TechTips - Windows Vista Error 1719

Vista is a monster to deal with at times and I have found another error in my test box that seems to not only affect me but a great deal of other users. The error is code 1719 and it looks like this when you get it while trying to install any program that is in the MSI format.

"Error 1719, Windows installer service could not be accessed"

It took me a great deal of work to finally resolve my problem with this error. I tried many suggested solutions online that didn't work and then it came down to a simple fix that I will explain in this article. I also will talk about the other fixes I tried but didn't work for me.

The first thing I tried was the system restore, this didn't work because I don't really use it and have it only to restore to one day back and I guess I had the error for sometime (from looking at my logs). So first thing I thought was to run the sfc /scannow (System File Checker) and fix whatever comes up in the scan. It worked great it showed me I had a few corrupt files that needed to be fixed, the only problem was that the fix didn't work (typically after the scan you just do a repair and it should fix your files).

The next attempt to fix the problem was to fix the corrupted files I found during the System File Checker. I found this guide on how to get access Vista install DVD files, my thinking was that I would access the corrupt files that SFC found and replace them inside Windows. I got the files (that were reported from the SFC) from my install DVD and put them where I located them in Windows Vista and rebooted. No luck this didn't fix my problem I still got the Error 1719.

I had heard that Microsoft Office could also be the cause of this issue and that deleting the program and all registry files associated with it will fix the issue. I already had windows installer cleanup utility installed so I used this to remove Office and then cleaned up the registry manually. This didn't fix my system I still got the same error (and Office is no longer installed and can't be reinstalled - so be careful if you try this "FIX"). I also heard a repair install of Office fixes this issue but the problem with that is when trying to re-install you will get the error 1719 so you can't test that fix.

Another fix that I tried was changing the registry key to the MSI installer for my version of Vista (64-bit). To do this follow these steps:

Click Start

Click Search Bar

Type regedit

Hit Enter

Expand to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSIServer\WOW64 (may be different depending on your version of Windows Vista)

Change the value from a 1 to a 0

Close the registry and test your installer

If it works then great you are done but for me that fix didn't work either. I still got the error until I decided to re-register the MSI which is a very simple thing to do in Windows. To do this follow these steps:

Click Start

Click Search Bar

Type CMD

Hit Enter

Type in the command regsvr32 C:\Windows\system32\msiexec

Hit Enter

It should prompt you that it was successful

Test your installer

This is what finally fixed my problem, after trying all the other fixes it was something as simple as registering this file with Windows! I hope at least one of these fixes solves all of your problems with the "Error 1719, Windows installer service could not be accessed".

If the fix that worked for me doesn't work for you try one of the others suggested fixes above, they may work for you.

Windows Installer CleanUp Utility

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Access Vista Install DVD Files

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/86959-access-vista-install-dvd-files.html