This solution addresses (from here) your problem:
Follow these steps to manually set the
increment for the counter registry key
& to overcome this error & proceed
further with the SQL Server
installation.
On the Microsoft Windows 2003 or Windows XP desktop, click Start, click
Run, type regedit.exe in Open, and
then click OK. On Windows 2000, use
regedt32.exe The Registry Editor
appliction launches.
Navigate to the following registry key: Quote: [HKEY _ LOCAL _
MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib] "Last
Counter"=dword:00000ed4 (5276)
"LastHelp"=dword:00000ed5 (5277)
The "Last Counter" value from the previous step (5276) must match the
maximum value of the "Counter" key
from "Perflib\009" in the following
registry key, and the "Last Help"
value from the previous step (5277)
must match the maximum value of the
"Help" key from "Perflib\009" in the
following registry key: Quote:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Perflib\009] Note :
The "Last Counter" and "Last Help"
values are dynamically assigned by
Windows; they will vary from machine
to machine...
If necessary, modify the value for the "Last Counter" and "Last Help"
values in the "\Perflib" key:
Right-click "Last Counter" or "Last
Help" in the right-hand pane, click
Modify, click Base = "Decimal" set the
value in Value data, and then click
OK. Repeat for the other key, if
necessary, and then close the Registry
Editor.
Restart the machine for the changes to come into effect.
Run SQL Server Setup again.
This error seams to be related to the Setup Configuration Checker (SCC) in Microsoft SQL Server Setup which verifies the value of the counter registry key before SQL Server installation begins.
