windows installer service probs

i've followed the recent (9/5) thread on windows installer difficulties, and i am experiencing similar probs. i have also tried newt's following suggestion...

"Did you get the one from Here or maybe the version for 9X which won't work with NT systems.

Did you download it and try the install from your PC? Often times the "Run from current location" option doesn't work nearly as well. "

when i download the InstMsiW.exe file and attempt to open it (either from current location or from disk), i encounter an error message that says, "The specified service already exists ".

here is how i am being impacted by the Window Installer Service prob.....

i'm running win2kpro and i think i have a prob with the windows installer service.

what happened tonight was i wanted to install norton systemworks 2002. after uninstalling the older nsw2001, and upon attempting to install nsw2002, i was prevented from doing so by a dialog that read...

"The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This happens when running in safe mode or when the WIS is not correctly installed. "

(i was not in safe mode)

i then tried to also uninstall another symantec product, norton internet security (nis), and this time i couldn't even uninstall without running into Windows Installer probs!

remember, i was able to uninstall nsw, and only encountered Windows Installer Service probs upon installation.

but now, when attempting to uninstall nis via add/remove programs, i encountered the same WIS dialog as noted above ...

"The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This happens when running in safe mode or when the WIS is not correctly installed. "

when i tried using the uninstaller that comes with nis, i got a different WIS dialog....

"The feature you are trying to use is on a CD-ROM or other removable disk that is not available. Insert the NIS disk and click OK. "

this is not the first time that i have run up against WIS probs, but i've shined it on previously, or worked around it. for instance, when installing a freeware FTP program, the one i liked wouldn't work because of WIS errors. i tried a couple other ones until i found one that installed without WIS probs. but now i'd like to get it fixed, and i don't know how?

also.... i've noticed before that i have been unable to start the WI service, getting an "Error 5: Access is denied " message.

can someone offer some advice, please?

my apologies for the length of this post, but i am trying to provide as much pertinent info as i can.

thanks



mark

 

to add info to my initial WIS post....

i have found 5 Msiexec.exe files on my hard drive. is this okay? is it part of the problem? should i do anything about it?

here are the 5 file paths and version numbers:

C:\msi (1.10.1029.1)
C:\WINNT\$NtServicePackUninstall$ (1.11.2405.0)
C:\WINNT\ServicePackFiles\i386 (2.0.2600.0)
C:\WINNT\system32 (2.0.2600.2)
C:\WINNT\system32\dllcache (2.0.2600.2)

btw, i have installed SP3, with no apparent ill effects, to my knowledge.



mark

 

this is one incredible conversation i'm having with myself!

but i wish to add new info as i am discovering it, in hopes that someone can point me at a solid course of remedial action.

i went into event viewer, and here are the error messages that occur most frequently. how or if they relate to my problems with Windows Installer Service, i do not know...

"Source: BrSerial... The description for Event ID ( 8 ) in Source ( BrSerial ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. "

"Source: Service Control Manager... The IPSEC driver service failed to start due to the following error:
Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service. "

"Source: IPSEC... Unable to allocate required resources. Initialization failed. "

"Source: Service Control Manager... The Windows Installer service terminated with the following error:
Access is denied. "

as a note regarding the above error message relating to system resources being insufficient, i am running win2kpro on a 500mhz dell with 384mb ram. and i'm not doing any sort of intense multi-tasking stuff, just mostly web browsing. and i don't think i have a lot of apps running. i try to monitor what opens on start up and keep it slim.

maybe these event viewer items will shed some light.



mark

 

well, i think i have the Windows Installer Service problem fixed, and i wanted to state that just in case someone was going to spend any time trying to find an answer.

i disabled the Installer Service, then deleted every msiexec.exe, msi.dll and msihnd.dll file on my hd. as i had noted, there were about 5 of each.

then i ran the InstMsiW.exe file from the mister softee site, and that seems to have put things back in order.

at this time i have been able to successfully uninstall one of the symantec programs that was giving me grief, and next i will try the final test and try installing the newer version, which previously i wasn't able to do, either.

maybe all this will help someone else. maybe not. i hope it does!



mark

 

yes, the installs went well also, so i'm confident that the Windows Installer Service prob is now fixed.



mark

 

Thanks for your posts. I am having the same problem, yet my Windows Installer Service is marked disabled. I will erase the files you listed & then re-install with my fingers crossed.

 

My problem was it was set as diable on startup. I started Win Installer & now my un-install task is running.

Thanks so very much for your very informative talk with yourself.

 

mine are crossed too. i hope it works.

[edit in: ah, i just caught your second post. you got off easy, pilotgal! just a matter of turning the service back on! these are the type of problems we need more of, the ones with simple solutions! i'm glad you found my one-way conversations helpful.]



mark