Vista Business won't install anything! 1

[9iron]

Hi. I'm trying to install some software on a Vista Business laptop, but everytime I run the setup.exe, I get the rotating little circle for about 10 seconds, and then nothing. That's it. Zippo. It's like my double-click just got sucked out into space, never to return again.

I've tried running it as Administrator, I've gone into properties and selected the option to run it in compatibility mode for XP sp2, but I always get the same results. I also removed the user access control. I'm not getting any error messages or anything, making it doubly-difficult to figure out.

Is there some option in Vista Business that I need to uncheck or something that would explain this? It's happened to me with two different programs now. I don't get it.

 

[linney]

In Services, is there any disabling of the "Windows Installer" service?

Re-Register the Windows Installer as per this article.
"Error 1719. The Windows Installer service could not be accessed" error message when you try to add or remove a program

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315346&Product=winxp#kb3

Are there any errors in the Event Viewer?

Do you have another Admine user (or create one) that you can try installing from?

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310560&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

If you have System Restore points then using that may be an option.

You could try the System File Checker program.

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928228

 

[9iron]

I checked Event Viewer's System log, and it's telling me the Windows Modules Installer service entered the stopped state. Ok, no problem. I started that service back up and tried installing my program again. Same results...nothing. I went back to the log, and now it's telling me the Windows Installer service has entered the stopped state. WTF??? Again, no problem...I started that one back up. I try to once again install my program, same thing. Nothing. I'm back in the log again looking for clues, but now it's not reporting anything to me.

 

[linney]

Windows Installer is set to Manual by Default and does not run all the time, it only runs when it has something to do. So what you are seeing concerning that sounds normal to me. I take it it was an "Information" line revealing the message about Windows Installer, and not a Red X or Warning error message.

Try some of the other things mentioned.

 

[9iron]

I cleared out the C:\Temp directory after several attempts to install several different apps, and decided to reboot and start from scratch. This time, I tried to install a program, and Vista gets to the point where it explodes the .exe file into the C:\Temp directory, but then (as before) it just sits there. I waited for about 15 minutes for something to happen, but nothing.

As far as your other suggestions, I can't do the first. The link says that it doesn't apply to Vista. Moving on.

As far as Event Viewer goes, this time around I'm getting nothing logged anywhere in Event Viewer. Seriously, nothing at all. I tried this fresh install at exactly 3:30pm, and when I got tired of waiting, I went straight to Event Viewer. There's nothing in there with a 3:30pm timestamp at all. It's not mentioning anything about the Windows Installer this time.

Your third suggestion is how I tried it at 3:30pm. I made sure the account was in the Administrators group.

I haven't quite gotten into your suggestions 4-7, but I'm about to now. I just wanted to post this to see if anything strikes you as odd or just plain wrong about why it's not giving me any info to use. Thanks for the replies.

 

[linney]

Lots of old MSKB apply to Vista. Maybe this will assist you. I still reckon reregistering MSI is a good thing to try.

http://www.google.com/search?q="msiexec+/regserver"+vista+&rls=com.microsoft:

 

[dilettante]

Hi. I'm trying to install some software on a Vista Business laptop, but everytime I run the setup.exe...

I cleared out the C:\Temp directory after several attempts to install several different apps...

What sort of old garbage have you been installing? None of my Vista systems even have a C:\temp directory on them. This location has long been deprecated for temporary files and since C:\ is a protected location programs are not supposed to create folders there anyway, even during setup. Are you sure whatever this setup.exe is that c:\temp isn't being virtualized?

If you have a setup.exe then Windows Installer is not involved, unless this program is some sort of wrapper for an MSI package. More likely you have some sort of legacy installer package here like the sort of thing Inno creates.

These can often fail even if Vista's legacy installer detection requests elevation when it is run. This is because many scripted installation tools run a small program as a post-install task to register components and set ACLs on files or folders... and these child processes often don't get started with elevation. Thus the child process may not have the rights it needs or might end up looking for some virualized filesystem or registry location and get hung when it isn't found.

Windows Installer Service does not need to be Automatic. It is normal for it to be set to Manual.


Do the failing setups work for you on any Vista machine? Do they work on any version of Windows? Perhaps the files are corrupt in some way.

 

[cdogg]

And going along with dilettante's post, are you sure the software you are trying to install is Vista compatible?

If it is, try running a different setup installer for another program that you also know is Vista compatible. If it works, then at least we can be fairly certian nothing is wrong with Windows.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[9iron]

Hi. Sorry for the delayed response, but Happy Monday to you.

I've installed this software before on a few Vista machines, but they were Vista Home, not Business. I don't know if that matters, but they installed just fine on all the others. This machine just seems weird. I know for a fact that two of the apps are Vista Business compatible (the vendor told me Vista Ultimate and Business are the only two Vistas they support).

As far as C:\Temp not being used anymore, I don't know how to explain what's happening here. I'm trying to delete all of the content inside that folder, but it's not letting me delete the last remaining one, which of course is setup.exe. (I think I can get around this by taking ownership of it...what a hassle)

I think I understand what you're saying about the installer, but I don't know how to get around this. Cdogg's suggestion of "running a different setup installer" is confusing. I don't know how to do this. Even if i did, there's still something absolutely not right about this machine.

The worst part about all of this: She had her friggin name engraved on the laptop, so she can't send it back! Bah!!!

 

[cdogg]

Cdogg's suggestion of "running a different setup installer" is confusing.

As a test, I was suggesting that you try to install something else (Adobe Reader, Java SE, etc) that we know is Vista compatible. If the install fails for another application, then you've got a larger issue with Windows that has nothing to do with the program.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[9iron]

Ah, of course. It's all crystal-clear to me now. I shall download the Acrobat reader and get back to you...

 

[9iron]

Ok, I just successfully installed Acrobat Reader 9 on this laptop.

It still doesn't make sense to me that I'm able to install these programs on other Vista machines, but not this one. Could it be that it's the Business version? Is it possible to downgrade to Vista Home maybe?

 

[9iron]

Ok, I may have somewhat of a breakthrough here. I called one of the vendors about their app not installing (it was one of the apps that still uses the C:\Temp folder Dilittante, sorry). He had me go to that folder, and run the .msi file that was put there during the installation. Bingo. It worked fine. I got both of their programs installed.

Now, onto my third program. This one's not putting anything into the C:\Temp folder, so I don't know if anything at all has been put onto the harddrive yet. Where else might Vista be writing to? Is there a way in Vista to search everything based on "Date Modified"? Maybe I'll find them that way, and run the installer from there. I just need to find it first.

 

[linney]

Have you checked this location?

C:\Users\usernamexxxx\AppData\Local\Temp, make sure you are showing both options for Hidden Files and System Files in Control Panel/ Folder Options/ View.

Well written Installers normally clean up and delete files at the completion of Setup, even if Setup fails to complete successfully.


This thread will cover some Search options and help.

Windows can't find
thread1583-1482084

 

[9iron]

Ok, I found that location and some files there, but unfortunately nothing that would allow me to continue the installation. This blows. The program I'm trying to install is Computer Associates E-Trust antivirus, which I've done successfully on a few Vista Home machines.

 

[linney]

Is that CA Anti-Virus 2008, or an earlier version?

When I have trouble installing software, some of the things that might help are -

Use Disk Cleanup to remove old Temp files. Or clean them out manually.
Running the Install as an Elevated Admin.
Disabling any other security programs such as Windows Defender etc.
Turning Off UAC.
Some Setup.EXE, not MSI or MSU, may load in via Safe Mode.
Disabling all running programs via MsConfig.


Permissions on Windows folder
thread1583-1348067: Permissions on Windows folder

Remember to revert back any changes made,

 

[dilettante]

I called one of the vendors about their app not installing (it was one of the apps that still uses the C:\Temp folder Dilittante, sorry).

Well you can get away with almost anything while running elevated.

 

[9iron]

If I'm logged on as Administrator, shouldn't I have all the rights I need to install anything? Or do I still need to run the install elevated?

 

[9iron]

Safe Mode!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah! That was it, Linney! You rock.

(Ok, maybe I'm more excited about this than I should be, but screw it!)

Thanks for the tip. I still hate Vista, but this is great!

 

[linney]

You're welcome. Remember that in Vista, all users, even the Administrator, run with Standard User Privileges, unless you right-click on the .exe and select Run As Administrator, which then makes the Administrator run with the higher (elevated) privileges.