hello, i am currently running xp on my home computer. every time i try to add new programs or software i get a windows installer error message. anybody know how to fix this?

Anybody?

Goto Microsoft's website, search for "Windows Installer"...First off post what the error message is exactly. then if its either of these try the below and let us know.

The Windows Installer service could not be accessed. Contact your support personnel to verify that the Windows Installer service is properly registered.

The Windows Installer service failed to start. Contact your support personnel.

Internal Error




Method 1: Reregister the Windows Installer
1. Quit all Windows programs.
2. Click Start, click Run, type msiexec /unregister in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. Click Start, click Run, type msiexec /regserver in the Open box, and then click OK.
4. Restart your computer.

Back to the top

Method 2: Remove the Windows Installer files
1. Quit all Windows programs.
2. Click Start, click Run, type msiexec /unregister in the Open box, and then click OK.
3. In Windows Explorer, rename the following files in the System folder:• Msi.dll
• Msihnd.dll
• Msiexec.exe
Note If you cannot rename these files, try to rename the files at a command prompt. To start a command prompt, click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open box, and then click OK.
4. Restart Windows XP.

Back to the top

Method 3: Restart Windows XP in Safe Mode
Restart Windows XP in Safe Mode, and then retry Method 1 and Method 2 in the order that they are listed. For more information about how to restart Windows XP in Safe Mode, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
316434 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434/) How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP

I tried what you just said to do, didn't do any good. windows only said thier was an error, not what the error was.

Oh, i've had gunfights with this one. Get into add/remove programs in the control panel, scroll down until you see windows installer, select that then click remove. This will uninstall the faulty program. Then head to windows update and download the current version for your OS.