Windows Installer

Question

Every time I try to open "My computer" or any other folder, appears window with title "Windows installer", "Preparing to install..." text in it and the "Cancel" button. Now I cannot open any folder on my computer. OS: Windows xp Thank you

Answer 1

If you have Microsoft Office 2000 installed on your computer, then this MSKB article may be of interest for you:

Windows Installer Appears Every Time a Program Is Started

If not, discard this answer. :)

Answer 2

1. Wait for the next time it occurs.
2. locate the process running the MSI (will be msiexec.com) and locate the command line that started it.
   You can achieve this using Task Manager (on Windows 7) or Process Explorer (on any other version). Add the "Command Line" column to get it - it's not on by default in either TM or PE.
3. The command line will include a GUID (long hexadecimal number). Copy it - this is the "criminal" application's ID.
4. Search the registry for that GUID, find the application and uninstall it.
5. Resort to more "violent" solutions only if the application does not uninstall nicely.

And if this does help you, drop a comment about which application it was, for the rest of us to beware.

Answer 3

Try cleaning up your registry :-)

Answer 4

A recently installed program may be performing an installation repair. You could try removing any recently installed programs