Windows Installer

[Vistamire]

Here's a popular Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP1 Microsoft wonder....

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.

So, I try to start the service in 'services', & get....

The Windows Installer Service on Local Computer started then stopped. Some Services stop automatically if they are not in use by other services or programs.

So, I figure there's a bad registry key & I import the following key from a good computer....

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\msiserver

That doesn't work either.

So, I think if I just replace the installer application file msiexec with one copied from a good computer

I get:

You need permission to perform this action.

This is Windows Installer 4.0 that isn't working & low and behold it's the only installer from Microsoft that isn't available as a redistributable download. However, Microsoft has Installer 4.5 available for download & it's supposed to be compatible with this system (Vista Service Pack 1).

So, you'd figure the cure is by upgrading to 4.5, but you get....

The update does not apply to your system.

So, I try all other fixes on-line, two or three times and nothing works.

Now by this time, you'd think I'd have taken a hammer to the CPU, but after dealing with computers for 25 years, I've learned that they aren't perfect & they must be the cause of my gray hair.

So, with all this Microsoft imperfection....basically some sort of racketeering, theft by deception, or simply making billions by selling garbage, can anyone explain to me why they haven't fixed the 4.5 download, or at least how can I get my Installer working again? Someone give me the insight on how to delete msiexec.

And they expect a manned mission to Mars....

[Vistamire]

So, no one knows any secrets to fixing this problem? It looks like I'll have to reinstall Windows. I purchased one of those 'repair discs' for Windows Vista. Anyone have any luck with one of those? I'm kind of afraid to try it out until I have everything backed up & transferred to a safe place.