XP SP3 access denied - tried MS fixes already

Hi, I have one older computer running XP Home SP2 and tried to install SP3 on it this weekend. The installation failed (access denied), so I looked at Microsoft and found the KB article for changing registry permissions. The fix program came up with several keys that could not be accessed (HKLM/Security/Policy/Secrets/SAI and SAC). There was another one under HKLM/Software/Microsoft/WindowsNT/Current Version but I did not see any more details. I am wondering if anyone knows what program actually installs these keys, and what I can do to get SP3 installed (short of a complete rebuild of the hard drive). This machine is not located where I am, so I have to do a PCAnywhere session to do anything on it for the next few months.
Thanks for any ideas anyone can offer on this perplexing problem!
Jman9

 

HKLM/Security is generally inaccessible to users other than SYSTEM. It's the registry hive where passwords and the like are stored, including internal passwords that you really don't want to change. It doesn't surprise me that you're finding it inaccessible.

I'm willing to bet your security context is different because you're connecting remotely, and you simply won't be able to update it through PC Anywhere. You might have better luck with RDP and the /console (or /admin) switches for mstsc.exe.

Beyond using command line switches to apply the service pack and reboot and then making it run locally through something like Task Scheduler, I can't think of anything that would work well. I don't even know if Task Scheduler would.

You'll have better luck making a temporary administrator on the account and instructing them what to do, and then removing the account after the procedure is completed.

 

Hi chicken,
Thanks for the ideas. I have looked at a bunch of other machines that have loaded SP3 successfully, and they all appear to have the same keys under HKLM/Security/.../SAI and SAC that can't be accessed (even if I set the permissions to allow administrator accounts to open them). So, I am guessing that it's the third key that is causing the problem. I suspect I can access regedit and try to fix these problems over PCAnywhere if I log in as an admin, but I guess I will have to try it. One problem I have with this machine is limited access to the system disks, since I did not build it and the XP license was moved from an older machine that was being upgraded.
I had the access problems and SP3 update problem even when sitting in front of the machine, logged in as admin, even on a special admin account that I set up in case the main user account became unusable (which has happened). However, most of the other machines are running XP Pro, not Home. I guess I will have to do some more investigations and maybe check with Microsoft directly :-( Wonder how well that one will go ...
Any other ideas would be appreciated! Thanks for reading this far.
Jman