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

Anonymous

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.

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

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.

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

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

Anonymous

2015-02-24T14:01:06+00:00

Cathy - the notepad file you save must have in the file name extension '.reg' Don't save it as an ANSI file!

If 'save as' doesn't allow you to save it as 'All files' and only as a .txt file. Save it to your desktop as a .txt file and then find the file on your desktop and replace the '.txt' extension with '.reg', removing the '.txt' extension - don't include the quote marks. To rename part of a file name, highlight the file with one left click, then wait a few seconds and left click on it again. That will open the file name box for you to change it. When done click anywhere with your mouse on the desktop to close that box.

now right click on the file and select from the drop down menu 'merge'. That will transport the data to your registry and fix your Windows Installer. Be sure to restart your computer other wise it will not work.

If there is no 'merge' option in the drop down menu when you right click on the file, then instead, follow the steps given by Tushar P in his second post and remember to restart your computer afterwards.
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Anonymous

2015-02-24T13:45:01+00:00
tanO6 - If you are already running as the Administrator and in Administrator mode, you won't see the option to 'run as administrator' offered in the drop down menu. It will only appear if you are not in Administrator mode.

Just select 'All files' to save it - it is same thing as (*.*). Then check that the file extension of the file that you saved to your desktop is '.reg'. If it isn't then after you have saved it to your desktop change it to '.reg'
- without the quote marks. Do this by clicking only once on the file to highlight it, then wait a few seconds and click on it again. That will open the box to allow you to rename the extension to '.reg'. Don't change any other part of the file name. Click anywhere with your mouse on the desktop background to close that box.
After you have done that, right click on the file and simply select 'merge' from the drop down menu. This will transport the data to your registry and is a shorter and easier way than the steps described in Tushar P's post. Be sure to restart your computer, after which your Windows Installer should be working.
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Anonymous

2015-02-24T13:19:13+00:00

Hi Tushar P,

With some variations, as set out below, I am eternally grateful for your helpful post as it put me on the right track, even if not quite the same as your recommended steps. I have been battling with this problem for weeks and tried every forum with every 'fix' recommended elsewhere in Microsoft Support pages and none worked, because the Msiexec.exe file was simply missing from my registry. Most support articles assume the file is somewhere on your PC, if in the wrong folder. None, except your post, address the fact that it is missing entirely. For some reason when searching for support this reference http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2642495 never came up. Perhaps you can rectify that on the other support pages dealing with this issue.

An additional thing that others might find helpful is this:

My PC is running Windows 7 Home Premium and the *All files* option is not presented in the 'save as' file list. I had no choices other than to save it as one of a variation of .txt extensions. The option I chose instead was: MS-DOS Format (*.txt).

After I saved the notepad file to my desktop, I then simply changed the extension to ".reg". I don't know how important this is, but I imagine fairly critical.

In addition, I found that it is not necessary to open the 'Start' menu and do any of the following, as per your post :

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.

Instead, I found, after saving the notepad file and right clicking on it, that the drop down menu (in Windows 7 Home Premium anyway), provides a 'merge' option. I simply left-clicked on 'merge' in the drop down menu and received a confirmation that the data had been added to my registry. I re-started my PC and was able to install all of the programs I have previously been unable to install, which use the Windows Installer service.

Thank you for everything and I hope this slight variation that I have added will be helpful to others.

Best regards,

Spenda.
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