How To: Fix 'Cryptographic Service' error when installing Windows XP Updates

Applies to: Microsoft Windows XP

Symptoms

You are trying to install Windows XP Service Pack 1, or a Windows XP Security Patch, and you receive an error message like this: Setup encountered an error: Setup could not verify the integrity of the file update.inf. Make sure the Cryptographic Service is running on this computer.

Cause

The Cryptographic Services service is not running, or not configured correctly.

Solution

Ensure that the Cryptographic Services service is running on your computer. To do this, open Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Select Cryptographic Service" from the list of names. Right-click this service and select Properties. If the service is not shown as "Started", you can start it by clicking the Start button. You should also set the Startup type to Automatic so that it will be running when needed in future. Close the Services control panel and try installing the service pack or security patch.
If the Cryptographic Services service was already running, stop the service by clicking the Stop button. Using Windows Explorer, locate the folder C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 and rename it to something like xcatroot. Now restart Cryptographic Services by clicking the Start button, and try installing the service pack or security patch again.
If the service pack or security patch still fails to install, stop the Cryptographic Services service again. Open a command prompt window (click Start, Run, type cmd and hit Enter) and then type the following commands:

regsvr32 softpub.dll
regsvr32 wintrust.dll
regsvr32 initpki.dll
regsvr32 dssenh.dll
regsvr32 rsaenh.dll
regsvr32 gpkcsp.dll
regsvr32 sccbase.dll
regsvr32 slbcsp.dll
regsvr32 cryptdlg.dll

Restart Cryptographic Services by clicking the Start button again, and try installing the service pack or security patch once more.