Tech Journal Back to Tech Journal

Why do I get the message "the system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation" during installations on Windows?

Because that's exactly what happened. This usually pops up when the user attemps to execute an MSI (Microsoft Installer) file directly, or that this is done from within some installer's execution process.

To change this policy, run the Group Policy Object Editor, but executing the command gpedit.msc.

Look for Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templaces -> Windows Components -> Windows Installer -> Disable Windows Installer

Either double-click on Disable Windows Installer, or right-click and select Properties. And set the value to "Disable". (Yes, this is grammatically confusing, but we want to disable the action of disabling the windows installer, thus enabling it.)

That should fix it, no reboot required.

If it doesn't fix it, then you can try going to the registry, and open the key HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer, editing the REG_DWORD named DisableMSI, setting it to 0. You may have to reboot to make this work.

Another cause: it might be because of a bug in the 2.0 MSI that crops up because of elements of an application "left over" from a previous install. Open the registry key HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products and look for the program you're trying to install, and remove it. (Alternatively, you may look for a Microsoft utility named "Windows Installer Cleanup Utility" at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301 that should do the same thing.)

Finally, it might be because the Microsoft Installer service is not running. You can unregister it using:

msiexec /unregister

And re-register it using:

msiexec /regserver

You might have to reboot to complete the fix.

Back to Tech Journal