VMware Tools installation fails with the error: Error 1719 - The Windows installer service could not be accessed

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• VMware Tools installation fails on Windows Server 2008 x64 guest operating systems.
• 64-bit MSI packages fail to install.
  Note: 32-bit MSI packages install without errors.
  
• You see the error:
  
  The Windows installer service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running windows in safe mode, or if windows installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance

Environment

VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Cause

This issue may occur if the Windows Installer service is not installed correctly or if the service is not running as expected.

Resolution

Note: This procedure modifies the Windows registry. Before making any registry modifications, ensure that you have a current and valid backup of the registry and the virtual machine. For more information on backing up and restoring the registry, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 136393.

To resolve this issue, verify that Windows Installer is running and re-register it, if required. For more information, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 324516.

Note: The preceding links were correct as of March 13th 2013. If you find a link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

If this does not resolve the issue, check for the registry for the existence of the WOW64 key and confirm its value.

To check for the WOW64 key:

1. Click Start > Run, type regedit, and click OK. The Registry Editor window opens.
   
2. Click File > Export and back up the current registry.
   
3. Browse the registry editor to locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Services\msiserver.
   
4. Look for the key WOW64 and check its value.
   
   If the value is of the key is 0x00000001 (1), the Windows Installer can only handle 32-bit installers and is set to report an error whenever you try to install a 64-bit package.
   
   
5. Edit this key and change the value to 0 so it looks similar to:
   
   WOW64 REG_DWORD 0x00000000 (0)
   
   
6. Restart the Windows Installer service using services.msc or reboot the virtual machine.
   
   Note: If this key cannot be found in the registry and you still experience problems with 64-bit MSI packages, contact Microsoft Technical Support for assistance.

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