Windows Installer will not work under Safe Mode, this means that programs cannot be installed or uninstalled in safe mode without giving a specific command using msiexec in command prompt. If you try to uninstall programs in Safe Mode, you may receive the following message:
The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.
This post will tell you how to make Windows Installer work in Safe Mode.
Make Windows Installer work in Safe Mode
To make windows installer to work under safe mode you need to create a registry entry for every type of safe mode you are login into:
Safe Mode
Type this in a command prompt and hit Enter:
REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal\MSIServer" /VE /T REG_SZ /F /D "Service"
Then start the Windows Installer service by typing:
net start msiserver
The Service will start.
Safe Mode with Network
Type this in a command prompt and hit Enter:
REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\MSIServer" /VE /T REG_SZ /F /D "Service"
Then start the Windows Installer service by typing:
net start msiserver
See this post if your Windows Installer keeps popping up randomly.
