"windows installer missing"?

I am using windows XP Professional with a Dell Dimension desktop. I just purchased a HP all-in-one printer and I have problems getting the software installed. I called HP and they got the printer portion installed but claim that the scanner portion could not be installed because i am missing a "windows installer" and that I should take it to a technical person and after I get the windows installer, they will help me with the rest of the install.

Can anyone please tell me what this means and suggest a solution. I did run the Microsoft fixit program and it stated it fixed a corrupt file but I am not sure how to figure out if this makes any difference. Thanks in advance.

 

Hey ksnow. go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services , and check if Windows installer is running, mine is set on manual. Click on Windows Installer then on the left click Start. See if that helps.

 

Hi Nick T

Thanks for your response. When I go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, and then Services, there are many items in both standard and extended tabs but I do not see a window installer at all. There is a Windows Service Pack Installer Update Service, but I do not see anything else. Does this mean I need to figure out how to acquire it from an external source? Thanks again, Katrina

 

ksnow...

Mine is showing up in Services too, like NickT. It also is set to manual.

Back awhile, I was using an uninstaller, and it recommended removing certain programs. One of them was Windows Installer. I wasn't paying much attention, so I just deleted it along with some other things. From that I learned that it is possible to reinstall the Windows Installer. For XP, Microsoft actually has an upgrade for it, although I don't know what is better about it.

You could start by Googling "download Windows Installer". Should be able to find the program from Microsoft, and it installs like any other program as long as your Windows installer isn't completely broken and won't install anything. If so, you may need to run a Windows XP repair. For this you will need a legit Windows XP installation disk and possibly your XP key (maybe not too). The XP repair doesn't cost you any files, but you would have to reinstall all Windows updates after the repair...

 

Katrina, try here and scroll to line 94. http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

 

Thanks Nick and AtlBo,

I was able to find and install Windows Installer 4.5 and when I go to MSIExec on the command line, it says my Windows Installer is V 4.5.6001.22159 and there are no error messages. I still am not able to bring it up in the services file. I did install the line 94 program. Do I need to reboot to activate? I will do so just in case.

The HP installer still ends with an error message: MSIExec command: /i "C:\HP_LI300-400_color_MFP-m375-M475\Setup\Core\SIPM_32\HpTcpMon.msi" /qn REBOOT=ReallySuppress
Path:<empty>
Return code:1601

I tried to contact HP support but they do not work on weekends! I chatted with someone at HP who was billed as support, but he, too, said I would have to wait till Monday. Also, this install (It is a wireless MFP printer) went perfect on my Dell laptop, also running Windows XP!

So, in summary, the original HP tech guy said I needed an installer and I have one but I am not sure it is working right and I am not sure this is the only problem.

I will call them Monday morning and try to sort it out. Thanks again and I will keep this post active for now.

 

ksnow...

Hope it goes well with HP.

I was thinking maybe a cleaner removed a key active x control for Windows Installer, but then reinstalling WI should have resolved the problem.

OK...looks like maybe the installer itself or something to do with it is somehow the problem. See this at the HP site:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c01706172

This is a long set of instructions, but I have had to do something similar with the BITS service to get it to show up in services and to get it restarted. Anyway, it looks promising. Hope it works for you.

BTW, I would focus on step 4...reregistering the Windows Installer, since it isn't showing up in the Services list. You may be able to go straight to the solution in this way. If not, you can go back and follow through the list (except update Windows Installer which you have already done).

Interesting that this was right under their noses at HP LOL.

 

ksnow, Tweaking.com has a Windows Installer repair among the list of repairs, you can just run that specific repair or let the entire repair segment run and see if that helps, http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/tweaking_com_windows_repair.html

 

Hi Nick and AtlBo,
Hooray! The tweaking with just the Windows Installer worked to get it into the Services folder. I also unregistered and registered it. It is interesting (??) that the HP person would not or could not help me with this. Unfortunately, even after restart, I still get an error message when I try to install the HP software, but it no longer refers to the MSIExec command. So tomorrow, having done as they requested (Windows Installer), I will call and see if they can complete my install. Thank you both very much, you have been very helpful. Katrina

 

Hey, can anyone tell me where the above "Services" executable is located on a Windows 7 (64-bit) system? About a year ago I used one of those stupid registry cleaners and it wiped out all of the shortcut in my "Administrative Tools" folder. Thanks.

 

Well, here is where it is on my Win 8.1x86 so I reckon it will be in the same place on Win 7x64. Lord knows what you will be able to do with it though, even assuming you can identify it :confused

Edit - guess an image might help

 

OK, I'm on my Win 7 x64 laptop now. Both services.msc and services.exe are in \Windows\System32. Have no idea what the exe does as it appears to have no properties.

 

Awesome, thanks man. What I really should have asked for was the file extension for those administrative apps and you gave it to me in the pic. Now I can recreate all of those shortcuts and again have access to lots of programs that I don't know how to use but will use anyway.

I found 2 services.exe on my system and one of them wouldn't display properties (like yours). The other one proved to be a binary duplicate of the first, yet it did show properties (see attached pic). Strange. I think I'll just leave those two alone.

Thanks again Earthling

 

Don't thank me rusty, thank Everything - indispensable.

 

:celebrateThanks again to Nick and AtlBo, The problem is solved but getting there yesterday with HP was NOT pretty. I spent more than 2 hours on the phone with the first HP person who finally asked if she could put me on hold and never returned. A second call ended in a similar manner. Then I got a call back from the technical person from last week saying he hoped everything was fine and then disappeared when I said "NO, I don't think so...". I called again and this time, the tech was excellent, went to work setting up my printer and was successful (more than 4 hours from the start:major)! He gave me a new case# because the first case # had been closed!

Happy New Year, you guys are awesome. I am going to try to close this link now. Katrina

 

Way to go ksnow...I admire your perserverence, and I am very happy you got your PC printer/scanner set up. :-D

All I can say is WOW :-o, that really was an adventure. All's well that ends well, I guess.

If you have an opportunity, I would love to read the VERY condensed version of what you did that finally worked, so that your printer and scanner would work...that is if you can condense it to like 5 steps or something...

Thanks to you for sticking it out. Gives us all a little bit of hope...

:major

 

Indispensable indeed ! I probably use it more than 100 times a day and now can't imagine computing without it.