Registry Rights Weirdness

[btincher]

Not sure what cause this, but definitely a problem! I have been having problems installing programs that use .msi After doing some research, I have found that the rights in my Registry don't seem to be correct. I can look at the rights in some keys and even the Administrator / Admin Group doesn't have rights AT ALL!!

Are ALL keys supposed to be set to Full rights to administrator? If so, How do I get this back? What about for other Administrator profiles?

I am using Win XP2 Pro.

TIA!
Bob

[btincher]

I re-read this today and decided it was a little light on information!

Let's start with what keys I would need access to in order to install any program using .msi or to do Windows Updates. What keys would those be and I'll take a look at those rights?

Also, as an example:
When I go to Windows Updates, I select "Custom" and the next page says "Files required to use Windows Update are no longer registered or installed on your computer." and I choose the recommended "Register . . ." and it downloads and registers to 100% and redirects back to the original Windows Update page. I select Custom again and it repeats the above.

I have attached the portion of the WindowsUpdate.log file from the two attempts I just tried (just as in the previous example).

When I attempt to install a program that has an .msi extension, it starts normally, but then quickly gives me a Windows Installer error "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed."

I have found a couple of Installer fixes/articles in the MS KB, but they have not been helpful.

I have not been able to update Windows (for better or for worse) nor install programs. I am able to install programs that do not use the .msi extension.

Thanks again,
BT