SQL Server 2005 setup fails if MSXML Core Services 6.0 is installed

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Symptoms

After you apply the following Microsoft XML Core Services (MSXML) 6.0 update on a computer that is running Windows XP, you upgrade the computer to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3):

954459 MS08-069: Description of the security update for XML Core Services 6.0: November 11, 2008

When you try to install Microsoft SQL Server 2005 in this scenario, you receive the following error message:

Installation of MSXML 6 Service Pack 2 (KB954459) failed because a higher version already exists on the machine. To proceed, uninstall the higher version and then run MSXML 6 Service Pack 2 (KB954459) Setup again.

Additional error information
The error message resembles the following:

See image

If you examine the SQL Server setup log file, you find that the following error has been logged:

This package is not supported on this operating system.

SkipInstallCA. Return value 3.

Fatal error during installation

MainEngineThread is returning 1603

Error code 1603

Product: MSXML 6.0 Parser (KB933579)

Installation failed.

If you examine the MSXML setup log file, you may find that the following error has been logged:

Action start Time: SkipInstallCA.

This package is not supported on this operating system.

Action ended Time: SkipInstallCA. Return value 3.

Action ended Time: INSTALL. Return value 3.

……

MSI (s) (9C:00) [Time]: Note: 1: 1729

MSI (s) (9C:00) [Time]: Product: MSXML 6 Service Pack 2 (KB954459) -- Configuration failed. ……

MSI (s) (A0:D0) [Time]: Note: 1: 1708

MSI (s) (A0:D0) [Time]: Product: MSXML 6 Service Pack 2 (KB954459) -- Installation failed.

You can find the setup log files in the following folder:

%WINDIR%\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\Log

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Resolution

To have us fix this problem for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you would rather fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in this wizard.

Notes

This wizard may be in English only, but the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.
If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

Let me fix it myself
To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods:

Method 1: Download and run the MSXML fix

Download MSMXL fix from the following Microsoft website:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/3/F/E3F51FFB-505D-480E-9F67-0DD3A9680DEE/MSXMLFix.EXE
Extract the fix, and then copy the MSXML6.MSP file and the MSXML_FIX.VBS file to the same folder.
Run cscript MSXML_FIX.VBS.

Method 2: Obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005

To obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

913089 How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005

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Advanced information

When SQL Server Setup tries to install MSXML 6.0 SP2, it detects that the version of MSXML 6.0 that is described in Knowledge Base article 954459 is already installed on the computer. Therefore, the validation process indicates that the current version of MSXML 6.0 should not be replaced. This stops the installation of both MSXML 6.0 and SQL Server 2005.

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