There are some cases when you can’t install or uninstall a program in Windows. There are several possibilities why this happen. It may be because another program is not done with installation or uninstallation, Windows Installer is not started or corrupted or missing, another program is blocking the installation or uninstallation, the uninstaller is corrupted or missing or sometimes a virus may take over the computer.

Getting the error message will help a lot. From the error message, it will already give you an idea on where to start. These are some common errors related to install or uninstall problems in Windows:

Windows Installer Service couldn’t be started.
Could not start the Windows Installer service on Local Computer. Error 5: Access is denied.
The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed

These are some solutions to try.

1. Run the Windows automated troubleshooter.

2. Check for other programs being installed or updated. Sometimes, programs are updated automatically in the background. If this update is not done yet, program installation or uninstallation may not work. Another example is, some programs require a restart before all changes will take effect. If you try to install or remove another application, it will prompt you that another program is using the Windows service and that it needs to complete first before you may proceed with the next install or uninstall.

3. Another program is blocking or stopping the installation or uninstallation. Programs that use other programs to run are the usual things that give an error about this. A good example is when you install Adobe Flash player and there is a browser using flash content. It prompts you to close the browser because it will update the files of the Flash player which is currently being used. Another example is a security software that blocks installation or uninstall of programs. It is not supposed to do this but in rare occasions, security programs may block actions like installations and uninstallations.

4. Windows Installer service is not started or may be missing or corrupted. This is the service that handles adding and/or removing of programs. To check if the service is listed, you have to go Run > services.msc or on the Start search > services.msc.

Without this service, it is impossible to install or uninstall a program in Windows. If the Windows Installer service is corrupted, you may try to run SFC scan in an elevated command prompt.

5. If SFC scan will not resolve the issue, try resetting the Windows Installer service registry. Before you do this step, make sure to back up the registry.

If none of the solutions above work, feel free to contact us via chat, phone or email and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.