A Windows Installer Package That Is Installed with Group Policy Does Not Restart the Computer (811996)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1
  • Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP1a
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1
  • Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1a

SYMPTOMS

After you upgrade Microsoft Windows XP-based computers to Windows XP Service Pack 1 (SP1), a Windows Installer file that is deployed by using Group Policy may not automatically restart the computer after the package is installed. The computer may not restart even though the application log contains an MsiInstaller event ID 1005 entry with this message: "The Windows Installer initiated a system restart to complete or continue the configuration of Update.msi."

CAUSE

Packages that require the computer to restart may not be able to restart a computer. This occurs because of a change in the behavior of the InitiateSystemShutdown function (Advapi32.dll) in Windows XP. The function does not set the last error to ERROR_NOT_READY when it is called during the logon process in the console session of the Winlogon process. If InitiateSystemShutdown does not work correctly and the last error is set to ERROR_NOT_READY, Windows Installer now calls the ExitWindowsEx function to restart the computer.

RESOLUTION

Service pack information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322389 How to obtain the latest Windows XP service pack

Hotfix information

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to computers that are experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Windows XP service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
   Date         Time   Version        Size       File name
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   17-Feb-2003  09:37  2.0.2600.1168  2,012,160  Msi.dll
   11-Feb-2003  14:21  2.0.2600.1168     64,512  Msiexec.exe
   17-Feb-2003  09:37  2.0.2600.1168    305,664  Msihnd.dll
   17-Feb-2003  09:37  2.0.2600.1168    847,872  Msimsg.dll
   11-Feb-2003  14:21  2.0.2600.1168     36,352  Msiregmv.exe
   17-Feb-2003  09:37  2.0.2600.1168     39,936  Msisip.dll

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/11/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbWinXPsp2fix kbQFE kbfix kbBug kbWinXPpreSP2fix KB811996