.NET & Windows Installer Problems in Win2K

I am need of help with a Windows Installer problem and a .NET Framework error that prevents me from installing or uninstalling programs. I think the two problems are related and it has me in a catch-22 situation. I have tried to reinstall both applications, but in one case the process fails and in the other it makes no difference. What I would like to do is remove both applications from my computer and reinstall them.

Some background on what took place prior to encountering these problems. First, my desktop system is an older computer running Windows 2000 Pro on a Soyo 478 slot MoBo. With a 3.2Ghz Pentium 4 CPU and 2Gb memory and a 120Gb SATA hdd.

Last December the power went out and knocked out my LCD monitor (I was out of town). When I got home I noticed that the built in NIC no longer worked, so I installed a NIC in one of the PCI slots.

I intended to upgrade the system to Windows XP, however working late one night I accidentally installed XP as an additional OS on the same drive (I know, never make changes when you are tired). Both OSs appeared to be working, but the next day a researched how to remove XP from my computer.

Over several days I backed up all my files and the WINNT directory. While copying some files the system locked and would not boot. It didn’t even get past the POST. I determined the MoBo was bad and got a replacement -- not a Soyo as they went out of business.

After getting the computer back together the system still would not boot and would stop with the BSOD. Eventually, I was able to repair my OS and get the system to boot. That is when I began getting the following error when the system recognized the HP printer plugged into the USB port and tried to install drivers.

"Please set registry key HKLM\Software\Microsft\.NETFramework\InstallRoot to point to the .NET Framework install location​

I looked in my registry and cannot find a branch under .NETFramework called InstallRoot.

I tried running Windows Update, but it would not run due to the version of I.E (6) that I had. Maybe it would not run because MS no longer supports Win2k.

I tried reinstalling .NET 2.0, but the install fails to complete -- without an explanation of why. Just tells me there was an error and a message will be sent to Microsoft, if I so choose.

It was when I tried to uninstall .NET using the Add/Remove Programs feature that I encountered the error message, “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. Contact your support personnel for assistance.”

I have manually unregistered and re-registered MSIExec. I followed the procedures described at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315346. I have run Dial-A-Fix. I have tried various register cleaners and other steps that I can no longer remember, all to no avail. If I run MSIExec it shows that I am running version 3.01. If I go to the MCC screen and try to start Windows Installer I get a message saying, “Could not start the Windows Installer service on Local Computer. Error 1077: No attempts to start the service have been made since the last boot.”

Even tried upgrading the OS to XP, but the installation fails after rebooting to complete the install. I get a message saying Windows cannot complete the install while running in Safe Mode (I wonder if this is related to my Windows Installer problem?).

Regardless of what is in the boot.ini and even if I tell the system to boot normally, it seems to go into Safe Mode while loading Windows XP to complete the upgrade.

I apologize for being long winded, but I don’t want to leave out anything that may be pertinent. Does anyone out there have any ideas, suggestions or solutions to remedy my problems, short of reformatting, installing XP and re-installing all of my programs?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.