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.

Image via Wikipedia

So today we had a customer bring in a laptop running Windows XP that would not print websites correctly using Internet Explorer 7.  Instead of printing the text and images it would print the HTML code that created the webpage.  After digging around in several forums I was able to put together the following solution.

1. Click start
2. Click Set Program Access and Defaults
3. Most likely Custom is selected, click the down arrows off to the right to expand the field.  Even if custom is not selected do the same for the field that is selected.
4. Under choose a default web browser, select Internet Explorer
5. Then hit Ok

Thats it, now go and try print another website as it should be working fine now.

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

So this is the first thing that we alway try, so if you find that Windows Update refuses to install patches it is very possibley because of the following DLL‘sfailed to be registered with Windows.  Just follow the instructions below to fix it.

Step 1. Open Notepad (or any text editor).

Step 2. Copy and paste the following command lines into the Notepad window (the /s switch runs the commands silently, freeing you from having to press Enter after each line):

regsvr32 /s wuapi.dll
regsvr32 /s wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 /s wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 /s wucltui.dll
regsvr32 /s wups2.dll
regsvr32 /s wups.dll
regsvr32 /s wuweb.dll

Step 3. Save the file to your desktop, using a .bat or .cmd extension.

Step 4. Double-click the icon of the .bat or .cmd file.

Step 5. A command window will open, run the commands, and then close.

Let us know if this works for you or not in the comments.

Slipstreaming has become so much easier than it was not to long ago thank to tools such as nLite, Windows Updates Downloader, & WMP11 Slipstreamer.  We have been using this method for quickly reloading desktops and laptops with Windows xp, 2000 and Vista for quite awhile at the shop,  I figured I would write up a post about it for your and our future reference should we forget.

The tool that does most of the work here is nLite, nLite takes all the work that it takes to put together a slipstream disc and automates most of it.  All you have to do is answer the prompts that come up as you work through the wizards.  For a list of all the features go to http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html .   A couple big things that we love about nLite are that you can add any drivers you would like to the OS install CD as well as its ability to incorporate all the updates from Windows update onto your install disc, and that where the Windows Updates Downloader comes into play.

Windows Updates Downloader is one of the greatest time savers you can find, it takes all the work out of hunting down every windows update you could ever need.  You simply download the program and then download the url list that corresponds to the version of Windows that you wish to install, select the updates you want, hit continue and bam, you have more updates than you know what to do with.

Finally the last tool is optional but if you want to slipstream Windows Media Player 11 then you will need it.  WMP11 Slipstreamer once installed is automatically used by nLite to slipstream WMP 11 onto your Windows install CD.  No need to do any customization of this tool as it works out of the box just fine.

One last things to note is that not all updates will slipstream so during the build process of nLite you will get errors but fear not just coninue on and you will have a nice slipstream disc in no time.  If you need help at anytime referr to the forums on each products site as they seem to be very helpfull in our experience.

Hope this helps someone!

What I do not like about the interface is that if you leave it at its automagically configured settings then it is painfully slow. Unless your computer is running 2GB’s of RAM (ours is running 1GB) then it just seems to slow to a crawl and lets not forget the random lockups. If you turn off all the graphical enhancements then it really speeds up and is mostly usable.

Some other issues are the constant barrage of pop-ups asking are you sure you want to do this? and then after say ok it asks again are you really sure? Just to delete an icon it takes three clicks and two pop-ups which is just crazy. I know this is in the name of security but take a look at Ubuntu Linux and Mac OS X if you want to see a good handle on security. Security can be attained while not being completely annoying.

So all that talk brings me to the point of trying to stay away from Vista if at all possible. I know Microsoft is going to be and currently is pushing Vista on people and XP machines are becoming hard to find but I would search high and low for them if you have the time. Currently we have all XP machines (new and used) and are staying away from Vista as long as possible. This is also a good time to try out Ubuntu Linux (which has come a long way and is a very viable option) or give Mac OS X a shot which is a proven alternative to windows.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.