something has happened to the windows installer on my computer. I have vista home premium 32 bit. I tried searching your site to download the installer but I could not find anything. I tried installing Java and it said it couldnt because the windows installer could not be accessed. and I have been trying to install some windows updates and keep getting error message codes 640 & 80070641. everything was working up until a few days ago when I tried updating nothing has been downloaded to my computer prior to errors.

OK... You're welcome & thanks for your feedback.

Just wanted to let you know I had the same windows installer propblem and I also have System Mechanic. I completed your fix and it worked. Thank you.

I had exactly the same problem, not only with some Windows Updates failing, but also a number of other programmes not updating either. I also have System Mechanic. I contacted Iolo about it over a month ago, and they said they would get back to me, but didn't. I contacted them again about a week ago, and they immediately replied that version 11 of System Mechanic would fix it, they gave me a link which I downloaded, and guess what, the updates still didn't work. I re-contacted them and got a reply that they had a server failure (not sure why that would cause a problem with updates), and they have pulled v11. However I got an automatic update of V11 to v11.0.3.2. I tried doing some Window Updates - and they WORKED. I've now tried updating a few of the other programmes which had update failures (I didn't want to try all of them at once) and they have worked as well, including a Java Update for Firefox. It now looks like System Mechanic will now allow Windows (and other programmes) to Update Properly. Note I did not do any of the suggestions on other posts here, only used SM to fix the problem. System Mechanic v11.0.3.2 is the one to use.

REPOSTING... TIP: If you ever again think your Registry needs to be cleaned, repaired, boosted, tuned-up, cured, tweaked, fixed, maximized, "swept" or optimised (it doesn't), read http://aumha.net/viewtopic.php?t=28099 and draw your own conclusions. Also see http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2005/10/02/registry-junk-a-windows-fact-of-life.aspx

Windows Installer and Error Codes 641 & 80070641 Issues

Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

Hi John and Kathy,

In addition to Ravinath P suggestion dated on May 21, 2012, you may also follow the steps mentioned below and check if it helps.

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

a. Open Notepad.

b. Copy the following command to notepad and save it asreset.regon 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

c. Click on Start.

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

e. On the registry edit windows click onFile and select Import.

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

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

h. Restart the computer and check if updates installs.

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Windows Installer and Error Codes 641 & 80070641 Issues

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