How to Troubleshoot Windows Installer Errors? (Easy Fixes)

Encounter Windows Installer Errors

Windows Installer, which is formally known as Microsoft Installer, is a software component and application programming interface (API) of Microsoft Windows used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software.

When you install, uninstall, or update a program on your Windows computer, Windows Installer may not work and show one of the following error messages:

• The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed.
• Windows Installer Service couldn’t be started.
• There is a problem with this Windows Installer package.
• Could not start the Windows Installer service on Local Computer. Error 5: Access is denied.

Windows Installer has stopped working on your computer. You need to do something to fix it.

How to Fix Windows Installer Errors?

Auto-Fix: Run the Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter

To automatically troubleshoot Windows Installer errors, you can download and run the Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter to repair issues that block program installation or removal or update because of corrupted registry keys.

Here are also some other fixes. Before using these methods, you need to make sure the account you have logged in has administrator rights.

Then, you can use the following methods to manually repair Windows Installer.

Way 1: Check the Windows Installer Issues

If the Windows Installer is not working, you can suspect that the Windows Installer engine is corrupted, disabled, or not installed properly. You can use the following methods to identify the issue and fix it.

Case 1: Check whether the Windows Installer engine is working.

Step 1: Open Command Prompt.

Step 2: Type MSIExec into the Command Prompt interface and press Enter.

Step 3: If the MSI engine is working normally, you will not receive any error messages. However, if you see an error message, you can search for the error message using your web browser to fetch the information about how to troubleshoot the problem.

Step 4: Install or uninstall or update the program again.

Case 2: Make sure that the Windows Installer service is enabled

Step 1: Open Services.

Step 2: Scroll down to find Windows Installer, then right-click it and select Properties.

Step 3: Is the Startup type box is set to Disabled, you need to change it to Manual.

Step 4: Click OK to save the setting.

Step 5: Right-click the Windows Installer service and select Start. This service will start normally.

Case 3: Check the Windows Installer version

Step 1: Open Command Prompt.

Step 2: Type MSIExec into the Command Prompt interface and press Enter.

Step 3: Check the version of the Windows Installer.

Way 2: Use other Methods to Install or Update Programs

If you can’t use the normal way to install or update a program, you can use another way to do the job.

See how to install software on a Windows computer.

Way 3: Use other Ways to Uninstall Programs

If you can’t use the universal way to remove a program, you can also try another way to do it. For example, you can uninstall a program from Start or Control Panel.

Option 1: From Start

Step 1: Click Start, then click All Programs or All apps.

Step 2: Find the program you want to uninstall, then right-click it and select Uninstall.

Step 3: Follow the wizards to uninstall that program.

Option 2: From Control Panel

Step 1: Open Control Panel.

Step 2: Click Add and Remove Programs or Programs and Features.

Step 3: Click Uninstall a program.

Step 4: Choose the program and select Uninstall.

Step 5: Follow the wizards to uninstall that program.

Bottom Line

These are the methods to troubleshoot Windows Installer errors. We hope they can help you solve your software install, uninstall, or update issues.

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