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Topic: XP SP3 error |
Leroy Riggs
From:
Looney Tunes, R.I.P.
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Posted 28 Sep 2008 3:27 pm |
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During loading of SP3, it errors out with a message that it can't backup the registry. It continues with 'Access Denied" and the only alternative is to abort the download.
What is happening here? What should I try? |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 28 Sep 2008 8:08 pm
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First of all you didn't state if you are logged in as an Administrator. Upgrading to SP3 must be done from a full Administrator level account, not a Limited or Power User account.
If your logged-in account has "Computer Administrator" privileges already, you will have to "take possession" of the H_K_L_M and H_K_Users branches of your Windows Registry, then install XP SP3. In fact, all four branches should be under your logged in identity with "full control," to upgrade your OS.
To do this right click on the aforementioned master key names, then choose "Permissions." Find your user name in the list of users and make sure that when highlighted it shows "full control." If you lack full control in this user account - log out and into one with full admin privileges.
What happened?
You tried to upgrade the OS, which writes new data to the machine-wide portions of the Registry. For reasons unknown, your identity does not possess full control over all branches of the Registry, thus, you got a 403 Access Denied message. An Administrator account should have complete control over all portions of the Registry, in order to upgrade the OS and major components. Something happened that removed that level of permission from a branch of the Registry required to be writable in order to upgrade the service pack level. I have had to do the same thing with some upgrades to SP2.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Leroy Riggs
From:
Looney Tunes, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Sep 2008 7:11 am
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My wife and I have full permissions on everything. That doesn't seem to be the problem.
But while I was messing around, I find I have only 601 MB of memory left. Do you know the min of free memory to download this large update?
BTW, it didn't error out over memory. Would it have specified that memory was the problem if that was indeed the problem?
Thx in advance. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 29 Sep 2008 7:05 pm
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The access denied message can occur on a file level, a folder level, or a Registry level. In my experience, the Windows Registry is an overlooked location where a lot of access denied issues arise. The reason can be that the owner of an important branch of the Registry has been assigned to System, when it needs to go to Administrators Group, or Administrator. That's why I mentioned taking ownership of the system-wide branches of the Registry.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 30 Sep 2008 2:13 am
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In some cases, even tho you have Administrator Priviledges in your user account, if you log on using the Administrator account it will allow you to do some tasks that you can't do with a user account.
The amount of RAM memory has no relation to a download, as that is written to the hard drive.
But if the 601 MB you reference is actually free space on the hard drive that is different and you are in trouble. |
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Leroy Riggs
From:
Looney Tunes, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Sep 2008 6:56 am
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Jack, the 601 reference is HD free space.
This is my wife's computer and I have been threatening to buy her a new one --this one is several years old now.
This might be the catalyst for me to do so. I'm getting tired of working on it. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 30 Sep 2008 7:07 am
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I can second what Jack said about sometimes needing to log into the account named "Administrator." I recently ran into a permission denied issue when I was trying to edit a Registry key under H_K_L_M. I was using an account assigned to the "Administrator's Group." I was not allowed to change the permissions of the key value in question because it was "Owned" by System. However, after logging out to a classic login box, instead of the Welcome Screen, I was able to login as "Administrator" and from that account I was allowed to Take Ownership and edit the Registry.
This is pretty advanced stuff, but is available if needed.
Also, the options to take ownership may not be present in XP Home Edition. They are definitely there in XP Pro and Media Edition.
Finally, if you have trouble upgrading with the file you mentioned there is a second way to get to XP SP3. This involves downloading the setup file to a new folder on your hard drive, copying the contents of your original XP CD to another new folder, then using a special command in the Run box to merge the two together. The last step is burning the merged contents onto a bootable CD. I used Nero to make the bootable data disk and it worked flawlessly on three XP SP2 computers.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Leroy Riggs
From:
Looney Tunes, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Sep 2008 8:56 am
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| Are you guys talking about a special account called "Administrator"? I don't have an account called administrator now--just administrator authority on both of my regular logins. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 30 Sep 2008 10:47 am
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| Leroy Riggs wrote: |
| Are you guys talking about a special account called "Administrator"? I don't have an account called administrator now--just administrator authority on both of my regular logins. |
Yessir!
Windows XP normally hides the true Administrator account from the Welcome Screen in normal mode, but displays it in Safe Mode. While you can easily access it by rebooting into Safe Mode (F8), you can also access it via the Classic Windows Logon box. Here's how.
To temporarily use the classic logon screen, press CTRL+ALT+DEL two times on the Welcome logon screen. When the logon box appears type the user name: "Administrator" and then type in any password you have assigned to that account. If you have not created a password for Administrator, leave the password field blank and press Enter, to logon.
To configure Windows XP to use the classic logon and shutdown screens for every logon session, follow these steps:
- Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
- Double-click User Accounts.
- Click Change the way users log on or off.
- Clear the Use the Welcome screen check box.
Note If you turn off the Welcome logon screen, you also turn off the Fast User Switching option.
The true Administrator account is usually able to achieve results sometimes denied to members of the "Administrator's Group." This is especially true when you need to reclaim full control that is assigned to "System."
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Leroy Riggs
From:
Looney Tunes, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Sep 2008 11:58 am
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Thanks, Wiz. I will be back at the house later today and I'll see if I can hose things up.  |
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