Hello,
If the software you are installing is Office 2000 or XP, the following
information can be found in Microsoft Knowledge Base article; 324516.
SYMPTOMS
========
When you try to install Microsoft Office 2000 or Microsoft Office XP, you
may receive an error message similar to the following:
The Windows Installer service could not be accessed.
CAUSE
=====
This problem may occur if the Windows Installer files are corrupted. This
may have occurred if you upgraded your operating system.
RESOLUTION
==========
To resolve this problem, rename the corrupted files, reinstall Windows
Installer, and then install Office. To do this, follow these steps.
NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the
following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your
product documentation to complete these steps.
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then
click Command Prompt. Windows opens a command prompt window.
2. At the command prompt, type one of the following commands, and then
press ENTER, where <drive>:\<Windows> are the drive and folder in which
Windows is installed.
- If you are running Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft
Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT, type the following:
"attrib -r -s -h <drive>:\<Windows>\System32\dllcache" (without the
quotation marks)
- If you are running Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), type the
following:
"attrib -r -s -h <drive>:\<Windows>\System32" (without the quotation
marks)
3. At the command prompt, type the following. Press ENTER after you type
each line.
"ren msi.dll msi.old" (without the quotation marks)
"ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old" (without the quotation marks)
"ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old" (without the quotation marks)
4. At the command prompt, type "exit" (without the quotation marks),
and then press ENTER.
5. Restart your computer.
6. Update the Windows Installer files to the latest version. To do so,
visit one of the following Microsoft Web sites, and then download and
install Windows Installer 2.0.
NOTE: Windows Installer 2.0 is included with Microsoft Windows XP. You do
not have to perform this step if you are using Windows XP.
- For Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), and Windows Millennium
Edition (Me):
Microsoft.com Download Center
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?ReleaseID=32831
- For Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Microsoft Windows 2000:
Microsoft.com Download Center
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/release.asp?releaseid=32832&NewList=1
7. When the installation of Windows Installer is completed,
double-click Setup.exe, and then follow the on-screen instructions to
complete the Office installation process.
Best regards,
Mike Truitt
Microsoft Corporation
