Office 2007 and OneNote 2007 Installation Crash

Problem: Office 2007 and OneNote 2007 crash right away when starting the install reporting: 'Error: ORegistryKey.GetSubKeyNames failure: Cannot get all sub key names for registry "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" HResult: 0x80070103.'

Description: My work machine has been about 6 months overdue for a reinstall of Windows, so today I finally decided to do just that.  I decided this would be a good time to transition to Office 2007 and OneNote 2007.  I used a XP CD that had SP2 and all the latest updates slipstreamed into it as well as Internet Explorer 7, Windows Media Player 11, the latest DirectX 9 and the Windows Genuine Advantage add-in.  So after the OS was installed, all I had to do was update some drivers and start installing all of my software.

I tried to install OneNote first and as soon as it started to install, it crashed.  I tried a couple times with no luck (shutting down various applications such as AV between tries).  So I moved on to Office.  Same thing happened.  Looking at the contents of what was going to be sent to Microsoft about the error, I discovered the problem: 'Error: ORegistryKey.GetSubKeyNames failure: Cannot get all sub key names for registry "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall" HResult: 0x80070103.'  I checked, and sure enough, the key existed.  So that didn't help.

I decided to make sure everyone had access to that key and the sub-keys.  After doing this, I was able to install OneNote.  So I figured I was good and Office would install.  Nope.  Same problem as before.  So I got drastic.  I exported that key, deleted all of its contents (well, I deleted that key and its contents and then recreated the key rather than deleting 50+ keys 1-by-1).  Hooray!  Office installed!  (I then blew the key that I backed up back into the registry.)

Solution:

Warning!  Do not attempt this fix unless you have a clear understanding of registry and the risks of manually editing its contents.  You run the risk of corrupting your system by performing these steps!

1. Reset permissions on that key and all of its children.
2. If that doesn't work...
   1. Export that key.
   2. Delete the contents of that key.
   3. Install Office, merge the exported key.

Update 2-14-2007

Turns out this may be due to SVS.  If you are using SVS, deactivate all layers before installing Office or OneNote before trying the above solution(s).
Source

Tags: Microsoft, Office, OneNote