Installs Fail

Issue similar to other postings but includes attempt to install anything.
Scenario - XP OS was trashed with virus and had to thoroughly clean drive and
resintall the OS. Ran several virus checkers and Malware products and
everything came back clean. OS reinstall went well and when connecting with
IE7, updates to my SP2 install were delivered and applied (including SP3).
Other installs also went without problems. Attempting to reinstall Office
Pro 2007 failed as I had an upgrade version and no prior disk to use. MS
Tech assisted in downloading a replacement verison on Sat. 9/6, installed it
and all products appear to be working normally. The Tech had a few problems
and resolved them to complete the install, but since then I can not install
anything - Windows related or otherwise. In every case I get the message
Install Failed or something similar.
I have attempted to resintall the Windows Live Suite, 16 updates that
Windows Update downloaded on Sunday and the software for my HP 2605 laser and
2410 all-in-one printers. In every case, message is returned that the
install failed. System in question is a Dell Dimension running Windows XP
SP3.

hammsbear wrote:
> Issue similar to other postings but includes attempt to install
> anything. Scenario - XP OS was trashed with virus and had to
> thoroughly clean drive and resintall the OS. Ran several virus
> checkers and Malware products and everything came back clean. OS
> reinstall went well and when connecting with IE7, updates to my SP2
> install were delivered and applied (including SP3). Other installs
> also went without problems. Attempting to reinstall Office Pro
> 2007 failed as I had an upgrade version and no prior disk to use.
> MS Tech assisted in downloading a replacement verison on Sat. 9/6,
> installed it and all products appear to be working normally. The
> Tech had a few problems and resolved them to complete the install,
> but since then I can not install anything - Windows related or
> otherwise. In every case I get the message Install Failed or
> something similar. I have attempted to resintall the Windows Live
> Suite, 16 updates that Windows Update downloaded on Sunday and the
> software for my HP 2605 laser and 2410 all-in-one printers. In
> every case, message is returned that the install failed. System in
> question is a Dell Dimension running Windows XP SP3.

In a case like that i probably would have done a complete clean install.

However...

Just try the following solution for the updates not installing - making one
minor adjustment. Do method 1 and then do method 2 except when it tells you
to download the latest update agent and gives you the link - go here instead
(this is the real 'latest update agent'):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237

As many will tell you - ignore the title and symptoms listed in the article
referred to. Do method 1 and 2 and see if it fixes your issue whether or
not you repaired anything.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144
Try method 1 and 2 and try to update*.

*try to update:
- Visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
- If it asks you to install anything before you see a selection of "Custom"
or "Express" - do so.
- Once you see the "Custom" or "Express" selection, choose "Custom".
- Scan for updates.
- When it lists what it finds - install the critical ones.
- You are generally safe doing the Optional Software Updates. I suggest
avoiding the Optional Hardware Updates completely.

Reboot and then download and install:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Reboot and let us know.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Thanks for the information. Worked perfectly. Everything that failed prior
to following this procedure was successfully installed today except the HP
software and that is unrealted as it doesn't appear to use MSI. The key was
the SP3. The upgrade was applied to XP after the Office installs and that's
why everything worked prior to that. Thanks for the quick and helpful
response.

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> hammsbear wrote:
> > Issue similar to other postings but includes attempt to install
> > anything. Scenario - XP OS was trashed with virus and had to
> > thoroughly clean drive and resintall the OS. Ran several virus
> > checkers and Malware products and everything came back clean. OS
> > reinstall went well and when connecting with IE7, updates to my SP2
> > install were delivered and applied (including SP3). Other installs
> > also went without problems. Attempting to reinstall Office Pro
> > 2007 failed as I had an upgrade version and no prior disk to use.
> > MS Tech assisted in downloading a replacement verison on Sat. 9/6,
> > installed it and all products appear to be working normally. The
> > Tech had a few problems and resolved them to complete the install,
> > but since then I can not install anything - Windows related or
> > otherwise. In every case I get the message Install Failed or
> > something similar. I have attempted to resintall the Windows Live
> > Suite, 16 updates that Windows Update downloaded on Sunday and the
> > software for my HP 2605 laser and 2410 all-in-one printers. In
> > every case, message is returned that the install failed. System in
> > question is a Dell Dimension running Windows XP SP3.
>
> In a case like that i probably would have done a complete clean install.
>
> However...
>
> Just try the following solution for the updates not installing - making one
> minor adjustment. Do method 1 and then do method 2 except when it tells you
> to download the latest update agent and gives you the link - go here instead
> (this is the real 'latest update agent'):
> http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
>
> As many will tell you - ignore the title and symptoms listed in the article
> referred to. Do method 1 and 2 and see if it fixes your issue whether or
> not you repaired anything.
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144
> Try method 1 and 2 and try to update*.
>
> *try to update:
> - Visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
> - If it asks you to install anything before you see a selection of "Custom"
> or "Express" - do so.
> - Once you see the "Custom" or "Express" selection, choose "Custom".
> - Scan for updates.
> - When it lists what it finds - install the critical ones.
> - You are generally safe doing the Optional Software Updates. I suggest
> avoiding the Optional Hardware Updates completely.
>
> Reboot and then download and install:
> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
>
> Reboot and let us know.
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>