How do I repair a broken Windows Installer?
Hi,
Several months after a fresh install of Windows Vista x86 Home Premium,
afterwards updated to SP1, Windows Installer stopped working. On trying to
install anything requiring it, I get the error message "The Windows Installer
Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not
correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance". The
latest Windows Update available (KB940510) also fails immediately. I have no
system restore point from before this happened. Trying to work around the
problem, I installed the Windows Installer 4.5 Beta. That seemed to install
correctly, but running msiexec /? still shows the version number 4.00.6001.0
even after rebooting, and the Windows Installer still fails to work. No
problem relating to this is listed in Problem Reports and Solutions. Nothing
in the troubleshooter helps.
In services.msc, the Windows Installer Service is set to Manual startup.
When I click "Start" it starts then stops automatically.
msiexec.exe, msi.dll and msihnd.dll are all properly placed in
C:\Windows\System32
.. I cannot rename them or alter their permissions.
Running msiexec /unreg or msiexec /unregister, followed by msiexec
/regserver, doesn't help.
Running sc.exe delete "MSIServer", followed by sc.exe create "MSIServer"
binPath= "C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe /V" DisplayName= "Windows
Installer", doesn't help.
What can I do, please, short of reinstalling from scratch? I really, really
don't want to have to do that. Last time I did it, it took two days to get
the computer back into shape. For a start, this PC hangs multiple times
during the vista installation process.
Re: How do I repair a broken Windows Installer?
After having to do a complete reinstall, you didn't look into a complete
backup. You have no restore points, and you don't mention any of the
'recovery' options your system might have. (You know what those are. )
Someone that rough on a system has to consider the option of a second hard
drive (or burner and cd's) that you could use in Vista Business and + to do
such a 'complete PC system backup' (or a 'mirror' app like Acronis)
File corruption is about the only thing that might prevent you from
repairing the Installer like that. Failure of the Beta install is an
indication something is at work to prevent your system from doing that. You
probably have some form of malware in there. My first try would be the
update site for the "Malicious Software Removal Tool."
There is the 'clean up tool' for the installer that might do something to
take out the beta.
290301 - Description of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;290301
Re: How do I repair a broken Windows Installer?
Try the Installer clean up utility you can download from MS. Just a shot in
the dark like your installer may be hung up on something it tried to
install. Then when you get to the last resort instead of a reinstall from
scratch, try a repair install first.
RE: How do I repair a broken Windows Installer?
Hello,
Can you go into the registry and export the following Registry value
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services"
Export it as as text file.
Then send it to me.
Remove the online from the listed email name
darrellg@online.microsoft.com
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]
Re: How do I repair a broken Windows Installer?
Thanks for checking; yes, I rebooted. When I start the Windows Installer
service in services.msc I get the message "The Windows Installer Service
started and then stopped. Some services stop automatically if they are not in
use by other services or programs." I get the same result when it's set to
start manually; as far as I know, that's its normal behaviour.
Re: How do I repair a broken Windows Installer?
Try method one is this KB Article, if no go then try method two.
Method 1: Reregister the Windows Installer
Method 2: Reinstall the Windows Installer
http://support.microsoft.com/default...N-US%3BQ315346
Re: How do I repair a broken Windows Installer?
Hi chi1753:
Well I'm many hours into the exact same problem that you experienced back in June last year and so far I have not found a solution. I'm currently trying to do a vista repair from the original DVD.
I'd be grateful if you could let me know how you solved the problem.
My details are below
Kind regards
pdrevers
_____________________________________________________________
Dell Inspiron 1720, Intel Core 2 Duo T7700, 2.4 GHz, 800MHz, 4M L2 Cache
4GB, DDR2 RAM
256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600
Vista Ultimate 32 Bit, SP1
Norton Internet Security 2009
All Updates are / were current
________________________________________________________________
Suddenly:
VSC Shadow copy doesn’t work - has disappeared
System Restore is not accessible - doesn’t work, although it says it is running
Windows Installer doesn't work - hangs at the last moment of installation
Diskeeper defrag software can't access c: drive or Shadow copy that used to be there
*
Possible causes and recently added:
Vista Service Pack 1
Windows Explorer 8
Upgrade of Norton Internet Security 2007 to 2009 (Since removed Norton entirely using Norton Removal Tool)
*
The symptom is, my feeling is, that something is blocking access - some setting I haven't fathomed yet
*
Because System Restore is not accessible I can't go back to an earlier time
Because Windows Installer doesn’t work I cant reinstall it or the newer V4.5
Re: How do I repair a broken Windows Installer?
To whomever the OP is that I don't see here:
If you're getting this error: (the steps in this KB work fine in Vista or
Win 7)
"The Windows Installer Service Could Not Be Accessed" error
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315353