Windows Installer Problem at Work
November 28th, 2008I logged into a new domain at work today and experienced a few problems, it may be just coincidence but it caused me a headache.
I first realised that I couldn’t start Outlook 2003, the installer started, as it does when you start a new profile, and then just quit with a not-very-useful error message. To check if it was a general problem I used Add/Remove Programs to try another program, sure enough the Windows Installer was broken with this error.
The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.
Fortunately searching for this returns a Microsoft Support Article and number one on the list fixed the problem for me, to quote.
Method 1: Unregister and re-register the Windows Installer
1. Click Start, click Run, type MSIEXEC /UNREGISTER, and then click OK. Even if you do this correctly, it may look like nothing occurs.
2. 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.
3. Try your Windows Installer-based application again.
