First of all, your use of Tune Utilities (and any other "Registry cleaners")
could be the source of ALL your problems. If you think your Registry needs
to be "cleaned" or "repaired," read http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099
and draw your own conclusions.

To resolve your predicament, either open a no-charge support incident (see
previous reply) or back-up your personal data, format your hard-drive(s) and
then do a clean install of WinXP.

NB: Since you've already installed IE7 and WinXP SP3 installed, do NOT
attempt a Repair Install!

Best of luck.


Marchie wrote:
> Addition to response - I also have Tune Utilities 2009 installed (full
> version) and this now churns on forever on the start up screen but doesn't
> get to the system status. Not sure if this is relevant, but I thought it
> better to give too much rather than too little.
>
> "Marchie" wrote:
>> Thanks for your response.
>>
>> I didn’t do the system restore with the uninstallation of IE8 in mind. At
>> the time I thought I could use restore to reset my system details to get
>> around the “access denied” error (which I ‘ve just remembered mentioned
>> System32). Clearly, a major misunderstanding on my part, and not the
>> most
>> clever decision I’ll ever make. I also used it because XP “helpfully”
>> says
>> any restore can be undone, so I thought if it doesn’t work, I‘ll undo it.
>> Clearly this is not the case either.
>>
>> I am running AVG 8.5 (fully up to date), Malwarebyte’s AM, A2 Free,
>> Spyware
>> Blaster and Online Armor firewall in addition to Defender. All except A2
>> (and AM?) would have been active as I ran the install through Windows
>> Update and it did not state the need to disable them. I have since read
>> your post from 6/25 stating not to install IE8 via Update, alas, too late
>> for me.
>>
>> I have never had McAfee or Norton installed, either trial or full.
>>
>> I do have earlier restore points available.
>>
>> Many thanks
>>
>> "PA Bear [MS MVP]" wrote:
>>> [Crossposted to IE General]
>>>
>>> May I ask why you used System Restore without first uninstalling IE8?
>>> (You should NEVER use System Restore to "undo" an installation of
>>> anything!)
>>>
>>> What anti-virus application or security suite is installed and is your
>>> subscription current? What anti-spyware applications (other than
>>> Defender)? What third-party firewall (if any)? Were any of these
>>> applications running in the background when you installed IE8?
>>>
>>> Has a Norton or McAfee application ever been installed on this machine
>>> (e.g., a free-trial version that came preinstalled when you bought it)?
>>>
>>> Just asking for now!! Do NOT use such a Restore Point yet!! => Do you
>>> have an available Restore Point which predates the install of IE8 (i.e.,
>>> one earlier than the one you used)?
>>>
>>> No-charge support for Internet Explorer 8 installation, set-up and usage
>>> (only) is available via the phone based on your locale through 31
>>> December
>>> 2009. Customers must be running Windows XP or Windows Vista in a
>>> non-domain environment.
>>> => US & CA Residents: 1-866-234-6020
>>> => Other locales:
>>> https://support.microsoft.com/oas/de...px?&prid=13043 --
>>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
>>> MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Client - since 2002
>>>
>>>
>>> Marchie wrote:
>>>> I hope I am posting this in the correct place.
>>>>
>>>> I have XP Pro SP3 installed. On 30/06/09 the Windows Update icon
>>>> stated
>>>> there were updates to install. Upon running, it was the install for
>>>> IE8,
>>>> along with some other updates including the Microsoft Malicious
>>>> Software
>>>> Removal Tool. The update ran, advised me that IE8 had been
>>>> successfully
>>>> installed and that I needed to restart the computer, which I did. And
>>>> then my woes began..
>>>>
>>>> On the restart, just before the desktop populated an error message
>>>> appeared
>>>> along the lines of "Access denied, you may not have permission". (I am
>>>> the administrator account). Unfortunately, I did not write down the
>>>> full
>>>> detail
>>>> but clicked ok. The computer continued the restart but IE would not
>>>> connect
>>>> at all – it didn’t even open.
>>>>
>>>> Realising the update had not worked successfully, I decided to try
>>>> system
>>>> restore. The most recent ones (including that morning) had Software
>>>> Distribution Service 3.0, so I selected the last System Checkpoint.
>>>> Upon
>>>> completion of the restore, a message appeared advising me there were
>>>> some
>>>> file duplications and that the following files had been renamed in
>>>> C:\Windows\System32: xmllite.dll to xmllite(2).dll and normaliz.dll to
>>>> normaliz(3).dll. Presumably this was to preserve the integrity of the
>>>> original files.
>>>>
>>>> Upon running, tried IE again. This time IE7 opened, but crashed. As the
>>>> restore did not work, I then tried to undo the restore, and this didn’t
>>>> work
>>>> either. Restore Incomplete – changes not made. Nor would using one of
>>>> the
>>>> Software Distribution 3.0 restore points. So now I could not get my
>>>> computer
>>>> back to where I started. Although I cannot get my browser to work, I
>>>> can
>>>> still access my email using Outlook which connects fine to the server.
>>>>
>>>> I am lucky that I have access to another computer, so I googled IE8 and
>>>> Software Distribution Service 3.0 and sure enough, a plethora of people
>>>> with
>>>> problems around both became evident.
>>>>
>>>> From the information reviewed, I tried the following:
>>>>
>>>> Reset Windows Security settings back to default using Fix it For Me
>>>> (article
>>>> ID 949220)
>>>>
>>>> Tried Add/Remove Programs – IE8 not showing, so tried
>>>> %windir%\IE8\spuninst\spuninst.exe in Cmd.exe (article ID 957700).
>>>>
>>>> Neither of these worked.
>>>>
>>>> I checked my event log and it stated that IE8 installed correctly, then
>>>> the
>>>> next entry was failed to reboot. In searching my files it would appear
>>>> IE8
>>>> is not there – would this be a result of the restore that I did?
>>>>
>>>> I am also perplexed that in article 949220 “Prerequisites installed by
>>>> IE8”
>>>> that the Malicious Software Removal Tool is for SP2, but I have SP3.
>>>>
>>>> So, to my question – How do I get my PC back to the position it was in
>>>> on
>>>> Tuesday morning before I allowed the Update to take place and cause
>>>> such
>>>> a big headache? I think I’ll be happy just to get IE7 running and
>>>> ditch
>>>> IE8.
>>>>
>>>> Sorry this post is so long but I hope I have given a sufficiently full
>>>> explanation to allow someone to resolve the problem.