Windows 7 : Unable to Install Any Programs

Anonymous

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Hi - just finished a clean install of Windows 7 this afternoon ( upgrading from XP ). Running a homebuild system : Gigabyte GA-8PENXP Mobo, 2GB RAM, Core2Duo 6600, Nvidia 8800GTS Graphics. Install went cleanly no errors or hiccups. Problem is I can't install anything. Tried to download an install AVG and Avast AV products, both installers failed. iTunes installer just does nothing. However, I have successfully installed Office XP Pro and Stanza eBook reader. Turned off UAC - no difference. Ideas appreciated. It's driving me nuts

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Anonymous

Hi,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers Forum!

I would suggest you to perform a System File Checker [SFC] scan on the computer

Steps to perform SFC scan:

1. Click the Start button

From the Start Menu, Click All programs followed by Accessories
In the Accessories menu, Right Click on the Command Prompt option
From the drop down menu that appears, Click on the 'Run as administrator' option
If you have the User Account Control (UAC) enabled, you will be asked for authorization prior to the command prompt opening. You may simply need to press the Continue button if you are the administrator or insert the administrator password etc.
In the Command Prompt window, type: sfc /scannow and then press Enter
A message will appear stating that 'The system scan will begin'
Be patient because the scan may take some time
If any files require replacing SFC will replace them. You may be asked to insert your Vista DVD for this process to continue
If everything is okay you should, after the scan, see the following message "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations"
After the scan has completed, close the command prompt window, restart the computer and check.

Additional information: How to repair the operating system and how to restore the operating system configuration to an earlier point in time in Windows Vista: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936212

Also try to run program as an administrator.

To do this right click on a program which you are trying to install and click on “Run as an Administrator”.

Also try to run program in compatibility mode and also check whether that program which you are trying to install is compatible with Windows 7 or not.

Check the link which talks about How to run program in compatibility mode.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-Windows

Also click on the link given below to check for the compatibility.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx

Shalini

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

SOLVED! ~ Well for me

Hi,

I'd been having this same problem with updating windows / vc_red.msi problems & installing programs

tried everything literally been goggling for days thought it was a corrupt registry / then maybe some anti-virus programs finally found this forum

http://blog.tiensivu.com/aaron/archives/1823-Windows-7-fix-for-crashing-Windows-Installer-errors-cannot-install-or-uninstall-MSI-packages.html

Followed the recommendations & my computer is back working perfectly, can install & update like normal.

Really hope this helps someone :-)

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73 additional answers

Anonymous

2014-10-16T13:30:01+00:00

Hello Frank,

Thank you for keeping us updated on the issue.

Considering the age of the thread and to avoid confusion, if the troubleshooting steps in this thread did not resolve your issue, I would recommend creating a new thread so that the community can focus on that thread.

Refer to the following link prior to posting a question so that you may provide all the relevant information, for us to help you:

**Suggestions for asking a question on help forums**

Thank you.
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Anonymous

2014-10-11T01:12:03+00:00

I am having the same problem and I followed the instructions given. I started running the SFC and it got to 16% then I got a message stating Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.

I have installed Windows 7 64 bit on a HP laptop Pavilion dv7. It was a clean install on a new 1 Tb hard drive. Sorry don't know model number. I cannot install any program off the internet. I was able to install Office 2010 but that was off a DVD.

I have been trying to install Adobe Reader and when I try to install the program I get 3 options. Open, Save or Cancel. If I click on Open nothing happens.

I can save the program and then try to install and the option I get is to Open or Cancel. If I click on Open the system asks me what program I want to use to open the item. At no point do I get the option to Run, Install or Run as administrator. I have checked and the User account is setup as the administrator.

Please let me know what I am doing wrong and how to fix it, I am getting frustrated. Please help. Thank you.
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Anonymous

2014-09-15T15:15:39+00:00

Hello Daniel,

Thank you for posting your query.

Let's check to make sure Windows Installer Service is set to Automatic.

a)     Click Start, type Services.msc and press {ENTER}

b)     Double-click Windows Installer

c)     Set the Startup typeof Windows Installer to Automatic

d)     Click Start to start the service. (Note down the error message if any)

e)     Click OK.

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know the result, we’ll be glad to assist you.

Thank you.
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