The Todd Today

You probably found this post because a program you are trying to install is giving you the error “The Windows Installer service could not be accessed”.

The issue here is that the registry has been damaged and or the msiexec service is not started properly, most likely a combination of both.

How this happened is hard to say but below is how you can fix it.

1. Click on the Start button
2. Windows XP click the run button, Vista and Windows 7 click in the search box and type in “regedit” and hit enter.
3. On the left side Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE – SYSTEM – CurrentControlSet – Services – MSIServer
4. To the right you’ll see WOW64.  Right click on it and click on modify.
5. Change the setting from 1 to 0.
6. Close regedit
7. Next, click on start and control panel
8. Double click Administrator Tools
9. Double Click Services
10. Look for and find the Windows Installer service.
11. Double click on it and click stop then click start again.
12. Ensure Startup type is Manual
13. Click OK and then close the Services window
14. You should now be able to install your programs.

Let me know in the comments if this worked for you.