Is there a common step to repair Windows Installer Service in Windows?

Question

Are there some common steps to repair Windows Installer Service in Windows XP/Vista/7? Would you please provide some methods about how to repair the Windows Installer  step by step? I've searched on this forum and www.support.microsoft.com, but there seems no "good enough" methods....

Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer 1

These trouble shooting steps should help to resolve the error you mentioned.

As far as making changes in the registry, I would create a System Restore point before making changes or a backup so you can get back to before the registry was modified.

Creating a System Restore point manually

Right-click on the Computer icon in the Desktop, and choose Properties

In the left pane, click System Protection

Alternately, to access the System Protection tab directly, click Start and type SystemPropertiesProtection.exe.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

In the System Protection dialog box, type a description, and then click Create.

Let me know if it helps.

Marilyn

Answer 2

You can try the registry fix from Winhelponline.com, however, I can't speak for a 3rd party site since I haven't used the solution before. You would have to try it at your own risk.

The following are steps I usually suggest for Windows Installer Errors troubleshooting. Some of them you may have tried before.

You may follow the steps from the below link: How to troubleshoot problems that may occur when you install, uninstall, or upgrade a program on a Windows-based computer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2438651

Step 1: Check the Windows Installer Service.

1. Click Start Orb, in the start search box, type Services and press Enter.
2. Scroll down and find the Windows Installer.  Double-click “Windows Installer” in the Services list.
3. On the General tab, make sure the service is started under “Service status”.
4. If the service is not already running, under Service status, click Start, and then click OK.

Step 2: Unregister and re-register the Windows Installer

1.  Click Start Orb, in the start search box, type MSIEXEC /UNREGISTER, and then click OK . 

2.  Click Start Orb, in the start search box, type MSIEXEC /REGSERVER, and then click OK . After you run this command, the operation is complete.

3. Now, try your installation again. 

Step 3: Clean any pending installations

Check the following registry key and clean any entries in the key that you find:

Go to the Start Orb, type in Regedit and select enter.

If you get the User Account Control dialog box that states, Do you want to allow the following program to make changes to the is computer?, Click yes.

Modifying REGISTRY settings incorrectly can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the configuring of REGISTRY settings can be solved. Modifications of these settings are at your own risk.

Scroll to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\InProgress

Check the following registry key and clean any entries in the key that you find:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\PendingFileRenameOperations

Step 4: Check the permissions

Verify the System has Full Control on the following keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer

Next, restart your computer and try again.

If still having problems, then create a new Administrator User account and see if the problem could be a corrupt user account.

Please reply back and let us know if this helps with your Windows Installer Error.

Sincerely,

Marilyn

Answer 3

Hi wbloodccc,

·          What is the issue you are facing with Windows installer service on the computer?

The Windows installer service is a system service which cannot be repaired or edited on the computer.

But you can register the files related to the service or restart the service depending on the type of issue you have on the computer related to the Windows installer service.

Refer the below link in the Windows installer issues section to know more about fixing some issues related with the service.

How to troubleshoot problems that may occur when you install, uninstall, or upgrade a program on a Windows-based computer

**http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2438651**

Error message when you try to add or remove a program on a computer that is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003: "The Windows Installer service could not be accessed"

**http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315346**

Answer 4

Hi Halima S,

Thanks for your reply.

Except the above links, are there any other ways to repair/reinstall Windows Installer service?

I've googled and find the article below:

http://www.winhelponline.com/blog/vista-the-windows-installer-service-could-not-be-accessed/

Also, a command line statement: sfc /scannow

Can these two used to repair the windows installer?

Thanks for your help again.

Answer 5

Hi Marilyn,

Thanks very much for your detailed information. This certainly will help a lot for me.

However, in the #3, #4 method, you mentions some modifications with the registry key. I'm concerning if this is safety enough to edit these keys?

Also, when install applications based on Windows installer, we often see error messages like

"The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed."

in the installation log. Are there other methods we could use the resolve this error message?

Thanks again for your help.