service pack 3 ... access denied

I have been trying to install service pack 3 for xp and its gets so far and then it says access denied ... I first tried with the downloaded iso image and then I tried downloading the smaller service pack from Microsoft .... it goes right to the very end of the installation and then during the checking process both times I get access denied ... I was reading the other post about this and I have downloaded the subinacl file and have also copied and pasted the other stuff into notepad and saved it as "reset cmd " ... I have backed up my registry also .... from the other post I'm under the impression that I need to install subinacl and once that is installed then click on the "reset.cmd" ... do I need to do anything else ... could someone please list the exact steps for me ... both times when I did try to do the installation I took the computer offline, shut down windows defender and disabled my antivirus ... there is nothing else that I know of that could be running to prevent the installation ... I have spybot installed, should I uninstall that ... any help with this is greatly appreciated ... thank you

Antivirus disabled, or even uninstalled.?

Train ... I had the antivirus disabled while doing the installation .... the antivirus program I am using is CA Antivirus .... I am completely baffled as to why it gets so far then says Access Denied ... I am the only user on the computer, in fact there are no accounts set up on the computer .... I also had windows defender protection turned off and I removed it from the taskbar .... could it possibly be a problem with Spybot ... I never tried downloading the service pack through windows update since I prefer to do the service pack installations while I am offline ... I have installed the service pack on one of the other computers in the house and it went in just fine, no problems ... any and all help with this is greatly appreciated .... and just in case you are wondering, windows update is working fine, all other updates install no problem ... thankyou

I decided to try the subinacl thing on the other comp in the house just to see how it runs .... when some of the red boxes come up it shows that some files have failed ... is this normal ???? ... and on the other computer that sp3 installed on with no problems, I just noticed that I don't have windows defender installed

CA Antivirus - now I am to as I left it running when I installed SP3 without glitch.

Train .... would you suggest that I install the subinacl and run the reset command and then try the sp3 install and leave CA Antivirus running .... or should I try and do the sp3 installation through windows update .... when I did try the installation I put the CA antivirus on "snooze" which I would assume is the same as disabling it .. this whole thing has really got me puzzled .... before trying the installation I removed all the temporary internet files, ran a virus scan, and defragged the harddrive ... so at this point in time I have no idea what can be preventing the installation .... I'm thinking about uninstalling spybot to see if that might make a difference along with possibly uninstalling windows defender ... all the updates from windows have always installed with no problems .... I did run the reset command on the other computer just to see what happens with it, and there were some files that didn't repair if thats the right word, I did also notice that there were no errors ..... thankyou for your help ...

1. Disconnect from internet
2. Shut down antivirus, spybot, windows defender and any other antimalware program you might have.
3. Install subinacl.exe.and try reset.cmd again. You will notice that the "RUN" window will open and files will fly by. Then a red file will appear and stay for awhile (ignore the failed stuff). Then more fast files, another red, etc. When the entire process is done the Run Window will close by itself. The process could take 20-25 minutes.
4. Try to install SP3 again while still off the internet and with same programs closed down.
5. Before doing this you might try a free program called CCleaner to remove unnecessary registry items. http://www.ccleaner.com/.

thanks ... I will do what you have suggested and let you know how things go .. hopefully it will work .... I just have one question .... I read where it said to back up the registry ... and I want to be sure I am doing the backup of the registry right .... do I go to START, then RUN, type in REGEDIT, then click on MY COMPUTER and then go up to where it says FILE and click on EXPORT .... I never have the system restore turned on ... would turning the system restore back on do the same thing as backing up the registry ...

Do both and when you enable the system restore, manual make a restore point.

Better safe than sorry is my outlook.

thanks Train .... is the way I said in my previous post the right way to back up the registry .... by clicking on MY COMPUTER will that back up the whole registry ??? ... I've been searching online for how to do it and I want to make sure I have the WHOLE registry backed up .... and how do I make a MANUAL restore point .. will that option be there to set the date for the restore

sorry for the new post, the edit button isn't accessible .... just wanted to say thankyou to Train and TrueGreen ... the service pack is now installed .... thanks again for your help ..

1. Glad to hear you got SP3 installed. Great going.
2. As to "System Restore"--I don't use it, never had any luck with it. It is not really the same as backing up the registry, but in a sense it could do the same. You are basically restoring the computer to a previous state (and this would include the registry). I use a backup program called Acronis True Image and I back up to an external usb hard drive.
3. As to backing up you're registry. (My Computer is not involved).
START>RUN>type in "regedit">click OK. This opens the registry. Then File>export in the drop down menu>save to where it's convenient. There is also a free program called ERUNT which backs up the registry.

TrueGreen ... thanks for all your help ... as soon as I was sure that everything was running like I should I turned off that damn system restore .... leave it good old Microsoft to put out a service pack that has installation problems on some machines, I have never encountered anything like this, but at least things are working .... I'm thinking about getting rid of Spybot and just using Superantispyware and Malwarebytes .... or should I keep Spybot installed ...

Glad things are resolved and yes, MS is great, but it's what we have.
1. Malwarebytes--I'm not familiar with it.
2. Spybot--I used to use it, I don't anymore. It never found anything of significance and I believe, but am not sure, that it makes registry changes.
3. SuperAntiSpyware--Everything I've read shows that it does no harm (free version), doesn't conflict with other programs, and doesn't remove much except for harmless cookies. I had it installed, but no longer use it.
4. I'm not familiar with CA Antivirus so can't comment.
5. I have Kaspersky Internet Security Suite (KIS) on my 2 computers and that's it. It's an anti-virus and firewall. It also picks up alot of the malware all those other programs out there do.
6. One thing I would think about is getting a complete system backup program and an external usb hard drive to backup to. I use Acronis True Image 11, but there are other similiar programs. The advantage is that you can get into the Acronis program, if you need to, before you get to Windows.
Thus, if Windows crashes you are still able to restore your computer, everything, including installed programs to the point of your last backup. Having it on an external hard drive gives you access to it if Windows crashes or your computer hard drive dies. It's expensive, but for me, it's paid for itself already and is convenient because it saves you the time to bring it to someone for repair. (I'm not able or willing to reformat and re-install). I only need to get my computer repaired if the hard drive crashes.
7. Another free program I use is CCleaner. It cleans out temp files, cookies, etc. and also removes unneeded registry items. Not everyone agrees with using registry cleaners. http://www.ccleaner.com/
8. I'm not an expert, not close, so take these comments with a grain of salt.

Spybot, I dumpedusing a couple years ago. Out of date big time and was causing some folks problems.

CA Antivirus, Ok so I date clear back to the free version and am still using it.
8, 9 years now I guess.

I have used CCleaner, but leave the regs alone.

A backup program is a good idea. I use Ghost 2003, which still works fine for me.

This old thread has lots of ideas, just select whateve fills the bill for you.
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=175784

thanks again .... I have been using CCleaner for quite some time .... I found out about the registry changes that Spybot makes when I installed the newest version of AVG and it listed all these things that spybot had immunized me against .... spybot hasn't caused me any problems, but I think I just might go ahead with my plans to get rid of it ... I now have superantispyware installed, along with malwarebytes ... I have an external harddrive so I will look into getting some type of backup program .... thanks again for all the help ....

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