You may receive a "Setup cannot copy the file branches.inf" error message when you try to install a hotfix package on a computer that is running Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP

Consider the following scenario:

• You are using a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows XP.
• You try to install a hotfix package by using a version of the Update.exe program that is earlier than version 6.1.22.0.

In this scenario, the installation may fail. Additionally, you may experience the following symptoms:

• During an attended installation, you receive the following error message:
  Setup cannot copy the file branches.inf.
  The message prompts you to retry or to cancel the operation.
• During an unattended installation, the Update.exe program fails and displays error code 0x1603. Error code 0x5 is displayed if you used the /er switch.

This problem occurs because the %windir%\Inf\Branches.inf file is set to read-only.

By default, the Branches.inf file is in the extracted installation package. If the read-only flag is set on the Branches.inf file, installations always fail. The only way to verify the cause of the error is to open the %windir%\KB######.log file for the package and see whether the file contains the following text:

To resolve this problem, remove the read-only flag from the Branches.inf file on the computer. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. At the prompt, type attrib �r %windir%\inf\branches.inf, and then press ENTER.

Alternatively, you can use Windows Explorer to remove the read-only flag. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the %windir%\Inf folder in Windows Explorer.
2. Right-click the Branches.inf file, click Properties, and then click to clear the Read-only check box.

After you remove this read-only flag, the hotfix package installs correctly.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.