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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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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  1. Anonymous
    2012-08-16T00:04:55+00:00

    Solution #2 worked like a charm. After backing up my registry I imported the command, restarted, and everything worked great. Thanks for a simple and easy to use solution to an aggravating problem.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-07-25T21:08:03+00:00

    Well, I can tell you for sure I am no genius. I am SURE system mechanic is the problem creator, and has not resolved it for anyone. I read through all the notes on the first page of this thread very carefully, and followed the instructions as I read. One set of code works correctly and has to be saved to the desktop in a correct manneer, I guess. But, then it seems others have done so with no success. To tell you the truth, I am not 100% positive this is what did it, as I pretty much tried everything I could think of short of blasting my laptop with a shotgun. I hope you and others can work it out, and I have some negative thoughts about System Mechanic...

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-07-25T16:59:44+00:00

    System Mechanic seems to be more of a burden then a help.  In reading all of the posts above, I feel I should mention that if you have it on your computer, make sure you have an OS install disk if you remove it.  I removed it from one of my computers and the computer no longer runs.  Rather then spend he money on an OS to fix the problem, I bought a better computer...something I wanted to do anyway, but not an option for everyone.  I am hoping that by the time the license expires on System Mechanic, that we can afford to replace the last computer it is installed on.

    My current problem is that I do not have the Windows Installer on the computer that I am currently using.  I had it yesterday morning, and ran System Mechanic to fix a few other problems (which it did).  Yesterday afternoon, no Windows Installer.  I have tried the solution that was posted at the beginning of this thread and at Microsoft's website, no luck.  Tells me it is an invalid key.   Anyone able to figure out how to get it to work that has had no luck thus far?

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