Basic troubleshooting steps for Windows Installer

You can use Microsoft Windows Installer to install and to configure installation packages. An installation package contains all the information that Windows Installer requires to install or to remove an application or a product and to run the setup user interface. Each installation package includes an .msi file that contains an installation database, a summary information stream, and data streams for various parts of the installation. The .msi file can also contain one or more transforms, internal source files, and external source files or cabinet files that are required by the installation.

The following is a summary of the available versions of Windows Installer:

• Windows Installer 3.1: Windows Installer 3.1 is included in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Windows Installer 3.1 is also available as a redistributable system component for Windows 2000 SP3, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP, Windows XP SP1, Windows XP SP2, and Windows Server 2003. For more information about Windows Installer 3.1, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=889482fc-5f56-4a38-b838-de776fd4138c (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=889482fc-5f56-4a38-b838-de776fd4138c)
  To install Windows Installer 3.1 as a critical update, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com)
• Windows Installer 3.0: Windows Installer 3.0 is included in Windows XP SP2. Windows Installer 3.0 is also available as a redistributable system component for Windows 2000 SP3, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows XP, Windows XP SP1, and Windows Server 2003. For more information about Windows Installer 3.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5fbc5470-b259-4733-a914-a956122e08e8 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5fbc5470-b259-4733-a914-a956122e08e8)
• Windows Installer 2.0: Windows Installer 2.0 is included in Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 SP3. Windows Installer 2.0 is available as two packages. One package is used to install or to upgrade to Windows Installer 2.0 on Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, and Windows 95. The other package is used to install or to upgrade to Windows Installer 2.0 on Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 SP6. For more information about Windows Installer 2.0 for Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, and Windows 95, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cebbacd8-c094-4255-b702-de3bb768148f (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cebbacd8-c094-4255-b702-de3bb768148f)
  For more information about Windows Installer 2.0 for Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4b6140f9-2d36-4977-8fa1-6f8a0f5dca8f (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4b6140f9-2d36-4977-8fa1-6f8a0f5dca8f)
  Note Do not use these packages to install or to upgrade Windows Installer 2.0 in Windows Server 2003 or in Windows XP.
• Windows Installer 1.2: Windows Installer 1.2 is included in Windows Millennium Edition. Windows Installer 1.2 is also supported on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 SP3 or a later version of Windows NT 4.0.
• Windows Installer 1.1: Windows Installer 1.1 is included in Windows 2000. Windows Installer 1.1 is available as a redistributable system component for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 SP3 or a later version of Windows NT 4.0. For more information about Windows Installer 1.1 for Windows 95 and Windows 98, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f1b7a5b0-611b-45a7-a06d-cadff33e64da (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f1b7a5b0-611b-45a7-a06d-cadff33e64da)
  For more information about Windows Installer 1.1 for Windows NT 4.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F8CA7781-41DC-4A53-A574-82EB9CD85BBB (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F8CA7781-41DC-4A53-A574-82EB9CD85BBB)
• Windows Installer 1.0: Windows Installer 1.0 is included with Microsoft Office 2000. Windows Installer 1.1 is also supported on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0 SP3 or a later version of Windows NT 4.0.

To determine which version of Windows Installer is installed on a computer, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type %systemroot%\system32, and then click OK.
2. Right-click Msi.dll, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Version tab, and then note the File version number.

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:

Important Before you use the following information to troubleshoot Windows Installer, we recommend that you first try the methods in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

To troubleshoot issues that may occur when you use Windows Installer to install a program, use the following methods.

Method 1: Reregister Windows Installer

To reregister Windows Installer, follow these steps.

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Verify the location of the Msiexec.exe file on the hard disk. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
   2. Click All files and folders.
   3. In the All or part of the file name box, type Msiexec.exe, and then click Search.
   4. In the search results, note the location of the Msiexec.exe file.
      
      The file location of the Msiexec.exe file should be similar to C:\Windows\System32.
      
      Note On Windows 98-based computers, the Msiexec.exe file is located in the %Windir%\System folder.
   5. On the File menu, click Close.
2. Verify the location of the Msiexec.exe file in the Windows registry. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, click Run, type Regedit, and then click OK.
   2. Locate and then click the following registry key:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer
   3. In the right pane, double-click ImagePath.
   4. In the Edit String dialog box, make sure that the string in the Value data box contains the correct path of the Msiexec.exe file on the hard disk that you located in step 1.
      
      For example, if the Msiexec.exe file is located in the Drive:\Windows\System32 folder on the hard disk, the correct path of the Msiexec.exe file in the Value data box is Drive:\Windows\System32\Msiexec.exe /V. In this example, Drive is the drive where Windows is installed.
      
      Note On a Windows 98-based computer, the correct path of the Msiexec.exe file is Drive:\Windows\System\Msiexec.exe /V.
      
      Note The /V switch enables verbose logging.
   5. If the Value data box does not contain the correct path, make the appropriate changes to correct the path, and then click OK.
   6. Quit Registry Editor.
3. Start your computer in Safe Mode, and then register the Msiexec.exe file. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Restart your computer.
   2. Press F8 after you receive the following message:
      Please select the operating system to start
   3. On the Windows Advanced Option menu, use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER.
   4. If you use a dual-boot computer or a multiple-boot computer, select the appropriate operating system from the list that is displayed, and then press ENTER.
   5. Log on to the computer.
   6. Click Start, click Run, type Msiexec /regserver, and then click OK.
4. Restart your computer in standard mode.

If the issue persists, follow the steps in Method 2.

Method 2: Reinstall Windows Installer

To reinstall Windows Installer, follow these steps:

1. Start your computer in Safe Mode. To do this, follow these steps:
   1. Restart your computer.
   2. Press F8 after you receive the following message:
      Please select the operating system to start
   3. On the Windows Advanced Option menu, use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode, and then press ENTER.
   4. If you use a dual-boot computer or a multiple-boot computer, select the appropriate operating system from the list that is displayed, and then press ENTER.
   5. Log on to the computer.
2. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
3. At the command prompt, type attrib -r -s -h %Windir%\System32\dllcache.
   
   Note On a Windows 98-based computer, type System instead of System32.
   
   Note On a Windows Server 2003 SP1-based computer, skip this step. Instead, go to step 4.
4. At the command prompt, type CD %Windir%\System32, and then press ENTER.
5. At the command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after each line:
   ren msi.dll msi.old
   ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old
   ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old
6. At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER.
7. Restart your computer in Safe Mode.
8. Update the Windows Installer files on the hard disk to the latest version.
   
   Note On a Windows Server 2003 SP1-based computer, extract the files in the Windows Installer 3.1 redistributable package, and then copy the following files to the %Windir%\System 32 folder on the computer:
   • Msi.dll
   • Msiexec.exe
   • Msihnd.dll
9. Restart your computer in standard mode.

For more information about Windows Installer 3.1 v2, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about Windows Installer technology, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about how to use the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility to troubleshoot installation problems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For more information about Windows Installer error messages, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site: