JSI Tip 8772. When you attempt to install a program that uses Windows Installer on Windows XP, the installation fails?

Jerold Schulman

December 8, 2004

1 Min Read
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The error messages you receive when attempting to install a program that uses Windows Installer are similar to one of the following:

  • The Windows Installer service could not be accessed. Contact your support personnel to verify that the Windows Installer service is properly registered.

  • The Windows Installer service failed to start. Contact your support personnel.

  • Internal Error

This behavior will occur if the Windows Installer files are missing or corrupted.

To fix this problem, perform the following steps until the problem is resolved:

01. Close all Windows programs.

02. Open a CMD.EXE window.

03. Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one:

msiexec /unregister
msiexec /regserver

04. Shutdown and restart Windows XP.

05. Attempt to install the a program that uses Windows Installer. If it succeeds, exit this procedure.

06. Open a CMD.EXE window.

07. Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one:

msiexec /unregister
CD /D %SystemRoot%System32
rename Msi.dll Msi.old
rename Msihnd.dll Msihnd.old
rename Msiexec.exe Msiexec.old

08. Shutdown and restart Windows XP.

09. Attempt to install the a program that uses Windows Installer. If it succeeds, exit this procedure.

10. Restart Windows XP in Safe Mode and repeat steps 01 - 09.

11. Perform an in-place upgrade of Windows XP.



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