Winget app installation fails because of missing installer

Question

it doesn't happen with every single app, but for some... mostly MSI installers...

I'm running winget update --all as administrator, some apps are updated, but when getting to some dotNet installations and some other apps with MSI installers, the installation fails because it can't find the MSI package...

as yopu can see here all of these installations failed, all of them showed this:

when "browsing" on the folder that it was trying to use, nothing was there... the folders are empty, there's no MSI package there, not even 1 file,,,

is this a winget thing?

Answer 1

Hi, José Andrés Medina Ochoa

Welcome to the Microsoft Community.

Thank you for your feedback. It looks like you're having problems with the installer not being able to find MSI packages when using the winget update --all command. This problem seems to occur mainly with applications that require an MSI installer, such as .NET and some other applications. Here are some troubleshooting options:

1. Confirm the MSI package path

Sometimes winget temporarily stores installation files when updating an application and then runs the installer. Ensuring that these installation files are intact is key.

Manually locate MSI packages.

During the installation process, when prompted for missing MSI packages, manually download the missing MSI packages as a temporary solution.

NET Runtime, you can go to Microsoft's official website to download the corresponding installation package, then browse to the file you downloaded in the installation prompt box and continue the installation.

2. Clearing Cache

Winget and other package management systems sometimes cache downloaded files, if these files are corrupted or incomplete, the installation may fail.

Open a command prompt (run as administrator) and enter the following command:

winget clean

This command cleans the winget cache files and ensures that the necessary files are re-downloaded the next time you run winget update.

3. Using a standalone installer

For some critical software, such as Visual C++ Redistributables and .NET Runtime, using a standalone installer may be a more reliable way to go.

Download and install the standalone version:

Go to the official Microsoft website and manually download the required installation packages for .NET Runtime, Visual C++ Redistributable, and so on.

Install these packages and then run winget update --all again to check if there are still problems.

.NET Downloads (Linux, macOS, and Windows)

Latest supported Visual C++ Redistributable downloads | Microsoft Learn

4. Check the Windows Installer service

Make sure the Windows Installer service is running properly, which is necessary for MSI installation.

Restart the Windows Installer service:

Press Win + R to open the Run window, type services.msc and press Enter.

Find “Windows Installer” in the list of services, right-click on it and select “Restart”.

5. Upgrade winget

Make sure you are using the latest version of winget, as newer versions may fix some known bugs.

To update winget:

Open a command prompt (run as administrator) and enter the following command:

winget upgrade --id Microsoft.Winget.Source

6. Attempting an in-place upgrade

This will refresh your windows and will not delete your data, but it is still recommended to backup for important data.

7. Log file diagnostics

winget provides installation logs that detail problems that occur during the installation process.

Enter the following command at the command prompt to view the installation log of winget:

notepad %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\DiagOutputDir\Winget-cli-<timestamp>.log

I will send you a private message where you can send me the log.

I look forward to your feedback, which will help me locate your problem.

Best Regards,

Aaron| Microsoft Community Support Specialist