IT Security

I get an error message when I try to re-apply a hotfix after installing a service pack?

March 4, 1999

1 Min Read

A. If when you try and reinstall a hotfix (after re-applying a service pack etc.) you get the error

Hotfix: The fix is already installed.
Hotfix: Internal consistency error: Invalid Tree pointer = .

you need to remove the hotfix before trying to reinstall.

To remove a hotfix you would usually use hotfix /r or hotfix -y (depending on the version, to check how use /? on the hotfix for the syntax) however there are situations where it will refuse to remove the hotfix:

Hotfix: Fix was not removed.

All the hotfix actually does when you install one is to check a registry entry so see if it already there, so to get round this problem we can go into the registry and remove the hotfixes corresponding entry.

Start the registry editor (regedit.exe)
Move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionHotfix
Under this key will be a number of sub-keys with name of the Knowledge base article the hotfix is referenced by as the name, e.g. Q123456 (the True Colour adapter fix).
To get more details about the hotfix, select the key (e.g. Q123456) and look at the "Fix Description" value.
To remove NT's knowledge of the fix being installed select the specific hotfix you want to remove (e.g. Q123456) and select Delete from the Edit menu. Click Yes to the confirmation
Close the registry editor.

The fix is still installed on the system, all you have done is removed NT's knowledge of its installation so you will now be able to re-install the hotfix in the normal way.

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John Savill

John Savill

https://savilltech.net

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