Old MSI packages on Windows Vista
Trying to install older MSI packages on Vista, but not able to run it as
an administrator? Fear not, because you have just found the "how to"
tutorial!
By: Admin
Email:
Published: 2007.11.22 - 23:11
Mark: Unrated
One of the new security features of Windows Vista is the User Account Control
(UAC) mechanism that limits the administrator rights for programs running
in the OS. This limits many of the possibilities that harmful software have
to damage the system. Though this is a great feature it can create issues
with different older types of software that require administrative rights
in order to operate properly.
To bypass this problem programs can be run in administrator mode by right-clicking
the program icon and choose "Run as administrator" from the menu.
This choice is for a single execution of the application, but can be made
permanentby choosing "Properties" from the right-click menu, then
click the "Compatibility" tab in order to select the "Run
as administrator" checkbox.
For MSI packages however the administrator privilege should be enabled by
default. But for older MSI packages Vista doesn't grant this right until
after the installer has started, so it crashes before it can start. The
"Run as administrator" option is not available in the OS by default
for MSI files since it should be granted already.
To fix this problem the default settings for MSI packages can be altered
by editing a value in the registry. There should be a key with the name/path:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Msi.Package\shell\runas\command
This should have the value:
"%SystemRoot%\System32\msiexec.exe"
/i "%1" %*
If do not know how to edit the registry, or even what the registry is, then
you are advised not to try. You can harm your system to great extents, so
i have created a registry file that will add this value for you. Download
this file here:
