When Installing Adobe Reader I get the error "This installation could not be opened. Verify that the package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid windows installer package."

Question

I am running windows vista and have tried some fixes that other people have suggested through this forum.

But whenever i try installing adobe reader or installing any other program i keep getting the error message

"This installation could not be opened. Verify that the package exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid windows installer package."

I tried importing a working HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\system\currentcontrolset\services\msiserver

I tried running the windows installer clean up utility

Ive tried downloading the most recent version of windows installer and vistas service pack 2 but all with no success.

This is not my computer so im not sure of the updates and the last backup

Can anyone help

Answer 1

Hi BigTerpaj,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers!

Method 1

Step 1

Check if windows installer service status.

1.      Click Start

2.      Type services in the start search box and press enter

3.      Scroll down till the windows installer service

4.      Check the status.

5.      If the status is disabled or automatic

6.      Right click on it and then click on properties

7.      Change the status to manual under startup type

8.      Try to install windows installer

If this step does not help try step 2.

Step 2

Re-register windows installer

Determine the location of the Msiexec.exe file on your hard disk. To do this, follow these steps:

a.       Click Start, click Run, type %windir%\system32, and then click OK.

Note This step will open the folder where the Msiexec.exe file is located.

b.      Make a note of the location of the Msiexec.exe file. The location of the Msiexec.exe file will be a combination of the value in the Address text box and the Msiexec.exe file name itself.

For example if the Address text box contains a value of C:\Windows\system32, the location of the Msiexec.exe file will be C:\Windows\system32\Msiexec.exe.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/ ) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Method 2

This can happen when the user account is corrupt. You may try to create a new user account and then try installing the windows installer.

Steps to create a new user account.

1. Open User Accounts by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking User Accounts and Family Safety (or clicking User Accounts, if you are connected to a network domain), and then clicking User Accounts.
2. Click Manage another account.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. Click Create a new account.
4. Type the name you want to give the user account, click an account type, and then click Create Account.

If everything is working fine here then you may transfer all files from the old user account to the new one.

Go through this article.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Fix-a-corrupted-user-profile

Try these steps and let us know the result.

Regards,

Bindu S - Microsoft Support

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