Hello, I am getting event ID 1026 in my Windows server 2008 sp2. Error message is Windows Installer has determined that its configuration data registry key was not secured properly. The owner of the key must be either Local System or Builtin\Administrators. The existing key will be deleted and re-created with the appropriate security settings. When i tried to start WINDOWS INSTALLER service, i get error of THE WINDOWS INSTALLER SERVICE ON LOCAL COMPUTER STARTED AND STOPPED. SOME SERVICES STOP AUTOMATICALLY...................... I am unable to install anything on my windows server and no automatic updates are applied because of this. This server is also part of CCR of exchange 2007. Kindly help me. I have tried unregistering/registering msiinstaller service, but no luck.

Hi Hasan-Exchanger, Please try to reinstall the Windows Installer on your Windows 2008 Server. To reinstall the Windows Installer, rename the damaged Windows Installer files, and then reinstall the Windows Installer. To do this, follow these steps: Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open text box, and then click OK. Type cd %windir%\system32, and then press ENTER. Type attrib -r -s -h dllcache, and then press ENTER. Type ren msi.dll msi.old, and then press ENTER. Type ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old, and then press ENTER. Type ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old, and then press ENTER. Type exit, and then press ENTER. At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER. Click Start, and then click Turn off computer or Shut Down. Select the Restart option, and then click OK, or click Restart. Log on to the computer. Download and install the latest version of the Windows Installer from the link below http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5a58b56f-60b6-4412-95b9-54d056d6f9f4&displaylang=en Click Start, and then click Turn off computer or Shut Down. Select the Restart option, and then click OK, or click Restart. Regards, Karen JiThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hasan-Exchanger, Please try to reinstall the Windows Installer on your Windows 2008 Server. To reinstall the Windows Installer, rename the damaged Windows Installer files, and then reinstall the Windows Installer. To do this, follow these steps: Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open text box, and then click OK. Type cd %windir%\system32, and then press ENTER. Type attrib -r -s -h dllcache, and then press ENTER. Type ren msi.dll msi.old, and then press ENTER. Type ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old, and then press ENTER. Type ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old, and then press ENTER. Type exit, and then press ENTER. At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER. Click Start, and then click Turn off computer or Shut Down. Select the Restart option, and then click OK, or click Restart. Log on to the computer. Download and install the latest version of the Windows Installer from the link below http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5a58b56f-60b6-4412-95b9-54d056d6f9f4&displaylang=en Click Start, and then click Turn off computer or Shut Down. Select the Restart option, and then click OK, or click Restart. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Dear Karen, I have already tried this, i renamed these files and tried to reinstall it. But it was giving error that THE UPDATE DOESN'T APPLY TO YOUR SYSTEM ...........though i am installing the right file. Windows6.0-KB942288-v2-x64 this one. And this is for Windows 2008 64 bit hardware.........right??? Also when applying this point Type attrib -r -s -h dllcache, and then press ENTER I am getting FILE NOT FOUND.........i cannot find file or directory named dllcache. Surprisingly, when i uninstalled SP2, i found out that version of Windows Installer is 4.0, then i tried to install this file and it worked fine and installed correctly. Dont know why this is giving error in reinstalling.

Hi Hasan, Thank you for the update! It is correct to install Windows6.0-KB942288-v2-x64 on your Windows Server 2008 x64 computer. I'm not sure why you were not able to install it with SP2. Maybe there's something wrong when you installed the service pack 2. So, is the problem fixed after you reinstalled the Windows Installer 4.5? Are you able to install service pack 2 successfully? Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hasan, Thank you for the update! It is correct to install Windows6.0-KB942288-v2-x64 on your Windows Server 2008 x64 computer. I'm not sure why you were not able to install it with SP2. Maybe there's something wrong when you installed the service pack 2. So, is the problem fixed after you reinstalled the Windows Installer 4.5? Are you able to install service pack 2 successfully? Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Yes it installed Windows installer 4.5 successfully and after that i installed SP2 which also installed successfuly. But the problem still persists.

Hi Hansan, Please try to perform a clean boot and check whether you are able to install any applications or updates on your computer. Please find the detailed steps in the kb article below. How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135/en-us Please remember to reset the computer to normal startup after that. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hansan, Please try to perform a clean boot and check whether you are able to install any applications or updates on your computer. Please find the detailed steps in the kb article below. How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135/en-us Please remember to reset the computer to normal startup after that. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Karen, Is this apply to Windows Server 2008 as well? And if the server is production server, is it good to do these all steps. Just for your knowledge, this server is part of Exchange 2007 CCR. it is passive node.

Hi Hasan, Yes, it applies to Windows Server 2008. The clean boot will cause some functions unavailable. But after you return to normal startup, all the functions will be back. If the Exchange service is listed in the services tab of System Configuration window. I'm afraid that will not work after clean boot. You might try this method in the off hours. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hasan, Yes, it applies to Windows Server 2008. The clean boot will cause some functions unavailable. But after you return to normal startup, all the functions will be back. If the Exchange service is listed in the services tab of System Configuration window. I'm afraid that will not work after clean boot. You might try this method in the off hours. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Karen, I just came across a strange thing. There is a folder in my C drive named windows.old and it also has msiexec.exe file in it. location is c:\windows.old\windows\system32\msiexec.exe. It is a complete replica of C:\windows. When i am searching msiexec file, it is giving me C:\windows.old\windows\system32 location only of msiexec file. c:\windows\system32 is not included in searched items. I dont know why. Should i modify registry settings according to windows.old path????? and make msiexec.exe /v run in windows.old folder?????

Hi Hasan, The Windows.old folder was generated because an upgrade or a custom installation was performed on the server where there was already a Microsoft Windows operating system there. This is done so that you can copy files from the old installation if necessary. It can also be used to revert back to the previous Windows installation when needed. You don’t have to modify anything in the Windows.old folder to make your current Windows system work. Please only search in C:\Windows\System32 folder. It can be deleted if you don’t need it any more to free up the space on your system drive. Please follow the steps below to delete Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup. 1. Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Disk Cleanup, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Cleanup. If you're prompted to choose a drive, click the drive you just installed Windows on, and then click OK. 2. In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, on the Disk Cleanup tab, click Clean up system files. If you're again prompted to choose a drive, click the drive you just installed Windows on, and then click OK. 3. Select the Previous Windows installation(s) check box, and any other check boxes for the files you want to delete, and then click OK. 4. In the message that appears, click Delete Files. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hasan, The Windows.old folder was generated because an upgrade or a custom installation was performed on the server where there was already a Microsoft Windows operating system there. This is done so that you can copy files from the old installation if necessary. It can also be used to revert back to the previous Windows installation when needed. You don’t have to modify anything in the Windows.old folder to make your current Windows system work. It can be deleted if you don’t need it any more to free up the space on your system drive. Please follow the steps below to delete Windows.old folder using Disk Cleanup. 1. Open Disk Cleanup by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type Disk Cleanup, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Cleanup. If you're prompted to choose a drive, click the drive you just installed Windows on, and then click OK. 2. In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, on the Disk Cleanup tab, click Clean up system files. If you're again prompted to choose a drive, click the drive you just installed Windows on, and then click OK. 3. Select the Previous Windows installation(s) check box, and any other check boxes for the files you want to delete, and then click OK. 4. In the message that appears, click Delete Files. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Hello Karen, I understand why this folder created. But i am surprised because this was brand new server and no installation or upgradation perfomed on it later on. I know this windows.old has something to do with previous installation but how come it is possible? Is that case is for Service Pack installation i.e. when service pack is install on it, it also makes windows.old folder??? But problem is still there, i have tried everything no solution is working.

Hi Hasan, The service pack installation won’t generate Windows.old folder. It is possible that there was already an operating system installed when the new server was purchased and someone didn’t format the drive and reinstalled the OS, which generated Windows.old folder. At this point, I suggest performing an in-place upgrade to the same edition of the OS which will help replace the corrupt and missing system files that are causing the problem. Please insert an installation CD and choose upgrade. Make sure you have enough free space in C: drive. Regards, Karen JiThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hasan, The service pack installation won’t generate Windows.old folder. It is possible that there was already an operating system installed when the new server was purchased and someone didn’t format the drive and reinstalled the OS, which generated Windows.old folder. At this point, I suggest performing an in-place upgrade to the same edition of the OS which will help replace the corrupt and missing system files that are causing the problem. Please insert an installation CD and choose upgrade. Make sure you have enough free space in C: drive. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Karen, What is in-place upgrade? and after upgrade do i require to reconfigure all applications' settings???? Any risk involve in it?? Even i am in contact with Microsoft Support but all their links provided to me are already applied by me and its not working at all.

Hi Hasan, The in-place upgrade will retain your applications, files and settings as if they were in your previous OS. Once you click upgrade, it will check the compatibility of the system and inform you of any issues. It will not require you to reconfigure all the applications. But I still recommend you to backup your server before doing that in case anything happens. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hasan, The in-place upgrade will retain your applications, files and settings as if they were in your previous OS. Once you click upgrade, it will check the compatibility of the system and inform you of any issues. It will not require you to reconfigure all the applications. But I still recommend you to backup your server before doing that in case anything happens. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Karen, because of this windows installer problem, i am unable to push backup agent for backup purpose. So i am unable to take backup. Actually while pushing agent, i came to know that windows installer is not working. So i fear about any changes it may done. Is it like repair??? I have SP2 installed, and installation CD doesn't have SP2, will that be a problem??

Hi Hasan, Could you use Windows Backup to backup the server? Because that is already integrated with the OS. Since the installation CD doesnot have SP2, my suggestion is to uninstall SP2 first, perform in-place upgrade, then reinstall SP2. By in-place upgrading to the same eiditon of Windows OS, it's kind of like the repair. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hasan, Could you use Windows Backup to backup the server? Because that is already integrated with the OS. Since the installation CD doesnot have SP2, my suggestion is to uninstall SP2 first, perform in-place upgrade, then reinstall SP2. By in-place upgrading to the same eiditon of Windows OS, it's kind of like the repair. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. Thanks Karen, i will do it and will post results. Is this the last option? so i should wait for a solution before trying this?

Hi Hasan, You can wait for CSS and see whether they have any other solutions. This is pretty much the last option I can think of. Regards, Karen JiThis posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Hi Hasan, You can wait for CSS and see whether they have any other solutions. This is pretty much the last option I can think of. Regards, Karen Ji This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. ok, Thanks a lot Karen for all your help.