Error The Windows Installer Service Could Not Be Accessed

when installing or updating programs on Windows 7 or

Windows Vista
View products that this article applies to.
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SYMPTOMS

When attempting to install applications you may receive the following error:

"The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the
Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for
assistance."
For this issue on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 see the following article:
315346 Error message when you try to add or remove a program on a computer that is running Windows XP or
Windows Server 2003: "The Windows Installer service could not be accessed"
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CAUSE

This problem may occur if one or more of the following conditions is true:
You install or remove a program that uses the Microsoft Installer Service
to install a program on your computer.
The Windows Installer Service is not running.
The Windows Installer registry settings may be corrupted or set
incorrectly.
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RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue, follow the steps in the methods below starting with
Method 1, if the steps in that method do not resolve the issue, go to the next
method.
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Method 1: Reset the Windows Installer Service Registry settings

Click here to view or hide detailed information

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
You can reset the Windows Installer Service settings in the registry by creating a registry file using Notepad and
then running that file to update the registry key.
To have us update the registry key for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you prefer to fix this problem
yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Then click Run in
the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.
Fix this problem
Microsoft Fix it 50809

Notes
This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also
works for other language versions of Windows.
If you are not on the computer that has the problem, save the Fix it
solution to a flash drive or a CD and then run it on the computer that
has the problem.
Then, go to the "Did this fix the problem?" section.

Let me fix it myself

To do this, follow these steps:

1.

Click Start and type Notepad in the Search box and

click Notepad.exe under Programs

2.

Copy the following text and paste it into Notepad.

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,0
0,63,00,\
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,0
0,67,00,\
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,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6
c,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,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00
"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
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msiserver\E
num]
"0"="Root\\LEGACY_MSISERVER\\0000"
"Count"=dword:00000001
"NextInstance"=dword:00000001

3.

Once the text is pasted into Notepad, click File, click Save As, and then
type Msirepair.reg for the name of the file.

4.
5.
6.
7.

In the Save as type box, click All Files (*.*).

8.

Click Yes when prompted to install the registry keys.

In the Save in box, click Desktop, and then click Save.

On the File menu, click Exit to close Notepad.
On your Desktop, right -click the Msirepair.reg file that you saved in
step 5, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for
an administrator password or confirmation, type the password, or
click Continue.

The Windows Installer registry will be updated in the registry.

9. Restart the installation of your program.
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Method 2: Start the Windows Installer Service

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Follow the steps below:

1. Click Start, type CMD in the Search programs and files.

2.
3.

Right-click cmd.exe and choose Run as Administrator.

Type net start MSIServer and then press Enter.

4. Restart the installation of your program.

If you still receive the error, go to method 2.
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Method 3: Check the status of the Windows Installer Service

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To check and see if the Windows Installer Service is set correctly and
started, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, type services.msc in the Search box, and then
click Services under Programs.

2.

In the Services (Local) list, right-click Windows Installer, and then

click Properties.

3.

In the Startup type drop-down list make sure that the value is set
to Manual.

4.

If the Service status: is Stopped, click Start and wait for the service
to start and then click OK.

5.

Click the File menu, and then click Exit.

6. Restart the installation of your program.
If you still receive the error, go to method 3.
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Method 4: uninstall any previous versions of applications that you

may be trying to update
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In some cases you may be trying to update software program on your

computer with an updated version. If you are receiving the error The
Windows Installer Service Could Not Be Accessed, you may need to
uninstall the previous version of that program first, and then install the
updated version. To do that, follow these steps:

1.

Click Start, Control Panel and click Uninstall a

Program under Programs.
2. Browse through the list of applications and click the application that you
are trying to update.

3.

With the application selected, click Uninstall (or Uninstall/Change for

Windows Vista), and follow any instructions or prompts to uninstall the
application.
4. Restart your computer to complete the uninstall and clean up any
uninstall files.
5. Install the updated program.
Note: Some programs require that a previous version of that program be
present on your computer before you install an upgrade. This is most often the
case with purchased programs. Free programs will not normally have this
requirement.

Did this fix the problem?