Windows Installer service is missing and I'm unable to install any updates.

Anonymous
2012-05-11T19:26:32+00:00

original title: Missing windows installer service, vista sp2 64bit, cannot update anything

When I go into my local services there is no Windows Installer in the list.  I discovered this because I was trying to update to the latest version of Java the other day.  It gives me a message saying that it cannot access windows installer because it may be installed incorrectly.  But it's just NOT THERE.  So I go to try to install Windows Installer version 4.5 from this page   http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8483   

On that page it says that these are the files that would correspond to Windows Vista.  I noticed that it didn't specify a different one for sp2.

For Windows Vista, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2008:

x86 Platform: Windows6.0-KB942288-v2-x86.msu

x64 Platform: Windows6.0-KB942288-v2-x64.msu

IA64 Platform: Windows6.0-KB942288-v2-ia64.msu

So I downloaded the one for the x64, it loads up and says it's checking for updates and then says that "the update does not apply to your system" and just closes itself out.  I can't update anything or install anything new so long as Windows Installer does not exist on my computer and NONE of these downloads for Windows Installer seem to be the correct version.

I went into command prompt and tried to open Windows Installer to see if it would start the service and it also agrees that there is no windows installer.  I also would like to point out that I tried the other .msu files above and all of them had the same result.  Am I supposed to use a OLDER version for SP2?  If so, why is 4.5 not compatible then?

Right now I am running a scan in command prompt with the "sfc/ scannow" command.

Also, windows update cannot install its updates, I did some just the other day, but now it can't anymore, which I think it's safe to assume that it is because there's no longer a windows installer to assist in that process.  I get an error code 641 and an error 80070641 as well when it fails to update.  Trying again does not help.

What I really want to know is HOW could my windows installer just disappear, I feel very strongly that it couldn't be a virus because I have very good anti-virus protection and I've scanned and double checked many times.  I just really need to fix this so that I can continue to keep my computer running Up-To-Date.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2012-05-17T11:33:56+00:00

Hi,

What is the exact error message/code you receive?

I suggest you to perform the following methods.

Method 1: Restart the Windows installer service and check.

  1. Click “Start”, type “services.msc “in the Start Search bar, and press ENTER.
  2. If prompted by User Account Control click Continue.
  3. Now locate the “Windows Installer”.
  4. If they are not currently enabled right-click them, and select “Start”.
  5. If the Windows Installer service is already in start mode, please right click on that service and select “stop” and again start the service.
  6. Now restart your computer.

Method 2: If Windows Installer service is missing, I suggest you to perform the following steps to rebuild the windows installer service.

Note: To do so: 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

1.       Open Notepad.

2.       Copy the following command to notepad and save it as reset.reg on to your desktop.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msiserver]

"DisplayName"="@%SystemRoot%\system32\msimsg.dll,-27"

"ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,\

  74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,\

  00,73,00,69,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,63,00,20,00,2f,00,56,00,00,00

"Description"="@%SystemRoot%\system32\msimsg.dll,-32"

"ObjectName"="LocalSystem"

"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001

"Start"=dword:00000003

"Type"=dword:00000010

"DependOnService"=hex(7):72,00,70,00,63,00,73,00,73,00,00,00,00,00

"ServiceSidType"=dword:00000001

"RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,54,00,63,00,62,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,\

  00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,\

  74,00,65,00,50,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,\

  00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4c,00,6f,00,63,00,\

  6b,00,4d,00,65,00,6d,00,6f,00,72,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\

  00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6e,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,\

  73,00,65,00,42,00,61,00,73,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,6f,00,72,00,69,00,74,\

  00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,\

  65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,65,00,72,00,6d,00,61,00,6e,\

  00,65,00,6e,00,74,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,\

  00,00,53,00,65,00,41,00,75,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,\

  00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,65,00,63,00,75,00,72,00,\

  69,00,74,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,\

  00,53,00,65,00,43,00,68,00,61,00,6e,00,67,00,65,00,4e,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,\

  66,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,\

  00,65,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,53,00,69,00,6e,00,67,00,\

  6c,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,73,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,\

  00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,\

  72,00,73,00,6f,00,6e,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\

  00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,\

  47,00,6c,00,6f,00,62,00,61,00,6c,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\

  00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,41,00,73,00,73,00,69,00,67,00,6e,00,50,00,\

  72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,79,00,54,00,6f,00,6b,00,65,00,6e,00,50,00,72,\

  00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,52,00,65,00,\

  73,00,74,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,\

  00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6e,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,73,00,65,00,\

  51,00,75,00,6f,00,74,00,61,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,\

  00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,68,00,75,00,74,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,6e,00,\

  50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,54,\

  00,61,00,6b,00,65,00,4f,00,77,00,6e,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,68,00,69,00,70,00,\

  50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4c,\

  00,6f,00,61,00,64,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,\

  76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,42,00,61,00,63,00,6b,\

  00,75,00,70,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,\

  00,00

"FailureActions"=hex:84,03,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\

  00,01,00,00,00,c0,d4,01,00,01,00,00,00,e0,93,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

3.       Click on Start.

4.       Type regedit in the Start Search field and hit enter.

5.       On the registry edit windows click on File and select Import.

6.       Browse to the location where reset.reg file is located and select the file.

7.       Click ok at the on-screen windows once the registry is merged successfully.

8.       Restart the computer and check.

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Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2012-05-17T16:49:07+00:00

Hey,

Got installer back working by using method 2 in your last post but using the notepad text from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2642495 mentioned in the first post.

Thank you very much.

Happy children now playing angry birds!

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51 additional answers

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-07-13T23:48:50+00:00

    Thank you so very much for this post. Finally something that worked!!

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-07-01T04:50:21+00:00

    I got the same response from System Mechanic. I gave them a piece of my mind anyway. I have been a faithful customer and renewed my liscense with them for a number of years, but after this, I think my relationship with them will end. I continue to have problems mounting because of this issue, and if I can't get it resolved pretty soon I think my laptop is going to become a paperweight. if anyone has anyone to suggest to me that leaves SM out of the loop and brings resolution, I would be delighted. I am new to this forum will be a frequent visitor. A great group!

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-06-13T17:47:48+00:00

    I have performed all the procedures suggested in the various answeres to this issue, but still have not been completely successful in solving the windows update problem.  I have perhaps incorrectly assumed that the solutions offered should work for Windows Vista 32bit systems as well as 64bit systems.

    Have I been using the wrong solutions?  Is there any other solutions I should be pursuing for my 32bit Vista opering system?

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