Windows Installer Service could not be accessSolved/Closed

Question

Hi,  all!

I'm running Vista Home Premium on my PC. I tried to install a game (Bioshock) and at the very beginning of the setup, my computer blue-screened...

When I restarted my computer, a number of programs that I have set to run at startup crashed (including Skype, MSN Messenger, iTunes, Bitcomet, and even Windows Media Player)!

I tried to install the game again, and the same blue screen appeared. After another restart, all programs crashed again...

Also when I'm trying to start them manually, I got the following message: "Windows Installer Service could not be accessed".

I  found an article on Microsoft support: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315346.

Went through method 1. This did not solve the problem. However, when I tried to install Bioshock, I only got an error message (the setup never got started like before, but on the plus side I did not get another blue-screen).

Next I tried method 2, but when I completed point 3, cmd only said "file not found - dllcache".

Following advice given on an other forum I went to Add/remove programs to see if windows installer was actually there. And, guess what... It was not. So I downloaded Windows Installer, but when I tried to install it, I got the following error: "Not enough storage is available to process this command." I have about 200 GB of free space on my hard disk and 2 GB of RAM, so that seemed pretty strange to me.

Lastly, I downloaded windows installer cleanup, but when trying to install it, I got the same old error message "Windows installer could not be accessed."

 I would really appreciate any help as this problem is driving me crazy.
 
Thanks a lot,

Jason · Accepted Answer

Click Start/Run and type:

net start MSIServer

press ENTER and try installing again.

Zack · Answer

I have no same exact freaking problem, Vista was a waste of money and time.

dave · Answer

I had this problem for a few weeks until I read the following article:

http://firsttube.com/read/The-Pain-of-Vista

Check your C:\Windows\System32 folder for msiexec.  You should have msiexec.exe, but if you also have msiexec with NO extension (and 0 Kb in size) then this is causing your problem.  I did what the article suggested and added the extension .old, allowing me to start my Windows Installer service.

Hope this helps.

wasim · Answer

Dear freinds
pls give me the solution,
when iam going to share the foldres it's showing one error (server service is not start)

JENJEN · Answer

Go to My Computer, Right click, click on manage
New window opens
In left look for Services, click to open
In right go down to Windows Installer
Double click
In drop down bar make the Service Automatic, close
In right pane of window click on Start to start this service.

Windows Installer is now started & will work when you need it to

Jen

dave · Answer

Just an additional note to JENJEN's reply (and relating back to my previous reply).  You will not be able to start the Windows Installer service if "msiexec" exists twice in your C:\Windows\System32 folder (one with .exe extension and one with no extension).  Be sure it only exists as "msiexec.exe".

hightimes · Answer

http://ww38.vistaheads.com/forums/microsoft-public-windows-vista-installation-setup/215437-windows-installer-cannot-accessed-error.html?subid1=20200115-0153-23c7-854d-37875b12754e
here is the fix that worked for me
i had same problem

S · Answer

Or just use the dial a fix tool which is free and can fix multiple problems.

1K22-1867-0795-66M4-5071-4299-A43M

HappyGuy · Answer

I have tried almost all the methods suggested and all in vain. VISTA is a total freaking OE. Almost everything hang.
Can't :-
Add and Remove Applications
Internet Explorer - No display.
Window Mail - No images or pictures display.

VISTA is a waste of resources, money, efforts and time.

Gone case.

AuntNeicy · Answer

JenJen, you are da bomb!  Thanks so much for your answer (for which I had to say "duh" and slap myself on the forehead...)!!!

BB · Answer

Supposedly, Windows XP already comes with 2.0 and should not need the installer engine added; however, I have a 
Windows XP Media Center and this was initially true.  I had no problems with the installer.  Then several weeks ago, I began getting the referenced message infrequently, and then all the time.  I went thru the update steps and was told I had the current update for the installer, yet the problem continues.  Please help!!!!!!

sania · Answer

the same thing is happenin to me.. im using xp. I was trying to uninstall eset security but failed. so I removed the folder but the file is still in my programs and features. can't remove it. tried all registry 'mechanics'. cant even use windows clean up utility

Me · Answer

I had the same problem and FINALLY found the solution here:

https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/windows-installer-service-not-accessed-windows-7-vista/

GaryB · Answer

Hello. Had similar issue with a client running Windows XP SP2 and pretty much worked through suggestions here to no avail.
What eventually got it working.
Under Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services
Right click on the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Service
Select Log In Tab
Select Log As "Local System account" and tick "Allow service to interact with desktop"
You'll get a message that settings wont take effect until you restart the service. To do this you'll need to reboot your PC.
After reboot installer service seems to behave itself again. 
Took me 2 hours to find this so hopefully my pain will save someone some time.

arclight · Answer

GaryB, your solution worked for me. Had this problem for months!!!

Shamshel · Answer

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2642495/the-windows-installer-service-could-not-be-accessed-error-when-you-try

Worked

graeme · Answer

This is so annoying I've basically tried everything above and this still wont let me add/remove programmes, still getting the annoying error message.  Im also having problems with Internet Explorer which I am relatiing it to.  Is there anyone like me still trying?

Tawny Pincus · Answer

Starting the Windows Installer Service (net start MSIServer) dit the trick for me.  Many thanks

hitokiribin · Answer

hi, I finally got it solved, I tried every way you guys told me,but no luck, :S 

im going to post everything I did(at least what I remember,i tried so many things):

first I tried one by one of the solutions posted here, and many thanks to those ppl who posted :)

then,the solutions posted here gave me some ideas and I went to look at event viewer,tried a few things in services,and I realized that whenever I tried to install something this error ocurred in event viewer: "Failed to connect to server. Error: 0x80080005" and I realized that something in the registry was denying me permissions of some kind

well like any person would do I googled it and found this tool Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware,download it from here https://www.besttechie.com/resources/malwarebytes/

well then I run it and it found 7 keys infected in the registry,it cleaned them,and it now works just fine :)

sorry for the big post,i hope it helps someone,many thanks everybody

Dan · Answer

Hi guys  I have a lil problem : 
When you say open "Services" and click on "Windows Installer" tab on the right side  , problem is that I dont have it , the "Windows Installer"..What can I do?

Mark · Answer

On someone's advice, I disabled the firewall and rebooted twice.  Windows installer finally worked.  Eureka.

he · Answer

TYY all lol. helped me =].thanks for veryone to help

dimv · Answer

I have tried a lot of solutions of the same issue and the only one that worked was getting another copy of windows. Sorry but only that worked out for me.

Chris Georgia · Answer

Hey, thanks for the reply, I had to recover my computer....afterwards my first try to download Itunes8 worked perfect....I should have done it before the 8 hours of 'trying it myself'....and of course the whole computer runs smoother due to being recovered....thanks and happy new year

Chris Georgia · Answer

finally Itunes8 installed but I had to recovery the entire computer.  My son, and a couple friends have Vista and NEVER evncountered any issues with VISTA and Itunes (causing the 'windows Installer Service....error)...After being guided by HP, my computer had corrupted files, don't know how or which files, so recovery was emminent. Immediately after a Recovery was done, Itunes was downloaded instantly without issues....and no more 'windows installer service error'....Oh and as usual I forgot to copy some precious files to the external hard-drive, but the computer runs great!  Happy New Years to you all!!  Chris

aj · Answer

I had the same problem on my Windows XP Media Center - tried many of the suggestions above and nothing worked.  Finally found a suggestion at Microsoft's website to do this and it worked!

Method 1: Unregister and re-register the Windows Installer
Click Start, click Run, type MSIEXEC /UNREGISTER, and then click OK. Even if you do this correctly, it may look like nothing occurs.
Click Start, click Run, type MSIEXEC /REGSERVER, and then click OK. Even if you do this correctly, it may look like nothing occurs, or you may briefly see an hourglass. After you run this command, the operation is complete.
Try your Windows Installer-based application again.


So give that a try - it worked for me.

McLy · Answer

WOW JASON U ROK!!! THX

adam · Answer

i  think u r missing some dll files and need to do a system repair or reformat with ur system disk

Flash_back · Answer

THANKS JASON!!

zig · Answer

Try this: 


right click command prompt and chose "run as administrator" . Type "regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\msi" press end and try to install again.

Mich · Answer

Okay, so everyone who think this is a virus or something that comes after a long time is wrong. I formatted my harddrive yesterday, installed itunes, firefox and photoshop. When I tried to install msn, it didnt work. Now, nothing works. Ive tried everything u guys have posted here but still nothing works. Just got back after my 5th reboot in 3h so Id be happy to find something new.. Running XP and installed all updates recently

Shorty · Answer

having problems installing windows live messenger. it keeps telling me error. what can I do to solve this problem

bigboss · Answer

delete all temp files under C:\Documents and Settings\ahr\Local Settings\Temporary internet files and C:\Documents and Settings\ahr\Local Settings\Temporary internet files, where "ahr" is your user account in windows 
this may solve your problem
biggboss

pookie · Answer

try some of the resolutions it has the first one worked for me 


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/319624/windows-installer-service-could-not-be-accessed-error-message-when-ins

JoeShon · Answer

I tried all those methods, but the one that worked was to install the 4.5 version of windows installer for whatever system you have. Perfect. After you install it should automatcally reboot and be fine.

kong · Answer

This is what I did
1. right click at my computer at desktop click Manage
2. go to Computer Management / Services an Applications / Services
3. at the right frame, Double clicks at Window installer
4. at General drop down Startup type : Manual
5. at Log On choose Local System account and tick the box Allow service to interact with desktop
6. Click Apply
7. go back to General again click start
8. done

Drugelis · Answer

Hi, I had devoted a lot of time to this issue.
Nothing worked that was on this site, but one thing worked.
I noticed that y DCOM Server Process Launcher service does not start. Even manually starting it produces error. Seems like it was a culprit of "THE PROBLEM" :).
Anyway, since I was lazy and tired to search how to fix it, just installed XP SP3 and problem gone.

Hope I help someone to make their day.

Cheers,
Drugelis

cool · Answer

1 Log on to your computer as an administrator.
2 Click Start, and then click Run.
3 In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
4 At the command prompt, typemsiexec.exe /unregister, and then press ENTER.
5 Type msiexec /regserver, and then press ENTER.
6 Verify that the SYSTEM account has full control access permissions to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT hive in the Windows registry. In some cases, you may also have to add Administrator accounts. 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 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows 

go to https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2642495/the-windows-installer-service-could-not-be-accessed-error-when-you-try for ifo!!!! ok!!!  you need Windows installer to do it if you
 
do not have it download it  https://www.softpedia.com/get/Authoring-tools/Setup-creators/Microsoft-Windows-Installer.shtml#download ok!!!!!!!

Ivonnie · Answer

Thanks so much,Jason ! .. I tried your method & it works perfectly ...

discostu · Answer

This is what worked for me I have XP   
 1. Open Run, and type in services.msc then press Enter. Alternatively, go to Control Panel -> Administrator Tools -> Services.
   2. Locate Windows Installer in the all install services listing.
   3. Verify that the Status is Started. If the Status column is blank, right click on Windows Installer and select Start.
   4. If you get error trying to force start the Windows Installer service, try to change the Startup Type to Automatic (default is Manual), and then restart the computer.

The above steps can also be performed via MSConfig to set Windows Installer service to auto start on boot up.

drag · Answer

jaosn's trick worked for me thanks jason :)

malob · Answer

This one worked for me when installing Itunes 8 on Vista 64 bit, with the 64 bit installation.

https://www.windowsbbs.com/threads/vista-home-premium-x64-and-installing-itunes-solution.82460/

I had tried every possible other solution sugested here. I hope this helps.

HappyH · Answer

GARY B IS THE MAN!!!!!

I've been going NUTS for the past week trying to sort this out, thank you sooo much!!!

mas · Answer

hello guys before you do anything try this link. 
this will give you four different methode to tackle the problem. 
I spent hours to find it. 
dont miss it. 
 
https://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/how-to-fix-the-windows-installer-service-could-not-be-accessed-error/

Pramod · Answer

I have every little thing, but nothing worked, One thing I dint try is the DCOM Permissions, if any one has tried that reply this

PhillyOverclocker · Answer

I was able to get past the error by using an XP Home disk with SP3 already slipstreamed into it. This was after doing registry fixes, running CHKDSK /r, etc.

vegaspat · Answer

After spending a week on this issue, the only thing that worked for me was downloading this file from another
site.It was a Registry entry and I could not believe that something so simple did the trick  for me.

The file was named: MSICUU.

Tina · Answer

I had the same problem, so I tried turning off Kaspersky. It worked fine after that.

Thankful · Answer

After I ran ComboFix (to see if I had and then cleanup any malware or other nasty stuff) on my Windows 2000 Pro computer:  

1. Add/Remove Programs (accessed thru Control Panel) stopped working (blank window no programs were listed to add or remove).  

To fix I d/l'd, installed and ran Dial-A-Fix program.  

2.  Windows Automatic Updates stopped working.  

To fix I followed instructions by "plodr" in this linked thread:  

https://forums.majorgeeks.com/threads/windows-update-error-win-2k-pro.155978/  

These solutions found after much searching. Hope this will save others some time and trouble.

Thankful · Answer

Good Grief, I forgot to add in previous post that this was related to having trouble trying to install programs also after running ComboFix using Windows Installer (*.msi) which is the subject of this thread. With Windows all this stuff seems to be intertwined...

lionel · Answer

my service pack 2 windows installer does not want to install any programs please help 


many thanks

stephen · Answer

why is my msi when I turn it on it gos to window xp then gos to the started again please can it be fix ??? please email my m.mccellis@btinternet.com

echo31040 · Answer

cannot access my e-mail and exployer keeps crashing. get message    windows installer cannot be found.

WWW · Answer

Working on husband PC since this AM.  After tying all that I read, calling HP and Microsoft, no support, I am so glad I found this forum.  What finally wokred for me.  PC is a HP laptop, OS XP SP3.  

1. Click Start-->Run-->type services.msc press Enter 
in the Service window select Server. 
if its stopped please start it and if its running please restart the service.  I stopped it and strted it again.

2. Then went to Windows Installer previously changed to automatic from manual and also checked under logon tab "Allow service to interact with desktop".  Previously tried to start services, would not start.  

After I stopped and started the local server, I was able to start the window installer services and then install all my software.

Hope this helps someone.

joseph · Answer

Thanks for this post, I will try that.

Windows Installer Service could not be access

55 responses

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