Why don't any MSI (Windows Installer) installers work?
For quite some time already, I have not been able to install any applications that in any way use the Windows Installer (aka msiexec) which is most of the apps out there. I am not talking about some random specific program that does not install, it's ANY program.
All the installers say this:
The one I am using right now is: http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/F/F/CFF3A0B8-99D4-41A2-AE1A-496C08BEB904/WebPlatformInstaller_amd64_en-US.msi
As you can see, it is an official Microsoft download, so the package is not the problem.
Also, using this SuperUser post I ran msiexec.exe /I "WebPlatformInstaller_amd64_en-US.msi" /QN /L*V! "C:\msilog.log" and I got this log:
=== Verbose logging started: 3/28/2015 20:46:26 Build type: SHIP UNICODE 5.00.9600.00 Calling process: C:\WINDOWS\system32\msiexec.exe ===
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:26:944]: Resetting cached policy values
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:26:994]: Machine policy value 'Debug' is 7
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:27:034]: ******* RunEngine:
******* Product: WebPlatformInstaller_amd64_en-US.msi
******* Action:
******* CommandLine:
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:27:062]: Client-side and UI is none or basic: Running entire install on the server.
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:27:086]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:27:137]: Cloaking enabled.
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:27:166]: Attempting to enable all disabled privileges before calling Install on Server
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:27:194]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown. Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:222]: Running installation inside multi-package transaction C:\Users\Maxwell\Downloads\WebPlatformInstaller_amd64_en-US.msi
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:243]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (s) (B8:7C) [20:46:27:270]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:295]: User policy value 'DisableRollback' is 0
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:318]: Machine policy value 'DisableRollback' is 0
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:345]: Incrementing counter to disable shutdown. Counter after increment: 0
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:369]: Note: 1: 1402 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Rollback\Scripts 3: 2
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:395]: Note: 1: 1402 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\Rollback\Scripts 3: 2
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:419]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied. Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:27:446]: Decrementing counter to disable shutdown. If counter >= 0, shutdown will be denied. Counter after decrement: -1
MSI (c) (0C:C4) [20:46:27:470]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603
=== Verbose logging stopped: 3/28/2015 20:46:27 ===
Does anyone have any ideas why this is happening and most importantly, how to fix it.
System Info:
OS: Windows 8.1
Architecture: x64
I don't have any actual anti-virus. Just the default Windows Defender or whatever they call it now.
EDIT: When I analyzed msiexec.exe using Process Explorer, I found that it tries to access a registry key that does not exist: (click to enlarge)
Solution 1:
- Try msicuu to remove a broken MSI install attempt
- Go into services.msc and make sure the Windows Installer service is set to run "manual". If running, stop it. Or use sc.exe command to stop it.
- Instead of /QN try /qb! to see the progress, or just run the .msi package interactively. It might show more detail. Try something less complex like 7-zip.
- Check the Windows event logs (application and system logs) and search for events right around the date/time of the failures.
I hope this helps.
Solution 2:
msiexec.exe only allows one MSI to modify the system at a time. From your log file it looks like your installs are failing soon after grabbing the msiexec mutex lock:
MSI (s) (B8:30) [20:46:27:243]: Grabbed execution mutex.
MSI (s) (B8:7C) [20:46:27:270]: MainEngineThread is returning 1603
Check that the msiexec.exe process is not running in TaskManager before you run your installer.