Failed to install SAVXP: The MSI has failed

This still the problem you posted in February?

Anyone else been able to solve this ?

Depends on what you mean by this. If it's solve a The MSI has failed error then yes. If it's the specific problem you encounter then no one will be able to seriously answer your question without knowing any details. 

I've always started by inspecting the logs to determine where it failed. Sometimes it's quite easy to determine the cause of the failure by just looking at the error message logged, sometimes I had to dig a little bit deeper (keep in mind that error codes are often generic). Several weeks ago I had a case where a client "suddenly" refused to update. Turned out that a "leftover" SAV installation could be found in Add or Remove Programs (whatever version and for whatever reason - didn't grill the user, also did not find out why didn't cause problems before). Funny thing was that Uninstall from there did work.

Trial and error is the last resort (and I had to use it only on machines which had been deliberately "mishandled") - so far I've always succeeded.

Christian

Yeh the one from February was a different one ... that user ended up installing Microsoft Security Essentials instead as we couldn't get Sophos to install.

I agree with you that it seems to only happen on machines that have been "tampered" with.

Try reinstalling MSI (latest version v4.5 here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5A58B56F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4 ), run a chkdsk C: /f /v, reboot and then try uninstalling Sophos again. If that doesn't work try the MSI cleanup utility ( http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/9/d/e9d80355-7ab4-45b8-80e8-983a48d5e1bd/msicuu2.exe ), reboot and reinstall Sophos.

Hi,

What does the MSI log and custom action log say for the SAV install?

If AutoUpdate attempted to install SAV (as it would typically on a managed install) it will create the logs in:

%windir%\temp\

They will be called:

Sophos Anti-Virus Install Log_<timestamp>.txt

Sophos Anti-Virus CustomActions Log_<matchingtimestamptothatabove>.txt

It keep a history of 4 so I tend to sort by "Date modified" to quickly find the latest.

N.B. If you have run the install of SAV as the logged on user, as would be the case if you ran the standalone installer of SAV or just ran the MSI, they would be in:

%temp%

I would start by opening up the log file:

Sophos Anti-Virus Install Log_<timestamp>.txt

If it says that it failed at the bottom of the file, then search up for:

return value 3

This will help identify what the installer was trying to do and what might have failed.  Maybe you could post the lines around the failure line.

Hope this helps,

Jak

Note: This is copied from a post I posted in a different thread.

Out of interest. Do you have windows indexing service enabled? Try disabling it and see if you can install then.

If that works, you need to do this

http://www.sophos.com/support/knowledgebase/article/59494.html

I found I needed to exclude the following directories instead of the suggested single directory.

C:\Program Files\Sophos

C:\Windows\Temp\sophos_autoupdate1.dir

I sometimes get this message. There is a good script that was supplied by Sophos but I think is unsupported, a small batch file that cleanly removes all third party anti-virus software and any previous installations of Sophos This small script normally sorts it out. Check with Sophos Support or PM me if you need further help. Have you tried checking the logs to see what exactly fails?

 Cheers Simon

I'm currently running into this same issue myself.

I know i used to have Symantec installed as the main antivirus.

I did all of the following to try and stop this issue from blocking the updates but still nothing:

Windows Updates to current.

Reinstall Sophos

Update MSI v4.5 installer

Reinstall Sophos

Cleanup temporary files through system tools.

Reinstall Sophos

.. i'm thinking the only block may very well be residuals from symantec.

Where can i get a copy of the batch file to run on my server?

thanks.

brian.

You probably need to re-register the windows installer service:

Make sure that no other programs are running and then click Start, Run, type msiexec /unregister in the Open field, and click OK. Next, click Start, Run, type misexec /regserver in the Open field, and click OK. Restart your computer and try installing or uninstalling again. 

What does it say in the msi log?  Please see my previous post to try an narrow down the functions that are failing.

Jak