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Resolved Windows Installer Error Message

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by Laborous, 2008/08/02.

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  1. 2008/08/02
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    I cloned my hard drive to a new larger drive and have had a multitude of problems. Now, when I try to install a program, I get "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. If the windows installer is not correctly installed.... My problem is that Norton Ghost is not working and I can't re-install either programs. I tried the MS help process but to no avail
     
    Laborous,
    #1
  2. 2008/08/02
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Evan Omo,
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  4. 2008/08/02
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    Widows Installer

    Evan,

    Thanks but it didn't fix the problem, I get the same error message.:mad:
     
    Laborous,
    #3
  5. 2008/08/02
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Ok then. Now please follow the instructions below: :)

    1. Download and run Dial a fix from here. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4899.html
    2. Open dial a fix and clear any restrictions if the program finds any.
    3. Under Prep click the chekbox that says empty temp folders.
    4. Then Under MSI check the checkbox that says Fix Windows Installer.
    5. After those checkboxes are checked click the Go button and let Dial a fix run.
    6. After you have performed the above steps then click the hammer button which will launch the avanced tools for dial a fix.
    7. Scroll down the list and select repair permissions.
    8. After its selected click Go and let dial a fix run again. Once that is done then close dial a fix.
    9. Now click Start> All Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Command Prompt.
    10. Once command prompt is open type sfc /scannow and press enter.
    11. Allow the process to run. Once sfc /scannow is done then close command prompt and reboot the computer.
    12. After you reboot the computer try to reinstall windows installer 4.5 again.

    I also read your other post in the Internet Explorer forum and hopefully once we get windows installer fixed you will be able to reinstall Internet Explorer 7 and will be able to print webpages again. :cool:
     
    Last edited: 2008/08/02
    Evan Omo,
    #4
  6. 2008/08/03
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    Windows Installer Working

    Evan,
    Thanks so much, I was ready to use the PC as an anchor! I ran Dial-A-Fix as directed. When I tried to run sfc /scannow, a message came up that said I was missing some DLL files and it asked me to insert my Windows XP Home Edition disk. At that point, I was lost so I bacled out, shutdown and powered back up. I then was able to install IE-7 and can print again. I do have the XP Home Edition which includes Service Pack 1, but again, I don't know if I need to do anything else at this point. I am up to Sevice Pack 3 , your thoughts?

    Thanks again:)
     
    Laborous,
    #5
  7. 2008/08/03
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    You should continue with System File Checker as there are clearly some files missing, but you have a little preparation to do first. You say you have SP3 installed, but your XP CD is SP1 - you require an XP SP3 CD which you should generate in two stages - slipstream SP2 with your SP1 disk and then slipstream SP3 into that disk ....

    Slipstreaming Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Create Bootable CD

    Slipstream Windows XP Service Pack 3

    Sounds daunting, but simple enough if you follow the instructions carefully :)
     
    PeteC,
    #6
  8. 2008/08/03
    mflynn

    mflynn Inactive

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    Excellent advice and instructions Evan.

    I would add that based on his multiple problems that he do all on the first DAF screen.

    Also remember DAL will do the SFC (see page 2 bottom).

    Laborous probably good you aborted the SFC. If you are at SP3 to try using an SP1 could have caused problems if it worked.

    This is the reason you should have a Slipstream SP3 CD. So that if you need to do an SFC then you are doing it with the correct SP.

    Mike
     
    mflynn,
    #7
  9. 2008/08/03
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    No Problem Laborous. I am glad you were able to install IE7 and are now able to print webpages again. :) At this point regarding sfc /scannow just follow the instructions provided by Pete and Mike to create a bootable Windows SP3 CD.

    Mike, thanks for thanking me on my instructions to Laborous. I know that dial a fix can be a valuable tool to help fix issues people have with Windows XP and thats why I recommended it. :cool:
     
    Evan Omo,
    #8
  10. 2008/08/03
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    Cloned Hard Drive Set-up

    Evan,
    I will try the bootable cd later but I did have a question on the results of my clone attempt. When I go into Disk Management, I see the following:

    Volume Layout Type Filesys Status Capacity
    ---- Partition Basic FAT Healthy (EISA Configuration) 31MB
    F: Partition Basic NTFS Healthy (System) 298.09GB
    Local C: Partition Basic NTFS Healthy (Page file) 42.99GB

    this concerns me as I thought that I would be replacing the existing "C" with the new drive now labeled "F ". I have program files that are pointed to "C ". What did I do wrong and is it too late to correct it? Can I change "F" to "C" in this set-up without causing problems. The original OS is on "C" and the cloned one is on "F ".:eek:
     
    Laborous,
    #9
  11. 2008/08/03
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    You cant change your F drive to your C drive without first changing your C drives letter. So are you booting your computer using the F drive or the C drive? Which ever drive has windows on it and you are booting with it, then format the other drive and assign the slave drive a new drive letter. So if you are booting windows using the F drive then format the C drive and change F's drive letter to C. BTW are you using 2 seperate harddrives or did you partition your harddrive into 2 seperate drives?
     
    Last edited: 2008/08/03
    Evan Omo,
    #10
  12. 2008/08/04
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    Cloned HD set-up

    Evan,

    My new hard drive is a 360GB and it was labeled as "F" when I did the cloning. My old one is an 80GB and it is still assigned as "C ". I swapped the physical location of the "C" with the "F" after I cloned and I am booting off of the OS on the "F ". It's set up that way when I look at the boot set-up. I didn't format the "C" because I was afraid that if the clone didn't work, I would be unable to use the PC so the OS is still on "C ". This may be causing some of the instability I'm seeing. In various areas where I have never gone before, I find paths that point to the "c" drive where I thought that they should point to "F ". I am leary of formating the "c" because the PC has been very unstable since last time we conversed. I did attempt to slipstream and I was successful integrating SP-1 to SP-2. I then attempted, prior to creating a bootable cd, to intergrate SP-2 to SP-3 and received an error message. At this point, what is the safest way to proceed?
     
    Laborous,
    #11
  13. 2008/08/05
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    When you were trying to slipstream SP3 onto your Windows XP SP2 CD which step did you get stuck with? What was the error message? Did you follow the instructions exactly? If your computer seems unstable and you have files and folders that are pointing to your C drive and not your F drive then that could explain why you are having issues. Since you are using your F drive as your main boot drive what files and folders are poniting to your C drive and not your F drive? (Documents, Windows files, programs etc.) Instead of formatting your C drive have you tried just unplugging it from the cables and then seeing if your computer will boot and actually run? :confused:
     
    Evan Omo,
    #12
  14. 2008/08/09
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    I will try unpluging the C drive and try a boot-up. It points Program files to the C and the system is monitoring C, not F for Restore. When I was Slipsteaming, I first Slip from SP1 (original disk) to SP2 but did not make a cd. I then tried to Slip from SP2 to SP3 and thats when I received the error message. Should I have created a cd first and then proceeded to Slip to SP3?
     
    Laborous,
    #13
  15. 2008/08/09
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    It would be helpful if we knew what the error message was - as requested by Evan.
     
    PeteC,
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  16. 2008/08/09
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    I didn't capture the error message but I can recreate it if sliping from SP2 to SP3 can technically be done without creating a SP2 cd first.
     
    Laborous,
    #15
  17. 2008/08/10
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I am no expert on slipstreaming - it is a process I have used on 3 occasions following the release of each Service Pack, each time stepping up just one level, i.e. XP > XP SP1, XP SP1 > XP SP1 > XP SP2, ..... On each occasion bar the first a burned slipstreamed CD was used as the source.

    Re-reading the two articles I posted .....

    At which stage did you 'complete' the slipstreaming of SP2? If you stopped at the message 'Integrated install has completed successfully' the Boot Loader is not included in that compilation.

    As you will see in the article the Boot Loader is extracted separately using IsoBuster and saved to the folder to which you originally copied the XP CD.

    The remainder of the task is completed in Nero or some other burning program.

    IMO you need to burn the slipstreamed SP2 image to CD and then repeat the process to create a SP3 CD.
     
    PeteC,
    #16
  18. 2008/08/10
    Admin.

    Admin. Administrator Administrator Staff

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    No need to burn. Once you slipstreamed SP2, you slipstream SP3 after that you burn.
     
    Admin.,
    #17
  19. 2008/09/01
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    Evan et al,

    Thanks for all your help to this point. I just returned from Company business and the ComCast server was experiencing problems and no mail came thru to Outlook. When I logged on and tried to print a word document, no print spooler error message came up. Evan, I took your advice and tried disconnecting the c drive and booting with the f drive and it wouldn't boot. I removed the f drive, booted up and have not had any error messages, all is running as it was before I attempted to clone c. I think that at this point I will cut my loses, format the f drive and use it as a storage drive. Thanks again for all your help, this is an excellant forum for a beginner like myself. I may try a different cloning software when I recover from this experience, Norton Ghost didn't work for me in this case.

    Thanks again all!!!
     
    Laborous,
    #18
  20. 2008/09/01
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    No problem Laborous. Glad you got your problem figured out and I was happy to help. :)
     
    Evan Omo,
    #19
  21. 2008/09/06
    Laborous

    Laborous Inactive Thread Starter

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    Now that I have recovered from this experience, I found a small problem, I am missing some files and one program that I downloaded. Is there any way that I can plug back in the new drive (F) to recover some music and Word documents that I saved while using it?
     
    Laborous,
    #20
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