Hi Folks

This topic is related to Windows Installer issues which you may experience while installing or uninstalling any MSI package. This can happen when you try to install a software application on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, and you may receive the following error message

The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.

As per the Microsoft KB article 315346, This problem may occur if the Windows Installer files that are on your hard disk are damaged or are missing. The recommended solutions for the issue are

• Reregister the Windows Installer or
• Reinstall the Windows Installer

The above solutions are described in details in the below given Microsoft link

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315346

In brief it does the following

Reregister the Windows Installer

msiexec /unregister and msiexec /regserver

Reinstall the Windows Installer

• Unregister Windows Installer: msiexec /unregister
• Rename the following files from the command prompt: Msi.dll, Msiexec.exe, and Msihnd.dll (to .old respective names)
• Restart Windows.
• Install the Windows Installer service again (InstMSI.exe).

The InstMSI.exe related infomartion and the file can be downloaded from given links
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa369548(VS.85).aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=889482fc-5f56-4a38-b838-de776fd4138c&displaylang=en

While installing the Desktop Central Agents or deploying the MSI pacakges through Desktop Central you many experience this issue. Follow the steps mentioned above to overcome the problem.

cheers
Romanus