All .msi Installers Fail Silently Unless "runas /user:Administrato
- From: Mark_Melvin <Mark_Melvin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 20:31:00 -0700
Hi There,
I have a problem with my machine (Windows XP 32-bit SP3) that has just
appeared and I have tried everything I can possibly think of with no luck (I
am quite computer literate...so you are not dealing with a noob here). I'm
looking for some expert help here because it is driving me insane.
So, the problem is I cannot install *anything* that uses Windows Installer
(.msi) under the covers. This includes many third party software packages
that I use, as well as Windows XP packages and updates themselves. What
happens when I run an .msi file is I see the Windows Installer dialog briefly
flash up on the screen and nothing happens. There is no error or even any
event in my event logs, and if I run the .msi file using msiexec with all
logging and debug info turned on, I get nothing in the log file except a
single line indicating it started.
The weird part is this just started to happen one dayu so obviously
something has changed on my system to screw things up. After much beating my
head against the monitor and desk I attempted to run one of the failing
installers "as Administrator" and it worked. Wha..? I *am* an
administrator, so why does running it as Administrator make any difference
whatsoever?
Anyway, the *only* way I can get anything based on Windows Installer to
install now is to open a dos prompt and type:
runas /user:Administrator "msiexec.exe /i c:\full\path\to\installer.msi"
This prompts me for my password and runs the installer just fine. But I am
and always have been an adminstrator! I don't get it. Here is a list of
things I have tried recently to fix this:
-Install all available Windows updates
-Remove all .NET versions and re-install as required
-Remove Silverlight
-Remove Windows Installer and re-install
-Update to Windows Installer 4.5 (I think that is what this is -
WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe)
-Roll back to an earlier date
-Undo the roll back
-Install Windows XP SP3
-Yell and scream
So, now I am posting here. The only possible thing I can think of that may
have any bearing on this whatsoever is that originally my username did not
have a password associated with it. At some point in the past I changed my
account to have a password associated with it and if I recall correctly this
changed permissions on a bunch of files. My user password is now the same as
the administrator password on this machine. The only thing I can think of is
that some system file or directory got its permissions all screwed up and is
the root of the problem. I'd be happy to provide any additional information
if requested as I would love to solve this one. It is shortening my
life-span...
Thanks in advance,
Mark.
.
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