Error when installing Office XP on WinXP

[bubra100]

Hello . I'd like to ask a question because I can't install Office XP on WinXP ...
When I run the setup , it starts normally copying files , but at some point is shows an error message saying :
"Error 1305. Setup cannot read file C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Folders\SECMGR.DLL"
And at that point I have to quit the installation ...
On my copy of Office XP it says that prior to installation , the I.E. 6 or later must be present . And I remember back in the days that I had to take care so that I first installed I.E. 6 before I installed Office XP . So I suppose that's the problem .
However now I cannot install I.E. 6 . I still have the installation files for I.E. 6 , but when I try to install it , a message shows up saying that it cannot install I.E. 6 , because a newer version is already install (this has to do with the fact that my current WinXP is already packed with SP3 and I.E. 8 ) . So even if I try to install I.E. 6 , I cannot ...
Another thing I tried is to copy the missing DLLs from another working WinXP hard disk , but even that fails (I get another message about another DLL and I am afraid to replace so many DLLs) .
So , is there any way I can install Office XP on WinXP ?
The funny thing is that a few years ago I even managed to install Office XP on Win7 , and now I can't install it on WinXP !

 

[Mark RM]

generally that's caused by a permissions corruption error.

https://www.top-password.com/take-ownership-pro.html (freeware)

Use it to reset permissions on the c:\Program Files directory

 

[bubra100]

I gave it a try , but nothing changed ... There appears exactly the same problem .

I also tried to uninstall IE8 in order to install IE6 . I found in the internet that there are 2 methods for doing that :
1) Pick up the IE8 from the Add or Remove programs dialog box .
Unfortunately that doesn't work for me because I can't pick it up because it is not located in the list ...
2) Go : Start > Run > cmd.exe and there give the command :
%windir%\ie8\spuninst\spuninst.exe
But this also did'n work ; a message comes out saying that the path cannot be found ...

Then I found that if the IE8 was installed before SP3 (which I don't know if this is my case since my CD has both the IE8 and SP3 and don't know which came first , but still I gave it a try) one should do this :
- Uninstall SP3
- Uninstall IE8
- Reinstall SP3
However the "Windows Service Pack 3" item does not appear in the Add / Remove programs list ... Not even when I check the "Show updates" check box ...

So I am stuck ...

The only other thing that I thought but haven't yet tried is to reinstall Windows XP not from the CD with the SP3 but instead from another CD with SP2 . However it's annoying to do so when I already have a CD with SP3 ...

 

[Mark RM]

It actually sounds like your windows install is borked or you have some BIOS/drive access issues going on. IS this an XP era PC you're installing XP on?

 

[bubra100]

Yes . I already have another hard disk with actual WinXP too . That is a real hard disk on the same system .

 

[Mark RM]

I can't needing to install on SP2. I mean I used to install it on slipstreamed versions with SP3 so there's no issue there. You can try a different drive with a fresh XP.

 

[bubra100]

I have already tried installing it 3 times !

 

[Mark RM]

In that case, are you sure your installation media isn't corrupted? or that the HD is setup correctly with no cable faults or weirdness?

 

[bubra100]

I am installing on Virtual Box , not a real PC !

By the way , I managed to find another CD with WinXP Pro SP3 , this one actually having I.E.6 instead ofI.E.8 . But even in this situation I receive the same error ...
I even tried and copied the whole "Web Folders" folder , from a real/working WinXP Pro SP3 to my new installation , but still I have the same problem ...

 

[bubra100]

Now this is very strange ...
I took the time and I even tried installing WinXP Pro with SP2 from my old physical CD . But after that , when I went on to install Office XP too , I once again got the same error ! ! !
I can't understand that ! I mean I have used both my CDs (WinXP and Office XP) with which even today I have a real computer running with them , and still I cannot install them successfully today ! ...

 

[Mark RM]

You never said it was a VM . The below is one guide, there are many others that ensure compatibility with XP.

https://youtu.be/OJUwqVDSlTc

 

[bubra100]

<<It's really awful that the web page discarded all the text I wrote and now I have to write it again , but I will do that because someone else might have the same problem as me>>
Now , the deleted post again :

I tried installing many different versions of WinXP , but again I couldn't install Office XP . However it seems that the problem was not the WinXP itself .
You see luckily a friend of mine lent me his CD of Office XP and I managed to install it . The difference of his CD was that it also contained SP3 (that is the SP3 of Office XP , not the same numbered SP3 of WinXP) . I really don't know why it was not possible to install Office XP from my own CD , despite having done so in many PCs running WinXP and even Win7 . There is a difference , however , between all those PCs , and this system on which I itried installing it now : this one was running on Virtual Box , although I don't know how this could affect it . Anyway , it seems that installing Office XP with SP3 instead of Office XP with no SP solves the problem .
Still , I want to thank you Mark RM for your kind contribution .
And I'd like to ask two questions , since I am new to this forum , having posted only 2 topics , so there plenty I don't know !
(1) I saw some other topics marked as Solved , so where the option to mark this one too ?
(2) When posting a new topic , there is a check box saying "Request solutions to this Question (not a discussion)" . Does this mean that I the discussion will be a private one ? Because if so , I didn't mean to be like this and I had no problem for it to be a public one .