Microsoft Windows installer is incorporated within all Windows operating systems including Windows 98, Windows XP Home & Pro, and Windows 2000. Windows Installer enables software developers to use standardized technology to install their software products on Windows systems. You may receive a Windows installer error if its configuration management information is damaged. You may need to perform Windows repair to clean up the Windows Installer configuration management information when one of the following occurs:
- The registry is damaged or corrupt.
- Windows Installer’s registry entry is changed accidentally.
- An error occurs in a program, such as Microsoft Office 2003, that is using the Windows Installer.
- More than one instance of the installer is running at the same time.
- One of the instances of Windows installer is blocked.
Windows Installer Clean Up Utility
To fix the problem, you will have to remove Windows configuration management information of the problematic program from the system. You can do this by using the Windows Installer Clean Up utility.
Initially, Microsoft had introduced two versions of the Windows Installer Clean Up utility-Msicu.exe for Windows 95, 98, and M.E. and Msicuu.exe for Windows NT, 2000, XP, and 2003. However, later on Msciu.exe was discontinued because now Msicuu.exe supports all 32-bit operating systems.
How can I use the Windows Installer Clean Up Utility?
To use the utility, perform the following steps:
- Download the utility from Microsoft.
- Double-click on the downloaded msicuu2.exe file to install the clean up utility on your system.
- Next, to perform Windows repair, open the Start menu, select All Programs, and then select Windows Install Clean Up.
- This opens the Windows Installer Clean UP dialog box. Select the program whose configuration information you want to delete and then select Remove. You must be very careful while choosing the program because the utility makes permanent changes to the system and you may need to reinstall an application to make it work.
- To continue to remove the configuration management information for the selected program, select OK when the confirmation message is displayed; otherwise, select Cancel to exit without removing the information.
- After you have removed the required information, select Exit to close the Windows Installer Clean UP dialog box.
Preventive Measures
Registry errors are one of the main reasons behind problems with Windows Installer configuration management information. As you install and uninstall programs on your system, a number of entries are added to and removed from the registry. Some of the entries continue to stay in the registry even when they are not required, and some of them leave behind vacant spaces when they are removed. This leads to the accumulation of a large number of unwanted and obsolete information in the registry and makes it grow at an uncontrolled rate. An unhealthy and large registry gives rise to numerous system errors. Therefore, it is very important for you to perform regular registry maintenance to keep your PC free from errors and in good working condition.
The best and simplest method to keep your registry free from errors is to use a registry program such as RegServe. Registry programs use advanced algorithms to scan the registry for different types of errors and remove them. They enable you to defragment the registry to make it more contiguous and accessible. Advanced registry cleaners come equipped with schedulers that enable you to ensure that the utility automatically scans the registry periodically and keeps it error-free.
The Windows Installer Clean Up utility enables you to perform Windows repair by removing the Windows Installer configuration management information of applications that are generating reinstallation or update-related errors. To prevent these problems from occurring, you can opt for a good registry cleaner program to keep your registry and your system error-free.