Images Fix issues with Windows Installer

Enable Microsoft Installer logging and Verbose logging

Have you ever encountered issues with Windows Installer or Microsoft Installer? The possible culprits causing this issue can be data corruption or corrupted installations or others. Windows Installer is Windows component responsible for the installation, maintenance, and removal of software in Windows OS. However, many users prefer restoring back to earlier settings to fix issues with Windows Installer. Here is the tutorial how you can use the Microsoft Installer logging and Verbose logging to resolve issues with Windows Installer.

If Windows Installer on your system fails to install any App or problem in removing any installed software, then you can prefer the logs that are maintained by Windows Installer itself. To use the log, one must have enabled logging first. If you have enabled Microsoft Installer logging, then you can try installing the application again and Windows Installer will begin tracking the progress and record all the data in a log file. Whenever you notice that Windows Installer fails to install, then to resolve the installation issues you can make use of the log file to see where and what caused the problem.

Verbose logging is another troubleshooting log file which tracks down all additional information in the logs generated by the Windows Installer. It tracks down all the changes and settings made in Group Policy and other local computer along with changes made by other users who log on to the PC. By default, they are enabled and are located at C:\Debug but if not then here is how you can enable Microsoft Installer logging & Verbose logging in Windows 8.

Steps to Enable Microsoft Installer logging & Verbose logging in Windows 8

Microsoft has developed Fix it 20095 to enable Windows Installer logging & Verbose logging. This will track down all logs generated by Windows Installer. So, first download Fix it 20095 and run it.

Upon running the Fix it, Microsoft Installer logging start or say enabled and the error codes generated during installation by Windows Installer are tracked and stored in the log files. The names for the log files starts with ‘msi’, followed by a bunch of alpha-numeric characters, and are saved in .log file format. You can go to the following location to find the log files C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temp\. You need to set all folders to be shown as they remain hidden.

You can further use the log files to solve the issues with installation yourself or contact Microsoft Support and pass on the error codes or log files to them to fix the issues with installation. When you are done, you can disable Microsoft Installer logging using Microsoft Fix it 20096.

So, whenever you wish to enable Microsoft Installer logging and Verbose logging in Windows 8 to fix error with installation, follow the tutorial here.