H2 Posts

This is a collection of helpful Newsgroup posts from MS people.

See also H2 FAQ for H2 related issues.

From: "Mark Brandjord" <markbran@m...>

Subject: [MSHelp2] Error: Help services locked

Yahoo Group: <MSHelp2@yahoogroups.com>

Date: 2004-8-6

>I've been using h2reg for quite a while, and am now getting the

>following error when trying to register or unregister a namespace:

>MS Help 2.x services have been locked by another process. If this

>error persists restart Windows to release the lock.

>I've tried restarting my machine several times. I've also tried to

>unregister and re-register the namespace several times to no avail.

>I get the same error when trying to unregister my namespace or any

>other namespace using FAR.

>I can still open up VS .NET and view the installed help just fine.

>I'm assuming my system is in some sort of weird state. Does anyone

>have any ideas of how I can fix this?

>

>Thanks,

>Earl Seugling

In <MSHelp2@yahoogroups.com>, "Mark Brandjord" <markbran@m...> wrote:

It sound like you started a help installation that has not completed, for one reason or another.

Check for the presence of the file: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users{.Windows}\Application Data\Microsoft Help\Rgstrtn.lck

If that file is on the system, it prevents another help install process from running until the one that is currently running completes.

Rebooting the system should clear that file.

If the file is still there after reboot, you can manually delete the file to clear the lock; however this means that one of help systems you installed recently did not complete its installation correctly. When the lock file is created, a directory in the Microsoft Help folder is also created to back up the HxN/HxL files that get changed during a transaction. On Commit, this folder is thrown away, on Revert/Rollback, the backups are restored. The name of this folder is the GUID representing the product key that created the transaction.

I hope that this helps.

Mark Brandjord

From: Derek \(MS\) (Derekn@online.microsoft.com)

Subject: Re: Core SDK installation problem

Newsgroups: microsoft.public.platformsdk.sdk_install

Date: 2002-12-12 15:08:31 PST

"Jon Titchener" <jtitchen@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:071201c2a146$809e8410$89f82ecf@TK2MSFTNGXA01... > Hi, > > I'm trying to install the core SDK, the common files are > downloaded and then when it tries to download the core SDK > I get the following errors. > > 1603: A windows installation error has occurred > 512: Installation failed with one or more errors. Please > correct errors and try again. > > I'm running Windows NT with SP6 > Any help would be gratefully appreciated. > > Thanks.

Jon, there can be various causes of 1603 error msi documentation says: 1603 The file [2][3] is being held in use by the following process: Name: [4], Id: [5], Window Title: '[6]'. We have run into the following issues occasionally: Error 1603 If you receive a 1603 error from the Windows Installer (InstMSI.exe) and are installing on Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0, restart your system and log on with an account that is a member of the local administrators group. Error 1603 If you receive a 1603 error from the Windows Installer and your %TEMP% directory is encrypted, you must decrypt the directory to successfully install the SDK. Error 1603 If you receive a 1603 error from the Windows Installer after having cancelled an install. A file rgstrtn.lck (its a hidden file in a hidden directory) is created and install will not be allowed until the file has been deleted or the machine rebooted also have heard about some virus scanning engines locking files while scanning, this could also cause the 1603 error -- Cheers, Derek [MS-SDK] -Please do not send email directly to this alias. This alias is for newsgroup purposes only -This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

From: Felix Wang (v-felwa@online.microsoft.com)

Subject: Re: VS Dot Net 2003 Enterprise Architect Install error 1603

Newsgroups: microsoft.public.vsnet.setup

Date: 2004-04-19 00:33:31 PST

Hi John, I am sorry to hear the problem still exist. I have already done some research on the log you have posted. However, I am not very clear about the logs. There seem to be 2 separate errors here: IHxRegisterSession::CreateTransaction() returned 8004036e. BeginTransaction() ERROR: Attempt failed because another transaction was running. Trying to Rollback current transaction ({E05F0409-0E9A-48A1-AC04-E35E3033604A}) IHxRegisterSession::ContinueTransaction() returned 80004005. BeginTransaction() ERROR: Could not restart current transaction. BeginTransaction() ERROR: Could not Rollback current transaction. HelpFile registration will abort. Registration session {E05F0409-0E9A-48A1-AC04-E35E3033604A} was *not* created.Action ended 19:18:41: InstallFinalize. Return value 3. and ***ERRORLOG EVENT*** : ISetupComponent::Pre/Post/Install() failed in ISetupManager::InstallManagerHelper()[03/15/04,16:36:06] setup.exe: ***ERRORLOG EVENT*** : Component error string not specified in ISetupManager::AddToActionResultCollection() As a result, I thought reading the MSI log directly might be necessary. I have another suggestion. Please look for the file "*.lck" (e.g. "Rgstrtn.lck") on your machine. The file is likely a hidden file and under the following folders: %appdata%\Microsoft Help or %temp% or \Documents and Settings\All Users{.Windows}\Application Data\Microsoft Help If we can locate the file, please copy it to another folder for backup and remove it. Also, please see if ANY directories exist under "%APPDATA%\Microsoft Help" or "\Documents and Settings\All Users{.Windows}\Application Data\Microsoft Help", they need to be moved to another directory, a rename to another name will not work. Please give it a try and see whether this helps or not. Regards, Felix Wang Microsoft Online Partner Support Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties and confers no rights.

From: "Will Buffington [MS 414076]" (willbu@online.com)

Subject: RE: Unable to install VS.NET Architect and MSDN July 2002

Newsgroups: microsoft.public.vsnet.setup

Date: 2002-08-23 17:39:24 PST

Michael, I apologize for not responding sooner. These MSDN July 2002 issues are really putting our debugging skills to their limits. For the error you mentioned here, I got this out of the log: MSI (s) (C8:34): Creating MSIHANDLE (7135) of type 790536 for thread 1844 IHxRegisterSession::CreateTransaction() returned 8004036e. BeginTransaction() ERROR: Attempt failed because another transaction was running. Trying to Rollback current transaction ({005F0409-6759-11D5-A54F-0090278A1BB8}) IHxRegisterSession::ContinueTransaction() returned 80004005. BeginTransaction() ERROR: Could not restart current transaction. BeginTransaction() ERROR: Could not Rollback current transaction. HelpFile registration will abort. Registration session {005F0409-6759-11D5-A54F-0090278A1BB8} was *not* created. Action ended 20:38:04: InstallFinalize. Return value 3. MSI (s) (C8:34): User policy value 'DisableRollback' is 0 MSI (s) (C8:34): Machine policy value 'DisableRollback' is 0 For this problem, please see the solution below. Also, please note to everyone else reading this, that if you have a problem installing MSDN July 2002 and you don't see the above in your log file, DO NOT implement this fix. 1) On the machine in question, can you see if we have the following file: Rgstrtn.lck This file would be under: "%APPDATA%\Microsoft Help" or %temp% or directory under %temp% or "\Documents and Settings\All Users{.Windows}\Application Data\Microsoft Help" 2) Also, see if ANY directories exist under "%APPDATA%\Microsoft Help" or "\Documents and Settings\All Users{.Windows}\Application Data\Microsoft Help", they need to be moved to another directory for this error to go away, a rename to another name will not work, the code is checking the existance of ANY directory regardless of name and the directories "%APPDATA%\Microsoft Help" or "\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft Help" having any directory under it will not resolve this error. Will Buffington Microsoft Developer Support