Desktop Experience fails installation with error 0x8000FFFF

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Symptoms

When attempting to install the Desktop Experience component on Windows Server 2008, it may fail with the following error:

<Error>: Attempt to install Desktop Experience failed with error code 0x8000FFFF. Catastrophic failure (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8000FFFF (E_UNEXPECTED))

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Cause

This issue can occur if the Desktop Experience component has previously been installed and uninstalled. Several Windows Updates which include Media Player components are installed if the Desktop Experience is installed, but they are not removed if it is later uninstalled. These updated components can cause the reinstallation of the Desktop Experience to fail due to being newer than expected. These updates are known to include:

974431 The October 2009 stability and reliability update for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is available.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;974431

973540 MS09-037: Description of the security update for Windows Media Player: August 11, 2009
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;973540

968816 MS09-047: Description of the security update for Windows Media Format Runtime, Windows Media Services, and Media Foundation: September 8, 2009
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;968816

954155 MS09-051: Description of the security update for Windows Media Audio Voice Decoder: October 13, 2009
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;954155

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