Some Icons Blank

[MurphyMan]

This patch package could not be opened

I'm running off a backup using Seagate Backup. It's supposed to make a prefect ghost of the hard drive. It works fine except that there is always a few little bugs. The system restore doesn't work and I always have to run sr.inf to get it working. After that it's just fine.

This time another bug cropped up. All of my MS Office 2003 icons (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) are the blank generic ones and I can't go to properties, and change the icon because both the find target and change icon box is grayed out. There are other grayed out programs as well, Adobe Acrobat and PerfectDisk etc. Most others are just fine. I've rebuilt the icon cache but that didn't work. The programs run fine though, the icons are just blank.

Still another thing that may be linked to it is that when I try to remove MS Office 2003, I can't because I get this. I get the same thing trying to uninstall PefectDisk, and Acrobat...... or any of the blank icon programs.

"This patch package could not be opened. Verify that the patch package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer patch package."

I've run the the WIndows Uninstaller Cleanup Tool (Msicuu2.exe) but that didn't work either. I'm running WinXP with SP3.

I'm at my wits end trying to fix this bug. Any ideas?

 

[Bobbye]

From Microsoft:
Cause:

This behavior may occur when the following registry key is damaged:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Classes\Installer\Products\DFAD2CEE8555CA04E8C905508C8F018E

Resolution:

To resolve this issue, remove the damaged registry key, remove and reinstall Plus! for Windows XP, and then remove and reinstall Plus! for Windows XP again.

Directions to Remove the Damaged Registry Key found here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/812490
Directions to Reinstall Plus! for Windows XP right below.

 

[MurphyMan]

I removed the key above and the only thing it did was make my Outlook Spell Checker not work. I resolved the problem after installing XP Repair Pro v4.0.6. Note that I tried 3 other reg. cleaners that didn't fix this problem. Registry Healer, Amust Registry Cleaner, and RexFix. After running XP Repair Pro, I ran the WIndows Uninstaller Cleanup Tool (Msicuu2.exe) once again and then I was able to re-install Office 2003 right over the top of the previous install. All my old mail was not harmed either. Thanks guys for the help!

 

[Bobbye]

Best advice I can give you is to get rid of the Registry cleaners!

 

[MurphyMan]

In this case the registry cleaner fixed the issue. Deleting the damaged key that Microsoft link suggested only made the problem worse. The problem is now fixed.

 

[Bobbye]

I'm glad you got it worked out.

For the record:

This behavior may occur when the following registry key is damaged:

The operative word here is "may."

The link also contains this:

For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.