Windows Installer Problem - Cannot Find Any Solution, Please Help!

[Guest]

When I try to install certain programs (it seems to choose them at random) i
get a window popping up with the following message and just an OK button. I
click the OK button, the window closes and then the installation terminates.
How can I get this window to go away so that I can install programs on my
computer??? (Im using XP Home SP2, Win Inst V 3.01.4000.1823)


Windows ® Installer. V 3.01.4000.1823

msiexec /Option <Required Parameter> [Optional Parameter]

Install Options
</package | /i> <Product.msi>
Installs or configures a product
/a <Product.msi>
Administrative install - Installs a product on the network
/j<u|m> <Product.msi> [/t <Transform List>] [/g <Language ID>]
Advertises a product - m to all users, u to current user
</uninstall | /x> <Product.msi | ProductCode>
Uninstalls the product
Display Options
/quiet
Quiet mode, no user interaction
/passive
Unattended mode - progress bar only
/q[n|b|r|f]
Sets user interface level
n - No UI
b - Basic UI
r - Reduced UI
f - Full UI (default)
/help
Help information
Restart Options
/norestart
Do not restart after the installation is complete
/promptrestart
Prompts the user for restart if necessary
/forcerestart
Always restart the computer after installation
Logging Options
/l[i|w|e|a|r|u|c|m|o|p|v|x|+|!|*] <LogFile>
i - Status messages
w - Nonfatal warnings
e - All error messages
a - Start up of actions
r - Action-specific records
u - User requests
c - Initial UI parameters
m - Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
o - Out-of-disk-space messages
p - Terminal properties
v - Verbose output
x - Extra debugging information
+ - Append to existing log file
! - Flush each line to the log
* - Log all information, except for v and x options
/log <LogFile>
Equivalent of /l* <LogFile>
Update Options
/update <Update1.msp>[;Update2.msp]
Applies update(s)
/uninstall <PatchCodeGuid>[;Update2.msp] /package <Product.msi | ProductCode>
Remove update(s) for a product
Repair Options
/f[p|e|c|m|s|o|d|a|u|v] <Product.msi | ProductCode>
Repairs a product
p - only if file is missing
o - if file is missing or an older version is installed (default)
e - if file is missing or an equal or older version is installed
d - if file is missing or a different version is installed
c - if file is missing or checksum does not match the calculated value
a - forces all files to be reinstalled
u - all required user-specific registry entries (default)
m - all required computer-specific registry entries (default)
s - all existing shortcuts (default)
v - runs from source and recaches local package
Setting Public Properties
[PROPERTY=PropertyValue]

Consult the Windows ® Installer SDK for additional documentation on the
command line syntax.

Copyright © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Portions of this software are based in part on the work of the Independent
JPEG Group.

 

[Vanguard]

When I try to install certain programs (it seems to choose them at random) i
get a window popping up with the following message and just an OK button. I
click the OK button, the window closes and then the installation terminates.
How can I get this window to go away so that I can install programs on my
computer??? (Im using XP Home SP2, Win Inst V 3.01.4000.1823)

<snip>

Looks like an invalid parameter is specified so msiexec.exe responds by
issuing its help page, just like as if you ran the command yourself and
it showed you its help if you specified an invalid parameter.

You say it happens on "certain programs" but then you say it happens at
random. Does that mean you never get this result for all other
programs than those within a list of certain programs? If so, does it
happen at random for those certain programs or always for those certain
programs? What are the certain programs?

In the registry under the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Msi.Package\shell\

Should be subkeys for the Open, Repair, and Uninstall actions, and
under each is a "command" subkey that specifies what command gets
executed. What is the string specified for each shell action's
command?

Similarly there is the:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Msi.Patch\shell

registry key for patches applied by MSI but I don't know what type of
"install" program(s) you are trying to run, especially since the
"certain programs" were never mentioned (and I may not be personally
familiar with them but telling others of them might help because others
may use them).