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Important notice for users of Office 2003: To continue receiving security updates for Office, make sure that you're running Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3). The support for Office 2003 ends April 8, 2014.
If you’re running Office 2003 after support ends, to ensure that you will receive all important security updates for Office you need to upgrade to a later version such as Office 365 or Office 2013. For more
information, see Support is ending for Office 2003. "The Windows Installer service could not be accessed" error message when you try to install OfficeArticle ID: 324516 - View products that this article applies to. This article was previously published under Q324516 On This PageSYMPTOMS When you try to install Microsoft Office, you may receive
an error message that is similar to the following: The
Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. CAUSE This problem may occur if the Windows Installer files are
damaged or missing. RESOLUTION To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods. Method 1: Use the Msconfig tool to confirm that the installer service is running
Method 2: Re-register Windows InstallerImportant This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:322756
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/
)
How to back up and restore the registry in WindowsNote 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. To re-register Windows Installer, follow these steps. Note If you cannot complete the following steps, go to method 3.
Method 3: Try the methods that are listed in Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 319624Try the methods that are listed in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:319624
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319624/
)
"Windows Installer Service could not be accessed" error message when installing application
Method 4: Reinstall Windows InstallerNote This method applies to Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. For Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows XP, and Microsoft Windows Server 2003, either reapply the latest service pack or repair the operating system.To reinstall the Windows Installer, follow these steps.
MORE INFORMATION
For more information about how to restart Windows in Safe mode, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
315222
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222/
)
A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP
281770
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281770/
)
How to perform clean-boot troubleshooting for Windows 2000
273738
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273738/
)
How to troubleshoot Windows Millennium Edition startup problems
180902
For more information about how to obtain the Windows Installer, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/180902/
)
How to start a Windows 98-based computer in Safe mode
292539
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292539/
)
How to obtain the Windows Installer engine
PropertiesArticle ID: 324516 - Last Review: September 12, 2011 - Revision: 10.0 APPLIES TO
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