JSI Tip 8772. When you attempt to install a program that uses Windows Installer on Windows XP, the installation fails?

The error messages you receive when attempting to install a program that uses Windows Installer are similar to one of the following:

This behavior will occur if the Windows Installer files are missing or corrupted.

To fix this problem, perform the following steps until the problem is resolved:

01. Close all Windows programs.

02. Open a CMD.EXE window.

03. Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one:

msiexec /unregister
msiexec /regserver

04. Shutdown and restart Windows XP.

05. Attempt to install the a program that uses Windows Installer. If it succeeds, exit this procedure.

06. Open a CMD.EXE window.

07. Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one:

msiexec /unregister
CD /D %SystemRoot%System32
rename Msi.dll Msi.old
rename Msihnd.dll Msihnd.old
rename Msiexec.exe Msiexec.old

08. Shutdown and restart Windows XP.

09. Attempt to install the a program that uses Windows Installer. If it succeeds, exit this procedure.

10. Restart Windows XP in Safe Mode and repeat steps 01 - 09.

11. Perform an in-place upgrade of Windows XP.