed that the folder "i386" was "Path not found"
What I found when I opened
C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles
was a file named i386 with no extension. Aha! I deleted the file (8kb)
and created the i386 folder then pressed the "Retry" button on the SP3
setup window. Setup continued without further problems.

XP SP3 not generally available yet, after all.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1368

Installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsxp/cc164204.aspx

 

[ANONYMOUS]

You will need to switch off your anti-virus software temporarlily. Have read
this this article:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsxp/cc164204.aspx

Hope this helps.

 

[ju.c]

You can't read?

"I deleted the file (8kb) and created the i386 folder then pressed the
"Retry" button on the SP3 setup window. Setup continued without further
problems."


ju.c

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

"I deleted the file (8kb) and created the i386 folder then pressed the

"Retry" button on the SP3 setup window. Setup continued without further
problems."

Try running the installer from Safe Mode.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[John]

Try running the installer from Safe Mode.

Why? Who's asking for advice?

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Actually, running it in a clean boot environment is probably better than
Safe Mode.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Actually, running it in a clean boot environment is probably better than

Safe Mode.

Naturally it would be yes, there are those instances where the reason
why something won't install in a normally booted environment do seem
to install fine in Safe Mode. Certainly not pragmatic in terms of the
best way to do it but it is quick and dirty and usually works.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

I am not referencing Safe Mode. I am referencing a Clean Boot Environment.
Entirely different.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353

 

[ju.c]

I, ju.c, intended this thread to attract those who had specific "SP3
Installation Problems and Solutions" as a collection of easy to find
fixes. Oh well. Thanks anyway to all posters


ju.c

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

The SP3 forum is more useful for that because forums permit pinning an
article. Most folks expect to see problems posted here unless the subject
line is very specific with something like "How I installed SP3...." Even
marking as "Comment" does not help very often.