Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item. ...while installing MOSS SP1
I ran into some issue on a MOSS virtual machine while installing MOSS SP1. Actually, it was the any SP1 (WSS, MOSS, or one of their Language Pack). One of my colleague at Orckestra pointed me to a registry setting he had to update while installing a service pack with Team Foundation Server so I tried it just for fun and got off lucky :)
Here's the script that I used (patch.bat):
reg export HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer installer.reg
reg add HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer /v MaxPatchCacheSize /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
net stop msiserver
start /wait wssv3sp1-kb936988-x86-fullfile-en-us.exe
reg delete HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer /v MaxPatchCacheSize /f
reg import installer.reg
net stop msiserver
del /q installer.reg 2>nul
Maxime