setup failed…the remote precedure call

I just installed WinXP Prof on a newly formatted drive on a Sony Vaio 1.8 P4. Everything seems fine except on some programs (2 so far) during setup, the install program stalls and pops the following error:
“An error occurred while launching the setup. The remote procedure call failed.”
If I then restart in safe mode, I can install the program normally. Restart normally and then the installed program works fine. I have searched high and low for clues, to no avail.
This is lastest version of XP Prof with SP1 already included. Any ideas appreciated.
Jeff K.