Windows Installer Service Failed To Start

Article #INS244B

Synopsis

When installing an application using the Microsoft Windows Installer Service on a computer running Windows NT 4.0, installation sometimes stops unexpectedly and one of the following error messages appears:

·         The Windows Installer Service failed to start. Contact your support personnel.

·         Error 1631: The Windows Installer service failed to start. Contact your support personnel.

·         Internal Error 2755: Please contact product support for assistance.

Versions Affected

Any product installed using the Microsoft Windows Installer Service on Windows NT 4.0 can be affected.

More Information

This error can occur whenever the Microsoft Windows Installer Service is used to install, uninstall, modify, or repair a product on Windows NT 4.0 and is caused by an empty System environment variable.

Details of this issue are provided in Microsoft Knowledge Base article #Q251274.

Known Workarounds

To resolve the issue

1. Click Start | Settings | Control Panel | System. The System Properties dialog box appears.
2. Click the Environment tab.
3. In the System Variables box, locate the empty environment variable (that is, the Value box for the environment variable is blank).
4. Do one of the following:
   • In the Value box, type the applicable value for the environment variable.
   • Type a temporary value for the variable, then delete the value after installation, uninstallation, modification, or repair of the software has successfully completed.
   • If the environment variable is not needed, delete it by clicking the variable, then clicking Delete.
5. Reboot the computer, then restart the installation, uninstallation, modification, or repair of the software.

Last Update: 08-30-02

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