Repairing digital signature issues in Windows XP

Examples of these errors include:

• Service packs or hotfixes can't be installed.
• The Windows Update website won't run correctly, and fails with an error message.
• You see errors that Internet Explorer is not digitally signed.
• You can't activate Microsoft software products over the Internet.
• Device drivers are no longer reporting as being correctly signed.
• Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) reports the system as being inauthentic.

Undetected problems with digital signing may be the biggest reason why WGA does not work correctly for many people with legitimate copies of Windows; many reports of this happening are coming up on the official Microsoft WGA Validation Problems forum.

Fortunately, the solution is relatively simple, and can even be automated.

1. Copy the following into a text file named FIXSIGN.BAT:
   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 Mssip32.dll
   regsvr32 Cryptdlg.dll
   pause
   

2. Run FIXSIGN.BAT.

3. Pay attention to any error messages that might appear. Ideally, after each regsvr32 command, you should see a "Component registered successfully" dialog box; click OK to dismiss it and continue. Note: Some components may take a long time to register. The pause at the end of the above list is optional, but it gives you a chance to digest the results of the entire operation before dismissing the window.

4. Reboot the computer in question.

5. Rerun the script on any other Windows XP computers that might need it.

If the ...

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components in question don't register successfully, that might be a sign of other problems, such as a damaged COM+ catalog, which need to be dealt with first.

About the author: Serdar Yegulalp is editor of the Windows Power Users Newsletter, which is devoted to hints, tips, tricks, news and goodies for Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP users and administrators. He has more than 10 years of Windows experience under his belt, and contributes regularly to SearchWinComputing.com and SearchSQLServer.com.

More information on this topic:

• Tip: Windows XP's built-in administration tools
  
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