Resolved Getting copy errors with Windows Component Wizard

It is the C:\WINDOWS\security folder that's the problem. There are 17 files in it so I don't know whether it's one or all of them.

Does this ring a bell with anyone? What's the role of the security folder and why would it prevent installation of files from the Windows CD?

 

Only difference between this and a healthy security folder I notice is the immediate files in the dir are gone.

Checksum comparison between the affected folder and one from a healthy install:



Unreadable means the file is missing.

EDIT: I added the missing files and restarted. Still copy errors. Then I replaced the secedit.sdb and... BINGO! No more copy errors.

secedit.sdb is the culprit.

I ran esentutl /p %windir%\security\database\secedit.sdb in cmd and the problem is resolved.

 

Excellent work!

Here's Microsoft's instructions.

To determine whether the Windows security database is corrupted, follow these steps:

1. Click Start > Run, type cmd and then click OK.
   
   
2. At the command prompt, type
   
   
   esentutl /g %windir%\security\database\secedit.sdb​
   
   You should receive output that resembles the following output:
   
   
   Code:

       Microsoft(R) Windows(TM) Database Utilities
       Version 5.1
       Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
   
       Initiating INTEGRITY mode...
               Database: C:\WINDOWS\security\database\secedit.sdb
         Temp. Database: TEMPINTEG1704.EDB
   
       Checking database integrity.
   
                            Scanning Status (% complete)
   
                 0    10   20   30   40   50   60   70   80   90  100
                 |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----|
                 ...................................................
   
   
       Integrity check successful.
   
       Operation completed successfully in 1.592 seconds.

   
   If the Windows security database is corrupted, the output will contain the following line:
   
   
   Code:

   This operation may find that this database is corrupt.

If the Windows security database is corrupted, follow -either- of these two steps depending on the location of the "Edb.log" and "Edb.chk" files:

1. If -both- the "Edb.log" and the "Edb.chk" file are present in the %windir%\security directory, follow these steps to repair the security database:
   
   
   • Click Start > Run, type cmd and then click OK.
     
     
   • At the command prompt, type the following command:
     
     
     esentutl /r edb /l %windir%\security /s %windir%\security​
2. If -either- or -both- of the "Edb.log" and "Edb.chk" files are missing from the C:\WINDOWS\security directory, follow these steps to repair the security database:
   
   
   • Click Start > Run, type cmd and then click OK.
     
     
   • At the command prompt, type the following command:
     
     
     esentutl /p %windir%\security\Database\secedit.sdb​
     
     
   • Click OK when you receive the following message:
     
     
     You should only run Repair on damaged or corrupted databases. Repair will not apply information in the transaction log files on the database, and may cause information to be lost. Do you wish to proceed?​

Source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/892891

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Question is though, if XP is being installed from an original Windows XP CD, how is it getting corrupted?

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Please mark your thread as 'Resolved'.

 

Yes, after I discovered secedit.sdb I looked it up and got to that microsoft support article. Before, I only had "copy error, setup cannot copy file XXXX" to work with which brought me to numerous resources which were mostly others asking the same question and turning out they had bad RAM. It wasn't stuxnet.dll that I specifically saw copy errors with but random files.

I wondered too and I still have the original corrupted file in case any with that kind of expertise desires to inspect it but my guess is some malware or incorrectly installed/uninstalled/reinstalled programs that collided with each other.

How do I mark as resolved? Nothing drops down when I press thread tools, it just brings me down to the bottom over here.

 

Like this:

 

lol... I swear no drop-down happened the first time I clicked it and now it does...

I'm really annoyed that repair install doesn't automatically fix crucial files that it should like secedit.sdb. A fresh install on the same CD produces a functional one so a repair install should fix/replace corrupted files.

Oh well, I'm glad it's solved.

 

I'll bet. It was a rather strange problem.