Установщик windows preparing to install

Does your Windows Installer process run every time you boot the Windows 11/10 device? Or maybe you are working, and it suddenly pops up randomly? Why does this happen? How do you stop it from running at random times in the background? This post takes a look at some scenarios & discusses your options.

Windows Installer Preparing to install

The Windows Installer or msiexec.exe is a Windows OS component and an application programming interface, located in the System32 folder, that is used for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software. So when you see this process running, it definitely means that some software is being installed, changed, or uninstalled. Many software use the Windows Installer to carry out the installation process.

If this is happening with your permission and knowledge, then it is fine – as you may be in the process of installing, uninstalling, or repairing your installed software. But if it is not, then you need to investigate further.

This post will probably raise more questions than answers – that is something you will have to answer for yourself – and that may show you the direction to work.

1] Terminate the process manually

Terminate the process manually and see if it appears again either in the current session or on restart. To do this, right-click on the Taskbar and select Task Manager. Under the Process tab, you may see the msiexec.exe process. Right-click on it and select End task. This will terminate the Windows Installer process.

2] Check Windows Installer version

Ensure that the latest version of Windows Installer is installed. Right-click on msiexec.exe, in the System32 folder, select Properties > Details. The latest version as of writing is 5.0.10586.0.

3] Run System File Checker

Maybe your Windows Installer file has been corrupted. Run System File Checker and reboot once the scan is completed. See this post if Windows Installer Service can not be accessed.

4] Give it some time to run

Now ask yourself, did you install any new software in the last day or two? If so maybe some background process or updating is still going on. Give the Windows Installer time to run and see if it shuts down after a while.

5] Check for PUPs

When you installed the software, did it install any third-party offers? Check the Control Panel. Maybe they are being installed. Check if any software which you installed or updated recently, bundled other software. If so it may be using this process. You may want to uninstall unwanted applications.

6] Check msiexec.exe

Did you download or install anything of doubtful value? Maybe something is installing Malware or a PUP on your system. Run a full scan with your antivirus software along with AdwCleaner, which is a good tool to remove PUPs, Browser Hijackers & Adware.

If msiexec.exe is located in the C:\Windows\System32 folder, then it is the legitimate Microsoft process. If it is located in any other folder, it could well be malware, as malware files can me named anything.

Read: Windows Installer not working properly

7] Re-register the Windows Installer engine

You may want also to consider re-registering the Windows Installer engine. To do so, open Command Prompt, type the following and hit Enter:

msiexec /unregister

Now to register it again, type the following and hit Enter.

msiexec /regserver

8] Run Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter

Download the Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter. This tool is the replacement for Windows Installer Cleanup utility which was discontinued. This tool will help you fix potential issues with Windows Installer.

Specifically, it will fix the following problems:

1. Problems that prevent new programs from being installed, uninstalled or updated
2. Corrupted registry keys that are related to these issues.

This troubleshooter works on Windows 10/8.1/8/7.

Let us know if anything helped, or if you have other suggestions.

Want to know how to make Windows Installer work in Safe Mode?

Microsoft’s Windows 10 might be fluent in many things but its software update system often fails and throws errors. One such common problem with Windows 10 update is getting stuck on “Preparing to install..”.

Windows 10 often gets stuck at “Preparing to install..” after downloading an update. It mostly happens somewhere in between the 80% – 100%. However, to fix this Windows 10 update problem, you have to do nothing but wait for up to 30 minutes (even more in some cases) for Windows to complete what it’s doing while it appears to be stuck.

Once you’re past the “Preparing to install..” status, your PC will probably download more files before installing the update. Once everything is done, you’ll get a prompt to restart your PC.

Tip: If it appears to be taking forever to download and install an update, reboot your PC and leave it to update itself overnight. This is just so you don’t involve yourself when your PC is taking too long to install an update.

I am trying to resolve a problem on my Mother-In-Law’s PC which appears as follows:

When you launch IE7 or Outlook Express , the Windows Installer pop-up appears and reports «Preparing to install …» . This pop-up just stays on-screen for a period of time and then dissapears…then comes back again for a while and dissapears …then comes back a 3rd time and dissapears.   The only option presented in the pop-up is «OK» !

It seems that the problem started when someone attempted to install Power Point 2007 Viewer for her.  The installation was not able to complete and the PC had to be rebooted.  The user then deleted the downloaded «Installer» for Power Point 2007 Viewer ..but the symptoms described above started to appear from that time.  The user then applied a «restore point» from 1 month ago when these symptoms did not occur.  This did not clear the problem and these «Installer Pop-Up’s» are continuously happening now.

The PC is running XP Home SP2 and has all automatic updates set-up.  It has Microsoft Office 2003 installed but the owner is always using Outlook Express as she is most familiar with this e-mail program and does not use the Outlook that came with her Office 2003 package.  Outlook Express (version 6.00.2900.2180) had been working fine until the attempt to install Power Point 2007 Viewer!  There is only one account enabled on this PC for the user and it is set with «administrator rights» although she never installs any programs herself.  She simply uses the PC for e-mail’s and display attachments from known senders only.  One of my relatives also performs weekly maintenance on this PC for Anti-Virus , Spyware , Disk Clean-Up and Defrag so that the system remains properly maintained.

Have checked that all Windows Updates are successfully applied and found no problems there ( some that had initially failed but succeeded afterwards).  I looked-up the Microsoft site and found information about MSI.dll suggesting it should be running v2 (3.11.4000.2435).  I checked the version number and found that it is currently at a higher level shown as 3.11.4000.4039 !  Unfortunately, I could not find anything specifically referencing this particular version ( .4039) so far !  Am puzzled on this one and am not sure this is the right version for this PC set-up !  Can anyone help on this point ?

Am also wondering if the failed installation of the Power Point 2007 Viewer has somehow left some traces that are causing MSI to try to complete the installation although it is likely missing many components since the installation never completed and the PC was rebooted!  I have tried downloading again the Power Point 2007 Viewer and completed the installation which seemed to work as am able to launch and display files after.  However , am also getting the «Windows preparing to install….» pop-up when launching this Power Point 2007 Viewer now ! 

I then installed Tune-Up Utilities 2008 and ran all the necessary tools to check/fix any registry errors , application path problems , ..etc.  I also use the same program on my own PC and have never had any issues with it.  It did find and corrected the «usual errors» such as empty files and links to files or programs that no longer exist. There was nothing reported about anything that looked like «Windows Installer» that I could detect. 

Sorry for the lenght above, thought the details may be of value. Am not sure what to do next!  Any help would be most appreciated!