Windows XP SP3 & Windows Installer woes

I upgraded my sister's PC with a new motherboard, processor and hard drive
(SATA). I was able to use Western Digital’s tools to transfer files from the
old IDE to the new SATA. I ran into a slight snag and had to call &
reactivate Windows (twice) after the new motherboard & drivers were
installed. After Windows was happy, I applied all patches which included SP3.

PROBLEM: Office and Adobe icons have converted to the default icon. When I
try to use one of these applications, Windows Installer (version 3.1) pops up
and tries to install. Any attempt to install or uninstall results in an
error message saying "This patch package could not be opened. Verify that the
patch package exists and that you can access it...."

I’ve found and run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/295823 ) many times with no luck. I’ve also
explored all the options discussed in this forum
with no success. Out of total desperation I also purchased a registry
cleaner program and ran it – still no success.

I'm beginning to suspect Windows XP SP3 and might be the reason the Cleanup
Utility no longer works. I have not uninstalled Windows Installer &
reinstalled because I'm thoroughly intimidated by the long list of
applications affected.

Does anyone have any other ideas on what to try? I'm at the end of my
wits.....

Getting WDC utility to copy xp was a feat in itself,xp doesnt usually work
with
oem drive utilities,only with older windows OS...Either way,the utility got
you
this far,however like the usual maybe only 97%,try either booting to xp cd,
repair this copy,or,reinstall old hd,use the file transfer wizard,set as
old pc,save
data to new folder,then transfer to cd,run FTW from xp cd.Also,installer is
at
version v4.5,earlier versions may not work with SP3.Also,after the FTW is
saved,reinstall SATA,do a new install of xp.

Yikes.....re-do everything? I guess I don't understand why the file transfer
process could have caused the problem with Windows Installer. The programs
(Word, Excel, etc.) will run. They just launch Windows Installer the first
time you use them and you have to cancel the install & click ok on the error
message.

You are right about getting WDC to copy.....and adding to the difficulty was
a limitation with the motherboard where I could not have the old hard drive
and CD connected AT THE SAME TIME on the one-and-only IDE cable. I'm not
looking forward to trying that again!

My original XP CD is for XP pre service pack 1. I've already had a very bad
experience on another system trying to use the original XP CD to repair an XP
system with SP3. I'm waiting on Vista to arrive in the mail in the hopes it
will recover the failed attempt......so, I'm thinking Windows Repair is no
longer an option with the original install CD.......?????????

[tk_ramesh_008]

This is an old thread, but i thought id respond since it comes up in google searches.

-I would never use any of the "free" hard drive transfer utilities or windows file and transfer "wizard". I always use the tried and true imaging application Norton Ghost, which usually works perfectly and fast for backups, duplications, and transfers. Only downside is you have to buy it. If you look online you can find legit oem versions for very low prices. I bought my copy of version 9 for about $20 about four years ago and it still works great even tho i believe Norton is up to version 14 or something. Well worth the money, and you know Ghost and the ghost format has always been around and probably always will be.

-This is why it makes the most sense to always keep the system data and user data separate. I usually create one or more separate partitions for user data and settings (most apps allow you to choose where you wish to store user data and settings), or store it on an external hard drive. Then it is a simple matter to reload the operating system partitions while not touching the user partitions. For some reason this "old school" practice is not widespread, even though it makes the most sense, and storage is far cheaper than it used to be.

-I believe xp sp3 loads by default with Windows Installer version 3.1v2. First step is to determine what version of Windows Installer is on the system by locating the msi.dll file in the system32 directory and rightclicking it to find out the version. If it is in the version 3.xxx, then you can upgrade to the newest version which is 4.xxx. I'm not certain, but I would think that all new versions should be backward compatible with apps made with previous installers, or at least there should be hotfixes, patches or workarounds to get them to work (do a google search, there are several tricks), I would think, since it wouldn't make sense otherwise, but this is Microsoft afterall, so who knows.

-Don't use the original xp install cd. You need to create a new xp install cd, slipstreamed with sp3, using the files from the original cd + the sp3 update package. There are a few more steps involved if your original xp cd is not sp1 or later. Search online for how to do this. It is relatively simple to do if you have basic tech skills, and no risk, just always keep your original xp cd safe and always try out the first install on a test system or system you can afford to lose, or one you have backed up (again I always make ghost image backups before doing anything like this, so if it screws up it's easy to reload a few files or the entire image).

Hey, no problem. I can always use the xtra help.

I tried installing SP3 from safe mode, as administrator, and it failed.
I tried running a thorough virus scan and it did not find anything, not even
the worm.

So, I am still stuck on what to do. There was one more solution. I will try
that the next time I see my friend. (It's her pc, so my post might take a
little while.)

Thanks again, guys!