Access denied Installer 3.1

Access denied Installer 3.1

Troubleshooting windows installer 3.1   KB893803v2 setup access is denied

 I had the same problem - I Repair-ed WinXP Pro using an intergrated SP2 CD, after which Windows Installer 3.1 wouldn't install, which means you can't get any updates.

Here's how I solved the problem:
Download  windoes Installer 3.1 v2 from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=889482fc-5f56...38-b838

You can try running it, but most probably will get an "Access denied" error and it will roll back the changes. If it installs fine, then you are set and don't need to do anything more, if not, look below.

Make sure Automatic Updates are turned off, or set them to "Notify me but don't automatically download or install them."
Also make sure Windows XP  CD is not inside  CD/DVD drive.

Check in the Services app (services.msc) that Windows Installer service isn't running, stop it if needed.

Open the X:\Windows\system32\dllcache\ folder (where X: is your system drive) and delete these three files (if they exist):
msi.dll
msihnd.dll
msiexec.exe

After that, from this Symantec article
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2001112111324...?Open&a
do this:
On the Windows desktop, click Start > Run.
In the Open line, type cmd and then click OK.
At the command prompt, type the following, depending on your version of Windows, and then press Enter after each line.

cd \windows\system32
ren msi.dll msi.old
ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old
ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old
exit

(Notice that after each rename you will get a prompt from Windows that system files have been replaced, and it asks for the WinXP CD in order to restore them. Do NOT put the WinXP CD into the drive, click Cancel, then choose Yes in the other dialog box that appears.)

RESTART the computer.

Run the Windows Installer 3.1 EXE installer (downloaded in the beginning).
Follow the prompts to complete the installation, it will install fine.
Restart the computer.

You might get dialog boxes with errors about msi.dll missing.
I got such a dialog box from my anti-virus software.
Start the Command prompt (cmd) again, and rename the three files back.
Go to Windows Update. It will say it needs to install Windows Installer 3.1, and will say the installation failed, but it will actually succeed.
Do not restart the computer, click the link to Windows Update Home on the left to go back to the main Windows Update screen with the "Express" & "Custom" buttons.
Click the Express button, it should show you all post-SP2 updates (around 40-50 MBs). They should download quickly (if you are not on dial-up).
After the updates install, restart your computer.


You can now change the Auto Updates setting to the one you like.
To check if Windows Installer has been properly updated, follow this link 

http://blogs.msdn.com/windows_installer_team/archive/2005/08/05/448386.aspx 

Computer does not recognize CD/DVD drive

Computer does not recognize CD/DVD drive

1. Boot up the PC and check the BIOS setup and see if the drive is being recognized.....if not, then open it up and check the connections.
2. Go to DEVICE MANAGER and see if its listed there.....if yes, is there a symbol there? click the update driver.....(to get to device manager in WINDOWS XP....Right Click on My Computer- Properties- Hardware or click my computer, then in the left margin click view system info, click hardware, click device manager.....you should see DVD/CD-ROM drives with a plus sign next to it.....click that plus sign to see if the drive is listed, and if there is a symbol)
   
   If updating the driver doesnt work, click to uninstall the drive.....then turn off pc, and turn back on and see if it reloads the drive.....check the device manager again.
3. Still having the problem......find out what drive u have and find a firmware update on this techspots driver section.....try to update firmware. 

          How to update the firmware on any hardware in your computer
          http://www.ehow.com/how_2225435_update-firmware-any-hardware-computer.html

         If  3rd step doesn't work try what worked for my problem....

     4.   We  will open Registry-But Take backup of registry.
               1. Click Start.
               2. Click Run.
               3. In the "open" field type REGEDIT
               4. Click OK.
               5. Click "File" in the menu bar.
               6. Click "Export" from the drop down menu this will open a new box.
               7. click the down arrow beside "Save In" and select "Local Disk (c".
               8. In the File Name field type BACKUP.REG.
               9. Verify that under the ?Export Range?, that the radio button is beside "All".
            10. Click Save.
11. Click the plus sign (+) beside HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
12. Click the plus sign (+) beside System.
13. Click the plus sign (+) beside CurrentControlSet.
14. Click the plus sign (+) beside Control.
15. Click the plus sign (+) beside Class.
16. In the left hand window pane click on {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} to select that key.
17. In the right hand window pane select the UpperFilters registry key and press the delete key on the keyboard.
18. Confirm with and OK.
19. In the right hand window pane select the LowerFilters registry key and press the delete key ont he keyboard.
20. Confirm with and OK.
21. Click the "X" in the upper right hand corner of the Registry Editor window to close it.


NOTE: Don't forget to take backup of registry before you make any changes to it. This tricks really works.

MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER

MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER

This is one of my favorite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

Go to Start then Run
Type 'Regedit' then click 'Ok'
Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
Select "MenuShowDelay"
Right click and select "Modify'
Reduce the number to around "100"

This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to "0" but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood.

Resistry Shortcuts KEYS

Resistry Shortcuts KEYS

"Ctrl+F" -- Opens the Find dialog box.

"F3" -- Repeats the last search.

Browsing

"Keypad +" -- Expands the selected branch.

"Keypad -" -- Collapses the selected branch.

"Keypad *" -- Expands all the selected branch's sub keys.

"Up Arrow" -- Selects the previous key.

"Down Arrow" -- Selects the next key.

"Left Arrow" -- Collapses the selected branch if it's not collapsed; otherwise, selects the parent key.

"Right Arrow" -- Expands the selected branch if it's not already expanded; otherwise, selects the key's first sub key.

"Home" -- Selects My Computer.

"End" -- Selects the last key that's visible in the key pane.

"Page Up" -- Moves up one page in the key pane.

"Page Down" -- Moves down one page in the key pane.

"Tab" -- Moves between the key and value panes.

"F6" -- Moves between the key and value panes.

"Delete" -- Deletes the select branch or value.

"F1" -- Opens Regedit's Help.

"F2" -- Renames the selected key or value.

"F5" -- Refreshes the key and value panes.

"F10" -- Opens Regedit's menu bar.

"Shift+F10" -- Opens the shortcut menu for the selected key or value.

"Alt+F4" -- Closes Regedit.

Speed Up Browsing

When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth. Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address, the stuff that TCP/IP really deals with, not words. This is DNS information and is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time you visit the site. Although Windows XP and Windows XP have a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size. You can do this with the registry entries below:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d

Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. Then copy and paste the above into it and save it. Merge it into the registry.

.net framework initialization error

How to set hklm\software\microsoft\.NETFramework\InstallRoot to point to the .NET Framework installation location.

- Copy the text below - everything in the red window - to the clipboard:
 

Code:
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\.NETFramework]
"InstallRoot"="c:\\WINDOWS\\Microsoft.NET\\Framework\\"

- Open Notepad
- Paste the text into Notepad
- Save the file to C:\Reset.REG
- Open Windows Explorer
- In the left-hand pane, click the '+' next to 'My Computer'
- Select the C: drive
- In the right-hand pane, double-clcik the file Reset.REG
- Click 'Yes' to the 'Are you sure...' question, if it appears
- Click 'OK'

NB!
This assumes that your Windows installation is in the default location, C:\WINDOWS