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I am trying to install an MSI file on Windows 7, and I am getting the error message "There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor."

enter image description here

There's actually 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the MSI file, and both of them fail with the same error.

I tried the following things:

1) Checked services.msc and noticed the Windows Installer service was not running, so I started it, but the MSI file installation still failed with the same error.

2) Typed "msiexec /unreg" and "msiexec /regserver" from the command prompt, but the MSI file installation still failed with the same error.

3) Downloaded and ran this Microsoft fix, but it didn't detect any problems, and the MSI file installation still failed with the same error.

Re-installing Windows Installer doesn't seem to be an option, as it appears Microsoft does not offer a Windows Installer 5.0 download.

Any ideas?

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  • Antivirus or the like? – Mihai Jun 11 '14 at 21:50
  • @Mihai This computer's antivirus program tells me the last virus/malware/spyware/grayware was detected a few months ago, so I'm pretty sure it's not blocking any part of the installation. I don't have permission to disable the antivirus. – pacoverflow Jun 11 '14 at 21:55
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    Have you tried running the installer as administrator? Is the application compatible with the OS? Do you have the latest Windows Installer version? – Kinnectus Jun 11 '14 at 22:00
  • @BigChris Yes I did try installing as Administrator, and the program is compatible with Windows 7. I am running Windows Installer 5.0.7601.17514 (the latest version available from Microsoft is actually 4.5 - don't ask me why). Also, I just tried installing another MSI program and it worked fine, so I'm not sure why this one doesn't work. – pacoverflow Jun 11 '14 at 22:12
  • I suppose your copy of UScreenCapture is indeed the latest version (2.0.15)? Also, does an older version install correctly? – BenjiWiebe Jun 11 '14 at 22:13
up vote 1 down vote

Create a verbose log file for the installation and flush each line to the log (this means msiexec.exe writes the log continuously and immediately instead of in delayed batches - important when you are dealing with crashes which this error message seems to indicate):

msiexec.exe /I "C:\Test.msi" /QN /L*V! "C:\msilog.log"

Then open the log file and search for "value 3" to find the right entry in the massive log file that will have been created (it is a verbose log file thanks to the /L*V switch).

Also see this answer on stackoverflow.com for more information.

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