Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error

Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error: If you are facing the error message “Access Denied” while trying to install a new program on Windows 10 or if you’re facing Msiexec.exe Access is Denied Error then you are at the right place as today we are going to fix this issue. The main cause of the error seems to corrupted or damaged Windows Installer files.

Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error

When you try to install or uninstall programs from Windows 10, you may get any one of the following warning messages:

The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed
Windows Installer Service couldn’t be started
Could not start the Windows Installer service on Local Computer. Error 5: Access is denied.

Fix The Windows Installer service could not be accessed error

In order to fix the underlying cause of this problem, we need to re-register Windows Installer files or sometimes by simply restarting Windows Installer services seems to fix the issue. So without wasting any time let’s see how to actually Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error with the help of the below-listed guide.

Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error

Make sure to create a restore point, just in case something goes wrong.

Method 1: Restart Windows Installer Service

1.Press Windows Key + R then type services.msc and hit Enter.

services windows

2.Find Windows Installer service then right-click on it and select Properties.

Right-click on Windows Installer Service then select Properties

3.Click on Start if the service is not already running.

make sure startup type of Windows Installer is set to Automatic and click on Start

4.If the service is already running then right-click and select Restart.

5.Again try to install the program which was giving access denied error.

Method 2: Re-register Windows Installer

1.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).

command prompt admin

2.Type the following command into cmd and hit Enter:

msiexec /unreg

msiexec /regserver

Re-register Windows Installer

3.Reboot your PC to save changes.

4.If the issue is not resolved then press Windows key + R then type the following and hit Enter:

%windir%\system32

 Open system 32 %windir%\system32

5.Locate the Msiexec.exe file then note down the exact address of the file which would be something like this:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\Msiexec.exe

Note down the exact address of msiexec.exe file in System 32 folder

6.Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.

Run command regedit

7.Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer

8.Select MSIServer then in the right window pane double-click on ImagePath.

Double-click on ImagePath under msiserver registry key

9.Now type the location of the Msiexec.exe file which you noted above in the value data field followed by “/V” and the whole thing would look like:

C:\WINDOWS\system32\Msiexec.exe /V

Change value of ImagePath String

10.Boot your PC into safe mode using any of the methods listed here.

11.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).

command prompt admin

12.Type the following command and hit Enter:

msiexec /regserver

%windir%\Syswow64\Msiexec /regserver

Re-register msiexec or windows installer

13.Close everything and boot your PC normally. See if you’re able to Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error, if not then continue with the next method.

Method 3: Reset the Windows Installer Service

1.Open Notepad then copy & paste the following as it is:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msiserver]
"DisplayName"="@%SystemRoot%\\system32\\msimsg.dll,-27"
"ImagePath"=hex(2):25,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,72,00,6f,00,6f,00,\
74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,\
00,73,00,69,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,63,00,20,00,2f,00,56,00,00,00
"Description"="@%SystemRoot%\\system32\\msimsg.dll,-32"
"ObjectName"="LocalSystem"
"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
"Start"=dword:00000003
"Type"=dword:00000010
"DependOnService"=hex(7):72,00,70,00,63,00,73,00,73,00,00,00,00,00
"ServiceSidType"=dword:00000001
"RequiredPrivileges"=hex(7):53,00,65,00,54,00,63,00,62,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,\
00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,\
74,00,65,00,50,00,61,00,67,00,65,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,\
00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4c,00,6f,00,63,00,\
6b,00,4d,00,65,00,6d,00,6f,00,72,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\
00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6e,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,\
73,00,65,00,42,00,61,00,73,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,6f,00,72,00,69,00,74,\
00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,\
65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,65,00,72,00,6d,00,61,00,6e,\
00,65,00,6e,00,74,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,\
00,00,53,00,65,00,41,00,75,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,\
00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,65,00,63,00,75,00,72,00,\
69,00,74,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,\
00,53,00,65,00,43,00,68,00,61,00,6e,00,67,00,65,00,4e,00,6f,00,74,00,69,00,\
66,00,79,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,\
00,65,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,66,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,53,00,69,00,6e,00,67,00,\
6c,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,63,00,65,00,73,00,73,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,\
00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6d,00,70,00,65,00,\
72,00,73,00,6f,00,6e,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,\
00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,43,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,74,00,65,00,\
47,00,6c,00,6f,00,62,00,61,00,6c,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,\
00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,41,00,73,00,73,00,69,00,67,00,6e,00,50,00,\
72,00,69,00,6d,00,61,00,72,00,79,00,54,00,6f,00,6b,00,65,00,6e,00,50,00,72,\
00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,52,00,65,00,\
73,00,74,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,\
00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,49,00,6e,00,63,00,72,00,65,00,61,00,73,00,65,00,\
51,00,75,00,6f,00,74,00,61,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,\
00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,53,00,68,00,75,00,74,00,64,00,6f,00,77,00,6e,00,\
50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,54,\
00,61,00,6b,00,65,00,4f,00,77,00,6e,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,68,00,69,00,70,00,\
50,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,53,00,65,00,4c,\
00,6f,00,61,00,64,00,44,00,72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,50,00,72,00,69,00,\
76,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,67,00,65,00,00,00,00,00
"FailureActions"=hex:84,03,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,14,00,00,\
00,01,00,00,00,c0,d4,01,00,01,00,00,00,e0,93,04,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msiserver\Enum]
"0"="Root\\LEGACY_MSISERVER\\0000"
"Count"=dword:00000001
"NextInstance"=dword:00000001

2.Now from Notepad menu click File then click Save As.

From Notepad menu click on File then select Save As

3.From the Save as type drop-down select All Files.

4.Name the file as MSIrepair.reg (reg extension is very important).

Type MSIrepair.reg and from save as type select All Files

5.Navigate to desktop or where you want to save the file and then click Save.

6.Now right-click on the MSI repair.reg file and select Run as Administrator.

7.Reboot your PC to save changes and see if you’re able to Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error.

Method 4: Reinstall Windows Installer

Note: Only Applied to earlier version of Windows

1.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).

command prompt admin

2.Type the following command into cmd and hit Enter after each one:

cd %windir%\system32
attrib -r -s -h dllcache
ren msi.dll msi.old
ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old
ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old
exit

3.Reboot your PC and then download the Windows Installer 4.5 Redistributable from Microsoft website here.

4.Install the Redistributable package and then reboot your PC.

Recommended:

That’s it you have successfully Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error but if you still have any questions regarding this guide then feel free ask them in the comment’s section.

1 thought on “Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Error”

  1. Ok, I have figured out what is causing errors when upgrading windows 10 to a newer version of windows 10. Although the steps above may work for you or some of you, it will not works for all of you as the steps did not work for me. You have to look at your services, usually I right click the blank part of the task bar left of the clock and other icons and a pop-up menu shows, choose “task manager” and then at the top choose services at the last right tab, scroll down to group policy and right click that and left click properties, here is the problem, if it is grayed out you cannot change the settings to automatic and start, if you have it at automatic and started then this method is not your issue. Open a command prompt windows logo and X, then choose command prompt administrator. in the command window type gpupdate /force and hit enter, refresh your services window and you should see that group policy is running. close out your open windows and now attempt the upgrade of windows 10. If I helped you, you are welcome.

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