Program Installation Problems on a Windows XP Computer

One user reported a problem with a .NET application on a Windows XP computer. The .NET application ran fine when the user first tried it. However, it stopped working after a while. At first, I thought that it was directly related to the .NET framework installation. I then tried to reinstall the .NET framework. The installation did not run properly. There was no error message or event log indicating any potential programs. The installation process just got stuck.

The same problem occurred when I tried to update the machine with patches. None of the patches ran. The problem was not just the .NET framework; it seemed like I could not install any programs or patches.

A Microsoft KB article indicates that the problem is probably caused by some of the conditions:

• Log file or database corruption exists in the %Systemroot%\System32\Catroot2 folder.
• Cryptographic Services is set to disabled.
• Other Windows files are corrupted or missing.
• The timestamp signature or certificate could not be verified or is malformed.
• The hidden attribute is set for the %Windir% folder or one of its subfolders.
• The Unsigned non-driver installation behavior Group Policy setting (Windows 2000 only) is set to Do not allow installation or Warn but allow installation, or the Policy binary value is not set to 0 in the following registry key:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Non-Driver Signing
• The Enable trusted publisher lockdown Group Policy setting is turned on, and you do not have the appropriate certificate in your Trusted Publishers certificate store. This Group Policy setting is located under User Configuration, under Windows Settings, under Internet Explorer Maintenance, under Security, under Authenticode Settings in the Group Policy MMC snap-in.
• You are installing Internet Explorer 6 SP1, and the 823559 (MS03-023) security update is installed. For more information about this issue, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  828031 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828031/ ) “The software you are installing has not passed Windows Logo testing…” error message when you try to install Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1
• The software distribution folder is corrupted.

The article also offers 11 methods to mitigate the problem. Fortunately, my problem was solved when I tried the method #1. Here is the link to the KB article.

Microsoft KB 822798: You cannot install some updates or programs