Access denied error installing XP SP2 RTM

[Jeff Bean]

I downloaded the RTM version of SP2 for Windows XP using my MSDN account
today, but it failed to install on my XP Pro SP1 system.

The tail end of the svcpack.log file contains these lines:

647.266: Copied file:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\3\fxsapi.dll
647.344: Copied file:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\3\ep9res.dll
656.125: PruneCatalogsFromHotfixes:RegQueryValueEx Failed: 0x2
658.703: Num Ticks for Copying files : 384343
659.891: DoRegistryUpdates:SetupInstallFromInfSection Failed for
ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install error: 0x5
659.891: INF_REGISTRY Failed
659.891: DoInstallationoRegistryUpdates failed
666.125: Unregistration of sprecovr successful
666.125: Access is denied.
727.578: Message displayed to the user: Access is denied.
727.578: User Input: OK
727.578: Service Pack 2 installation did not complete.

Select 'OK' to undo the changes that have been made.
731.172: Message displayed to the user: Service Pack 2 installation did
not complete.

Select 'OK' to undo the changes that have been made.
731.172: User Input: OK
731.188: Starting process:
C:\WINDOWS\$NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst\spuninst.exe /~ -u -z
1029.828: Software Update Rollback has completed with return code 0xbc2.
This rollback requires a reboot.
1029.828: Service Pack 2 installation did not complete.

I tried this twice. The second time I shut down all non-Microsoft
processes and services, but the results were the same.

Anybody got any ideas on what to try next?

Jeff Bean
CWC Software
Email address is: jeff at cwcsoftware.com

 

[Guest]

You are seeing a registry Permissions error.

I'm not sure what permission you have set to refuse a system change, but you
can see what I mean in regedt32.exe. Highlight a Key, and click the Edit
menu, and Permissions

Mark L. Ferguson MVP email must have QZ somewhere in the subject, or will be
automatically deleted
I chat in the Expert Zone:
http://communities2.microsoft.com/home/chatroom.aspx?siteid=34000077

 

[Jeff Bean]

Thanks for the reply Mark. I figured it was something in the registry
but since the log gives me no clue as to which area of the registry to
look in, I have thrown in the towel, reformatted the disk, and
reinstalled beginning with the original Windows XP CD. The SP2
installation was uneventful when applied to the virgin XP installation
instead of my two year old installation.

Jeff Bean
CWC Software

 

[Mark In AZ]

I have run into exactly the same issue. My svcpack.log file looks
(and ends) the same way.

 

[Guest]

So how am I supposed to find out what registry key causes the trouble? Cause
I have this problem too, getting the "access denied" error with the german
SP2 installer. Does Microsoft expect me to check 172.000 registry keys for
permissions?

I am NOT going to reinstall windows just because Microsoft can't create a
working installer. An error message saying "access denied" is by no means
sufficient to solve a problem! Why doesn't the log file state which registry
key reguses access?

I really don't know what to do. One is totallyabandoned by Microsoft.

 

[Guest]

I got it! These pages are helpful:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=834647
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=243996
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/install/setupapi.mspx


it's about win2000, but who cares, it also works for winxp.

it basically tells you where to look. NOT in the svcpack.log, but in the
%SystemRoot%\setupapi.log , where the verbose stuff resides.

my problem was that I removed the permissions for the key
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User
Agent\Post Platform\

because every single idiot thinks he must write something in there.

of course winxp sp2 installer tried to write there and of course it failed:

----------------------

#E008 Setting registry value
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User
Agent\Post Platform\SV1
#E033 Error 5: Zugriff verweigert
#E065 Parsing AddReg section [Product.Add.Reg] in
"c:\9c6ed80747d3abf52519734ef4\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Zugriff verweigert
#E064 Parsing install section [ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install]
in "c:\9c6ed80747d3abf52519734ef4\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Zugriff verweigert

----------------------

now I think it will work, after I've given that key all permissions.

So to summarise: if you get an "access denied" -

DoRegistryUpdates:SetupInstallFromInfSection Failed for IE5Section: 0x5

error in svcpack.log, open setupapi.log and find the specific regkey that
cause the trouble.

How to enable verbose gui install is described on the MS pages (see the
above links)

 

[Joe]

I got it! These pages are helpful:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=834647
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=243996
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/install/setupapi.mspx


now I think it will work, after I've given that key all permissions.

So to summarise: if you get an "access denied" -

DoRegistryUpdates:SetupInstallFromInfSection Failed for IE5Section: 0x5

error in svcpack.log, open setupapi.log and find the specific regkey that
cause the trouble.

How to enable verbose gui install is described on the MS pages (see the
above links)

So how am I supposed to find out what registry key causes the trouble? Cause
I have this problem too, getting the "access denied" error with the german
SP2 installer. Does Microsoft expect me to check 172.000 registry keys for
permissions?

I am NOT going to reinstall windows just because Microsoft can't create a
working installer. An error message saying "access denied" is by no means
sufficient to solve a problem! Why doesn't the log file state which registry
key reguses access?

I really don't know what to do. One is totallyabandoned by Microsoft.

So to summarize, Richard altered his setup, forgot what he did, then
blamed MS for not being able to "create a working installer" . Did
Richard try to use the Security and Configuration tool to reset his
permisions to out of the box parameters using the MS supplied
template? No, Richard did not.

 

[Jeff Bean]

So to summarize, Richard altered his setup, forgot what he did, then
blamed MS for not being able to "create a working installer" . Did
Richard try to use the Security and Configuration tool to reset his
permisions to out of the box parameters using the MS supplied
template? No, Richard did not.

That seems a bit harsh. Richard did in fact dig deep enough to find
another log file which pointed him to the appropriate area of the
registry, which is more than I did. I suspect that my problem was
caused because my machine had been a member of two different domains
during its life. I suspect that there were entries in the registry from
the old domain which could not be accessed when logged on to the new
domain. I can't use Richard's hints to verify this, since I have
reformatted and reinstalled Windows.

I had never heard of the "Security and Configuration tool" until you
mentioned it, but it sounds like it would have been helpful in this
situation.

I think Richard's (and my) main complaint is that a simple "Access
denied" error from the service pack installer is not very helpful. Some
more information as to the nature of the problem and a pointer as to how
to fix it would be in order.

Jeff Bean
CWC Software

 

[Osho GG]

So to summarize, Richard altered his setup, forgot what he did, then
blamed MS for not being able to "create a working installer" . Did
Richard try to use the Security and Configuration tool to reset his
permisions to out of the box parameters using the MS supplied
template? No, Richard did not.

I had this exact same problem. And thanks to Richard's informative
post, I could finally install SP2. In my case, I had to repeat the
installation of SP2 many many times and each time it would exit with
Access denied. Each time, I would have to look into the log file to
discover another registry setting for which I needed to fix the
permission. They were all in HKRC, btw. The fact that each such time
takes about an hour (partial installation and deinstallation of SP2
did take that much time on 1.4GHz Pentium-M). I had to manually just
set the permission at HKRC level to get around this.

I don't think that it is right for the user to have to switch the
settings to the default ones just to install the service pack. What is
the user expected to do after the service pack installation? Manually
change each and every registry settings back to what they were?

If the user has Administrative privileges or the logged in account is
Administrator then installation should have an option to override the
permissions settings in the registry for critical things such as
service packs. If the user is interested in installing the service
pack, he/she won't mind overriding a few registry entries.

The bottom line is that SP installations should work for both the
standard default settings and the non-standard ones. By the way, in my
case the non-standard settings were not done by me but it was as they
were when I received my laptop from DELL and the OS was already
installed by DELL. The only thing I have done to the OS since then is
to install all their recommended updates from Windows Update. Nothing
else.

Osho

 

[Guest]

So to summarize, Richard altered his setup, forgot what he did, then
Now let me tell you something about installers, buddy. You probably can't
even imagine what utter stupidy I've witnessed throughout the years in
connection with installers.

There are installers, that create directories on harddisk that are in
violation of windows standards (empty space at the end of the name).

There are installers that persistently search your harddisk for a photoshop
installation, while you are trying to install a plugin for corel photopaint
and don't even have photoshop installed. they even search mounted linux ext3
partitions, it takes hours and they eat the entire cpu, only to tell you that
they couldn't find photoshop.

There are installers that refuse to install, because they believe that they
have to uninstall the previous installation of the programme, which is often
not possible, because msp files in %systemroot%\installer are missing or
because previous installation didn't complete successfully. Then one has to
search the entire registry for the traces of the previous install and remove
it, otherwise the new version won't install. Installshield installers are the
WORST on earth!

I could go on and on. But it's not the installers' fault, of course, but
that of programmers who create them. In this particular case I indeed have
forgotten that I changed the permissions,so what? Do you really expect me to
remember what I did a year ago? I perform changes on my system every single
day. Maybe I should keep a diary of all changes I' ve made in the past 3
years and if some installer quits with a cryptic error message change all
settings back?

And about the the Security and Configuration tool -well, thanx for
mentioning it, cause that's exactly my point - remember Bill Gates saying
that his goal is to create a system which could be used even by laymen. Well,
then how comes even the greatest expert has problems using windows? That's
because of the cryptic error messages one gets every day. And this installer
is the perfect example. Why didn't the error message state "Access denied -
download the Security and Configuration tool and reset permissions". Or
"Access denied - see Microsoft Knowledge Database Nr. xxx"? No, it just says
"Access denied".

And then what? You sit down and start to google. Now go to google.com and
try for yourself. Tell me whether you would be able to find a solution
yourself? What would you type into the google search box?

"Access denied" "windows xp sp2 installation" ?

Guess what, I did search for that, didn't find anything useful. I stumbled
over the solution to this problem by accident, I was searching for info on
how to set registry permissions and accidentally found the pages I posted in
my post above. I was lucky, but the only one I should be thankful is the
Fortuna goddess, not Bill Gates.

And btw, before I found the solution I was already suspecting that the
problem was somehow connected to permissions in the registry, so I started
changing permissions and guess what, totally phucked my windows installation!
Next time I tried to login I got the error message "not enough permissions".
I couldn't even login to change permissions! Thank God I backup the
%systemroot%\system32\config folder (where the winxp registry is located) on
regular basis, so I logged into win98, loaded an ntfs driver and overwrote
the security registry file by the backup.

So see, I am no newbie and so in the end I was able to rescue my winxp
installation and install the sp2 pack successfully, but firstly, not
everybody is so experienced, so imagine how many people had to reinstall
windows just because of the cryptic error messages, and second, I've lost too
much time and too many nerves to stay calm so excuse me if I am angry about
Microsoft, but if you think that it was my fault, because the installer isn't
able to ignore one single unimportant registry change and to continue with
the installation, then believe whatever you wanna believe. But imho
installers should be more intelligent in the 21st century. and if Microsoft
isn't able to create such installers then it should simply give us the files
in a zip archive and tell us where to copy them and what registry values to
change, then at least I'd have known right away which value in the registry
is unchangeable.

Exactly.

Exactly. Over an hour for each try! I lost over 15 hours, and this Joe-guy
above has the cheek to tell me it's my fault! Just because MS is too lazy to
write some detailed error messages. They probably think everybody out there
has a standard windows installation with the same drivers and same registry.
Windows is not a playstation console!

that's what I've been saying all along. MS must be nuts - Gates probably
thinks we remember every single change we've done to windowsXP since we
installed it. And even if it were the case, I wouldn't change every single
setting back just to find the one that causes the trouble. Would take 2 days
to change everything back I've changed through the years

Ah, here I actually disagree. Permissions are important, cause many
programmes write crap into the registry or change default windows registry
values in a way I don't want to. Then I simply change permissions and these
programmes cannot change those registry keys any longer. But just because an
installer can't change a registry value it shouldn't quit right away. How
about ignoring this value change and continue with the installation?

 

[Osho GG]

Ah, here I actually disagree. Permissions are important, cause many
programmes write crap into the registry or change default windows registry
values in a way I don't want to. Then I simply change permissions and these
programmes cannot change those registry keys any longer. But just because an
installer can't change a registry value it shouldn't quit right away. How
about ignoring this value change and continue with the installation?

I didn't say that the installer should just overwrite the user's
settings in the windows registry. I said that there should be an
*option* to do so. If the user selects yes for that option, then the
installer should overwrite. If the user says no, the installer should
not write anything in the registry and continue and not crash. In last
case, the installer should be smart enough to analyze what setting the
user has given for that particular registry entry and whether the
system will work with that setting (it is imaginable that with changes
as big as service packs - some old settings may not work - even though
this is very undesirable; it is certainly possible).

Basically, do something sensible but not crash with meaningless error.

cheers,
Osho

 

[Mike]

Hi Richard,

I came across a discussion between you and someone on the Microsoft
Support page, where you were helping them with determining the exact
source of the "Access is Denied" error. I'm experiencing the same
error through the same set of circumstances. I have spoken with the
Microsoft SP2 support folks 3 times, but don't seem to be getting too
far. I know all my administrative privledges are set correct, so I'm
thinking it's something to do with one or more specific registry keys.
I used the information from your discussion (where it seemed to work
for the person you were helping) to make some changes and attempted my
6th install, but still getting same "Access is Denied" error, however
the error log contents seem to be a little different now.

I took the advise you gave him and checked in the setupapi.log as well
as the svcpack.log. The Microsoft SP2 support folks have only had me
looking in the svcpack.log.

I captured a snapshot of the setupapi.log right after the error
message appeared on screen and have included it below, starting a
couple of lines above the error to the bottom of the log, at that
point. I don't see anything in here that seems to tell me anything as
far as checking certain Reg keys and was wondering if maybe you could
give me your evaluation in case I'm missing anything.

Thanks for your help Richard.

- Mike Anderson
(e-mail address removed)

#E197 Writing "C:\WINDOWS\INF\msnmsn.inf" to "C:\WINDOWS\INF" is not
an
approved method of installing INF files. Use a 'CopyINF' entry
instead.
#E197 Writing "C:\WINDOWS\INF\msmsgs.inf" to "C:\WINDOWS\INF" is not
an
approved method of installing INF files. Use a 'CopyINF' entry
instead.
#-007 Deleting registry key HKCR\vnd.ms.radio
#E033 Error 5: Access is denied.
#E065 Parsing DelReg section [Product.Del.Reg] in
"d:\82ed3562bf37df5a26c131\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Access is denied.
#E064 Parsing install section
[ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install] in
"d:\82ed3562bf37df5a26c131\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Access is denied.
#-007 Deleting registry key HKCR\vnd.ms.radio
#E033 Error 5: Access is denied.
#E065 Parsing DelReg section [Product.Del.Reg] in
"d:\82ed3562bf37df5a26c131\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Access is denied.
#E064 Parsing install section
[ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install] in
"d:\82ed3562bf37df5a26c131\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Access is denied.



Original message I reviewed --|
v

I got it! These pages are helpful:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=834647
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=243996
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/driver/install/setupapi.mspx


it's about win2000, but who cares, it also works for winxp.

it basically tells you where to look. NOT in the svcpack.log, but in the
%SystemRoot%\setupapi.log , where the verbose stuff resides.

my problem was that I removed the permissions for the key
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User
Agent\Post Platform\

because every single idiot thinks he must write something in there.

of course winxp sp2 installer tried to write there and of course it failed:

----------------------

#E008 Setting registry value
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User
Agent\Post Platform\SV1
#E033 Error 5: Zugriff verweigert
#E065 Parsing AddReg section [Product.Add.Reg] in
"c:\9c6ed80747d3abf52519734ef4\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Zugriff verweigert
#E064 Parsing install section [ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install]
in "c:\9c6ed80747d3abf52519734ef4\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Zugriff verweigert

----------------------

now I think it will work, after I've given that key all permissions.

So to summarise: if you get an "access denied" -

DoRegistryUpdates:SetupInstallFromInfSection Failed for IE5Section: 0x5

error in svcpack.log, open setupapi.log and find the specific regkey that
cause the trouble.

How to enable verbose gui install is described on the MS pages (see the
above links)

 

[Torgeir Bakken \(MVP\)]

Hi

It looks like you have a permission problem on the registry key
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\vnd.ms.radio

Try the method I describe in this link to reset permissions
http://groups.google.com/[email protected]
substituting ".AudioCD" with "vnd.ms.radio".


Please post back your results


Regards,
torgeir

Hi Richard,

I came across a discussion between you and someone on the Microsoft
Support page, where you were helping them with determining the exact
source of the "Access is Denied" error. I'm experiencing the same
error through the same set of circumstances. I have spoken with the
Microsoft SP2 support folks 3 times, but don't seem to be getting too
far. I know all my administrative privledges are set correct, so I'm
thinking it's something to do with one or more specific registry keys.
I used the information from your discussion (where it seemed to work
for the person you were helping) to make some changes and attempted my
6th install, but still getting same "Access is Denied" error, however
the error log contents seem to be a little different now.

I took the advise you gave him and checked in the setupapi.log as well
as the svcpack.log. The Microsoft SP2 support folks have only had me
looking in the svcpack.log.

I captured a snapshot of the setupapi.log right after the error
message appeared on screen and have included it below, starting a
couple of lines above the error to the bottom of the log, at that
point. I don't see anything in here that seems to tell me anything as
far as checking certain Reg keys and was wondering if maybe you could
give me your evaluation in case I'm missing anything.

Thanks for your help Richard.

- Mike Anderson
(e-mail address removed)

#E197 Writing "C:\WINDOWS\INF\msnmsn.inf" to "C:\WINDOWS\INF" is not
an
approved method of installing INF files. Use a 'CopyINF' entry
instead.
#E197 Writing "C:\WINDOWS\INF\msmsgs.inf" to "C:\WINDOWS\INF" is not
an
approved method of installing INF files. Use a 'CopyINF' entry
instead.
#-007 Deleting registry key HKCR\vnd.ms.radio
#E033 Error 5: Access is denied.
#E065 Parsing DelReg section [Product.Del.Reg] in
"d:\82ed3562bf37df5a26c131\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Access is denied.
#E064 Parsing install section
[ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install] in
"d:\82ed3562bf37df5a26c131\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Access is denied.
#-007 Deleting registry key HKCR\vnd.ms.radio
#E033 Error 5: Access is denied.
#E065 Parsing DelReg section [Product.Del.Reg] in
"d:\82ed3562bf37df5a26c131\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Access is denied.
#E064 Parsing install section
[ProductInstall.GlobalRegistryChanges.Install] in
"d:\82ed3562bf37df5a26c131\i386\update\update.inf" failed. Error 5:
Access is denied.