G
Guest
I am having problems with running windows installer. Whenever I try to
install an .msi application, I always get a message that reads:
The installation package could not be opened. Verify that the package
exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to
verify that this is a valid Windows Installer package.
For starters, I’m running XP with SP2 on a laptop that I got less than a
year ago.
I have tried many many things over the past months, and all of the
suggestions in previous posts here in this forum (going back about a year)
that I thought might apply:
1. I have run services.msc and made sure that Windows Installer is set to
“manualâ€. (For the record, I’ve tried “autoâ€, and “disabled†as well, and
also tried just setting this service to “startedâ€.)
2. I have tried running msiexec /unreg and msiexec /regserver
3. I do have wiexec.exe on my computer, and it is version 3.1.4000.1823,
which as far as I can tell, is the latest version.
4. Tried to run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility, but I had no idea
which program I should uninstall with it.
5. Read through and did suggestions in “How To Resolve Common Installer
Problems†(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=555175 ).
a. Method 1 – unregister and re-register installer – did not work
b. Method 2 – Upgrade Installer – I have the latest version so I don’t think
it applies
c. Method 3 – Run MS Cleanup Utility – I’m not aware of any failed
installations on my computer, but tried it anyway. I ended up not knowing
what I should do with the uninstall utility at all. Should I wholesale just
uninstall all programs? That seems a little extreme.
d. Method 4 – Make sure Installer service is enabled. It was, but tried
disabling and re-enabling again to no avail.
e. Method 5 – empty various user and system “temp†folders – done but did
not help.
f. Method 6 – Enable Windows Installer Logging. I could not follow MS’s
directions for how to do this as I don’t understand anything about modifying
my registry, so I downloaded the registry key from Kellys Korner, and I’ll
post the results of that below.
g. Method 7 – Check correct DCOM and system permissions. Unfortunately, the
article they link to says this isn’t an issue with XP, and also says that
this is only for NT and 2000.
h. Method 8 – This only applies if you’ve just upgraded to SP2 and the
installer problem only appears after this upgrade. I wasn’t sure if this
applied, since I purchased this computer with XP and SP2 already installed.
I suppose it’s possible that when the manufacturer installed XP and SP2 that
perhaps this problem with Windows Installer went unnoticed. This fix seems
to involve uninstalling SP2 and installing an “885894 packageâ€. I’m
unwilling to do this unless someone more knowledgeable than me can advise me.
i. Method 9 – “Check that the installation path length and the environment
variables length are execute 255 characters†[sic] I have no idea what this
means or how to do this.
j. Method 10 – what to do if you get a message “error 1625: Failed to
execute script based installâ€. I do not get this message.
k. Method 11 – check for pending installations. I checked the registry
entries as advised, but I either had no registries or no entries, indicating
that I had no pending installations.
l. Method 12 – Obtain update MSI package from vendor. Since the MSI
packages that I’ve been trying to install come directly from Microsoft
(Defender and VistaUpgradeAdvisor) it’s hard for me to believe that these are
not updated MSI packages. Even so, I’ve tried both of these at times that
are months apart.
6. One suggestion that I found on the internet was that maybe these MSI
packages weren’t downloading properly, so I tried downloading them on various
different machines and then copying to my machine and trying it. This has
not fixed the problem.
7. Another suggestion was to try turning off my antivirus (AVG Free Edition)
and my firewall (ZoneAlarm – I do not run XP’s firewall). This has not made
any difference.
8. Here is the script that the Installer troubleshooting log provides:
Unfortunately, I’m too dumb to know what this might mean, or what I can do
about it.
9. The computer had come with a trial version of Office2003 installed on it,
but I never ran it, and uninstalled it shortly after purchasing it. Then,
when I tried to install OfficeXP on it, the installation kept failing and
giving me an error. I don’t remember exactly what I had to do to resolve
that issue (that was over 9 months ago), but my recollection is that it
involved creating a “temp†directory somewhere that hadn’t existed and was
causing the install to fail. I have read many problems here in the forum
that seemed to involve the MS Office products and Installer, so I’m wondering
if I should uninstall OfficeXP and try again. I hope that I don’t have to do
this.
It looks to me like I’m pretty much in the same boat as the poster in this
thread
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...-us-ms-winxp&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1
) and this community has unfortunately fallen silent upon his/her last post.
I hope someone here can offer other suggestions for me to try.
Thanks in advance.
install an .msi application, I always get a message that reads:
The installation package could not be opened. Verify that the package
exists and that you can access it, or contact the application vendor to
verify that this is a valid Windows Installer package.
For starters, I’m running XP with SP2 on a laptop that I got less than a
year ago.
I have tried many many things over the past months, and all of the
suggestions in previous posts here in this forum (going back about a year)
that I thought might apply:
1. I have run services.msc and made sure that Windows Installer is set to
“manualâ€. (For the record, I’ve tried “autoâ€, and “disabled†as well, and
also tried just setting this service to “startedâ€.)
2. I have tried running msiexec /unreg and msiexec /regserver
3. I do have wiexec.exe on my computer, and it is version 3.1.4000.1823,
which as far as I can tell, is the latest version.
4. Tried to run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility, but I had no idea
which program I should uninstall with it.
5. Read through and did suggestions in “How To Resolve Common Installer
Problems†(http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=555175 ).
a. Method 1 – unregister and re-register installer – did not work
b. Method 2 – Upgrade Installer – I have the latest version so I don’t think
it applies
c. Method 3 – Run MS Cleanup Utility – I’m not aware of any failed
installations on my computer, but tried it anyway. I ended up not knowing
what I should do with the uninstall utility at all. Should I wholesale just
uninstall all programs? That seems a little extreme.
d. Method 4 – Make sure Installer service is enabled. It was, but tried
disabling and re-enabling again to no avail.
e. Method 5 – empty various user and system “temp†folders – done but did
not help.
f. Method 6 – Enable Windows Installer Logging. I could not follow MS’s
directions for how to do this as I don’t understand anything about modifying
my registry, so I downloaded the registry key from Kellys Korner, and I’ll
post the results of that below.
g. Method 7 – Check correct DCOM and system permissions. Unfortunately, the
article they link to says this isn’t an issue with XP, and also says that
this is only for NT and 2000.
h. Method 8 – This only applies if you’ve just upgraded to SP2 and the
installer problem only appears after this upgrade. I wasn’t sure if this
applied, since I purchased this computer with XP and SP2 already installed.
I suppose it’s possible that when the manufacturer installed XP and SP2 that
perhaps this problem with Windows Installer went unnoticed. This fix seems
to involve uninstalling SP2 and installing an “885894 packageâ€. I’m
unwilling to do this unless someone more knowledgeable than me can advise me.
i. Method 9 – “Check that the installation path length and the environment
variables length are execute 255 characters†[sic] I have no idea what this
means or how to do this.
j. Method 10 – what to do if you get a message “error 1625: Failed to
execute script based installâ€. I do not get this message.
k. Method 11 – check for pending installations. I checked the registry
entries as advised, but I either had no registries or no entries, indicating
that I had no pending installations.
l. Method 12 – Obtain update MSI package from vendor. Since the MSI
packages that I’ve been trying to install come directly from Microsoft
(Defender and VistaUpgradeAdvisor) it’s hard for me to believe that these are
not updated MSI packages. Even so, I’ve tried both of these at times that
are months apart.
6. One suggestion that I found on the internet was that maybe these MSI
packages weren’t downloading properly, so I tried downloading them on various
different machines and then copying to my machine and trying it. This has
not fixed the problem.
7. Another suggestion was to try turning off my antivirus (AVG Free Edition)
and my firewall (ZoneAlarm – I do not run XP’s firewall). This has not made
any difference.
8. Here is the script that the Installer troubleshooting log provides:
=== Verbose logging started: 12/2/2006 14:07:12 Build type: SHIP
UNICODE 3.01.4000.2435 Calling process: C:\WINDOWS\System32\msiexec.exe ===
MSI (c) (B88) [14:07:12:562]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (c) (B8
MSI (c) (B8
******* Product: C:\Documents and
Settings\Owner"\Desktop\WindowsVistaUpgradeAdvisor.msi
******* Action:
******* CommandLine: **********
MSI (c) (B8
Settings\Owner"\Desktop\WindowsVistaUpgradeAdvisor.msi 3: -2147286788
MSI (c) (B8
=== Verbose logging stopped: 12/2/2006 14:07:12 ===
Unfortunately, I’m too dumb to know what this might mean, or what I can do
about it.
9. The computer had come with a trial version of Office2003 installed on it,
but I never ran it, and uninstalled it shortly after purchasing it. Then,
when I tried to install OfficeXP on it, the installation kept failing and
giving me an error. I don’t remember exactly what I had to do to resolve
that issue (that was over 9 months ago), but my recollection is that it
involved creating a “temp†directory somewhere that hadn’t existed and was
causing the install to fail. I have read many problems here in the forum
that seemed to involve the MS Office products and Installer, so I’m wondering
if I should uninstall OfficeXP and try again. I hope that I don’t have to do
this.
It looks to me like I’m pretty much in the same boat as the poster in this
thread
(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/...-us-ms-winxp&lang=en&cr=US&sloc=en-us&m=1&p=1
) and this community has unfortunately fallen silent upon his/her last post.
I hope someone here can offer other suggestions for me to try.
Thanks in advance.