We had an issue with a Windows 2008R2 64Bit Server recently where we could not install Windows Updates or any other applications, we got the following error message in any relevant logs -“Windows Installer Service could not be accessed” error message when installing applications.

Looking at the Event Viewer Application logs showed the following error messages;

Event ID : 11719 – Error 1719

Event ID : 1023

This all pointed to the Windows Installer Service

I had a look around for other advice from people with the same issue and found some interesting steps to try.

I carried out a sfc /scannow

I de-registered and re-registered MSIEXEC;

%windir%\system32\msiexec.exe /unregister

and

%windir%\syswow64\msiexec.exe /unregister

I even changed

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer

to

C:\WINDOWS\SysWOW64\msiexec.exe /V

But still could not install.

I then thought I would try some more Registry tweaks and here is the disclaimer;

I take no responsibility for any damage caused by following any instructions in this blog post!

I exported the

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer

Reg key.

I also exported the same Reg Key from another (fully functional) Windows 2008 R2 64Bit Server, copied the reg file over and imported (double-clicked) it!

What do you know – Bob’s your uncle – it started working!

The main difference between the reg files was in the “RequiredPrivileges” key, I am not sure if this is the actual solution but I now have a working server again.

Hope this helps someone!