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.
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.
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.
2.Find Windows Installer service then right-click on it and select Properties.
3.Click on Start if the service is not already running.
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).
2.Type the following command into cmd and hit Enter:
msiexec /unreg
msiexec /regserver
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
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
6.Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
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.
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
10.Boot your PC into safe mode using any of the methods listed here.
11.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).
12.Type the following command and hit Enter:
msiexec /regserver
%windir%\Syswow64\Msiexec /regserver
13.Close everything and boot your PC normally. See if you’re able to Fix Windows Installer Access Denied Errorif 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.
3.From the Save as type drop-down select All Files.
4.Name the file as MSIrepair.reg (reg extension is very important).
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).
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.
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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.