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Clarifications

You should be aware that AFTER you install Service Pack 2, there still remains some 125MB of updates to bring your system to current update status.

It surprised me just last week.

Have you installed all the 125MB of other updates yet?

Firstly if you are sure that you have a corrupt, damaged or missing .dll file these are fairly readily available for free download from the net, I have used dll.com and got myself out of trouble several times.
The problem you describe also seems to indicate that you might need to be a system administrator to run certain applications, I would suggest you try to right click the .exe file and select "run as" and select administrator and put the admin password in if you have one.
Also it might be the case that the windows installer is not installed, you should make sure that you have all your microsoft updates installed, if automatic updates are not functioning properly you could try downloading dial-a-fix from softpedia.com I have found this to be excellent at repairing many faults.
Hope that was a help good luck

Thanks for the reply. I don't think that dll file was the problem. Though I did have the old Msi.dll file in a couple places, replacing it did not correct my install issues. The problem first occurred 6 to 9 months ago with the previous XP pro install. I'm thinking a windows security update triggered it. I may start over clean with a new install of XP, then try to load all my applications before the SP2 patch. At least my new(new to me) computer is faster than my first one. I will still follow this thread for more suggestions.

Create another User Account with Administrative privelages and see if that will let you install. That wat we will see if it is a corrupt user account.

a system restore at this point will achieve anything. The 1619 is the MSI installer error message reference information. It means that the user has insufficient privelages to install. If you are logged on with administrative privelages and you are getting this message it could be that the profile that you are using may be corrupt.
As I previously suggested create another account with Administrative Privelages and try installing something again. To create a user account go to Control Panel User Accounts. Make sure that the user has Administrative privelages. Resart the PC and log on as that user.
Let us know the result.

You said: [i]"the path Documents and Settings contains an invalid character" followed by a 2707 internal error[/i]

According to Microsoft, error 2707 means:

[b]Target paths not created. No path exists for entry [2] in Directory table.[/b]

So that, combined with the error saying "the path Documents and Settings contains an invalid character", I think your problem is self explanitory. Either the directory structure on the hard drive is corrupt, or you've somehow disabled the long file name feature.

The following article says it's for Office 2000 and Windows 2000, but the instructions on where the registry key is located remains the same for XP. If either Win31FileSystem or NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation entries are set to some value other than 0 (zero), you'll get the error you've mentioned.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325069

[i][b]IMPORTANT[/b]: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. [/i]

Glad to help. That's why we're here.

You asked: [i]Any explanation on how you knew this applied to those two reg keys would be welcome.[/i]

I didn't, until you posted the "Where to Start" thread mentioning the error code you were getting. Had you mentioned that at first, we could have helped faster. But, the answer was simple, once I knew what to look for. I went to Microsoft and searched on the error code 2707. The instructions on how to fix the problem were listed there.

Often, we overlook the obvious when searching for answers to our problems. The error code was being generated by a Microsoft product. Where better to search for a solution than the manufacturer's web site? Of course, knowing your way around the web site helps. I use their help and support features ALL the time. ;)

That's really great news to hear. I was obviously working on the first error message. It just goes to show how easy it is to be misled when trying to solve computer problems. But I admit I am addicted and enjoy trying to help others solve PC problems. Note "PC problems" not matrimonial, health or the like.

There are some very clever people here at TR and I really enjoy associating with them.
I would also like to thank ThumbsUp2. Now I can concentrate on the job I have lined up for tomorrow and looking forward to it. I do volunteer work for a non profit organisation and I will be rebuilding the win2k3 server.

Hi Fishe1,

Thank you for the very nice Private Message (PM). :) If you don't mind, I'll reply here so everyone can see it.

In that PM, you mentioned that you had seen the article that eventually fixed the problem while searching on your own before you posted here and saw that it was for Win2K, so you passed over it. Then, you asked how I knew it would apply to your situation. You also mentioned that you're relatively new to WinXP.

As you grow to know WinXP, you'll see that it's built upon WinNT/Win2K technology. Many things are almost exactly the same. Sometimes the path to where you fix the problem is different, but the end result is the same. VERY often, answers found at Microsoft will not specifically say that they also apply to WinXP because they (Microsoft) has had no reason to update the articles since the problem hasn't cropped up, YET, in WinXP. So, when I saw the article, I looked at my own system to see if the same registry keys were indeed present. They were in exactly the same place. And, my own settings were set to zero (0), so it was a logical conclusion that the registry keys worked the same way as they do in Win2K. If present, they should be set to zero (0).

And, to be honest, my post was a shot in the dark based on intuition after you showed us what error message you were getting, since nothing else we had tried seemed to be working. In your PM, you indicated that you're a machinist/industrial mechanic and enjoy working on machines, but you're still learning how WinXP works. Don't be afraid to use your trade skills while learning about how WinXP works and fixing problems. Your intuition is a valuable tool. When fixing an industrial machine, your knowledge/skills will lead you to a logical conclusion about what is at the heart of a problem. Apply that same skill set while learning about WinXP and don't be afraid to look into the heart of the "beast" to see what makes it tick! It's nothing more than a machine that needs oiling once in a while. ;)