WIndows Installer IS !@#$ed up

ANd I dont know what to do? I have xp pro with Sp1 and Any program that uses windows installer wont work. ALl other install programs work just fine but if one uses windows installer it fails. Windows installer Starts... Program install process begins. Randomly (5-20 seconds into instalation), The install window just Disapears and closes. Lets see if any1 here can figure out this problem because no1 I know has been able to yet? Also If thier is some sort of a way to reinstall windows installer I think that may work but I cant find it anywere.. Official MS site does not give out the XP Windows installer because they say its included with winxp.

Please Help

Option 1) Boot from the CD and do a repair installation. This usually works pretty well. A few appz/drivers may require reinstallation and you may need to visit Windows Upate a few time, but in general it works suprisingly well.

Option 2) Format the HD and do a clean install. Download Autopatcher XP Dec (www.autopatcher.com) which will update XP for you in one step.

If you are in the habit of keeping your OS and your documents on separate partions, a clean install is fairly painless.

I keep my desktop folder, my documents folder, email store folder, favorites folder and application data folder (address book) all on D:. Usually the only think I need to backup from C: before reinstalling is saved game files.

(corrected url spelling)<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Codesmith on 01/15/04 09:35 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

I need to run autopatcher so I can install the IE Spellchecker

My typing is still hurting form the switch form Dvorak back to the standard Qwerty layout.

http://www.autopatcher.com/ (its free btw)

Try an online scan from Pandasoftware.com or Symantec.com. If that doesn't work, you're only recourse is to format and reload. There must be some way you can back up your data.

<font color=red> If you design software that is fool-proof, only a fool will want to use it. </font color=red>

Now you are definately going to have to reinstall

Best to try to get rid of the virus first.

Try using a web based virus scanner, there are several to chose from. Or boot from Norton AV CD and do a virus scan that way.