Vista x86 SP1 Home Premium fails when trying to install Vista SP2 Standalone - Error 0x800f0823 - Lots of helpful details

Question：Greetings,

I am trying to install the SP2 update. For a long time I had trouble installing updates, a lot of them always kep failing for no obvious reason. However, I ran the Vista Update Readiness Tool and was able to install at least 23 updates that were stuck because of previously failing ones and the latest update Windows Update is saying I need is the Service Pack 2 (SP2). I downloaded the standalone version form my Vista Home Premium x86 version and tried to install and it appears like this:

It then fails and gives me the following screen:

So the error code given is 0x800f0823 for the failure of the installation of SP2.

The %SYSTEMDIR%/WindowsUpdate.log gives this as the error message:

: Uninitializing Automatic Updates  ###########

2009-07-03 15:42:39:467 1168 bc0 Service *********

2009-07-03 15:42:39:467 1168 bc0 Service **  END  **  Service: Service exit [Exit code = 0x240001]

2009-07-03 15:42:39:468 1168 bc0 Service *************

Anyway, I looked up this error message and in a post it suggested I run the following command in the terminal:

sfc /scannow 

And it said that there were some corrupted files and I needed to reboot.

Here is a link to the CBS log after the first sfc scan: http://www2.ryankaskel.com/misc/logs/CBS1.log

I ran the scan again and here is the reuslt:

C:\Users\ryan>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.

Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

I retry the standalone Vista SP2 installation and it fails with the same error message.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Ryan Kaskel

Answer 1：Is there anything else I can provide to make better solve this problem?

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Ryan Kaskel RyanKaskel.com Internet Consulting http://www.ryankaskel.com/ http://consulting.ryankaskel.com/

Answer 2：

 

Hi Ryan Kaskel,

Thank you for visiting Microsoft Windows Vista Forums.

 

Thank you for all the information. I appreciate it.

Please try the following steps to install Service Pack 2 successfully.

Step 1: Rename the SoftwareDistribution and Catroot2 folders. The purpose of renaming these folders is to avoid the old updates downloaded information. These folders will be automatically created when we visit the Windows Updates site.

          1.     Click Start, type services.msc and hit enter.

     2.     From the list of services, right click and stop the following services: Windows Update, Cryptographic Service, Background Intelligent Transfer Service.

     3.     Click Start, type %windir% and hit enter.

     4.     Rename the SoftwareDistribution folder as OLDSD.

     5.     Open System32 folder and rename the Catroot2 folder. If fails, then try to rename it in safe mode.

     6.     From the list of services, right click and start the following services: Windows Update, Cryptographic Service, Background Intelligent Transfer Service..

Step 2: Put the computer in clean boot i.e. disable all the non Microsoft services. The purpose of disabling all the non Microsoft services is to avoid the interruption of these services during the installation of the service pack.
      1. Follow Step 1: Perform a clean boot in the article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

 

Step 3: Open the SP 2 standalone package and install it.
             Restart the computer once SP 2 is installed.

 

Step 4: Enable all the non Microsoft services.

1.      Click Start, type msconfig and hit enter.

2.      Under General tab, select "Normal Startup" option and then click ok.

3.      Restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

 

NOTE: If the SP installation fails in the clean boot, then you may try to install the SP in safe mode.

 

Let me know if this worked.

All the best!

Thanks and Regards:
Syed V - Microsoft Support.

 

Answer 3：I have EXACTLY the same problem as described above, tried all the suggested actions including safe mode, getting the same result each time with same error code!

Help!

Regards, Steve