Safe Mode is one of the basic Windows tools that allows you to restore the operating system, check it for damage, and delete files that cannot be deleted. However, this mode has one drawback - the inability to install software from msi packages. This means that the Windows Installer service or Windows Installer in Safe Mode is not running. The developers themselves considered this service potentially unsafe and crossed it off the list of software that can work in Safe Mode.
Run Windows Installer in Safe Mode
Many modern programs cannot be installed or uninstalled without the Windows Installer service. Let's say that you encounter a Windows error that is caused by the incorrect operation of one of the programs. You can only uninstall a program, such as an antivirus, in safe mode. However, when you try to run the uninstaller, the system will display the message: “The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personal for assistance.”
This situation can be corrected by following these steps:
- Reboot the computer in safe mode.
- Press “Win+R” and enter “regedit”.
- The Registry Editor will open. If you booted in normal safe mode, go to the branch “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal”. In the case when you needed a mode with command line support, go to the address “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network”.
- Here you need to create a new partition called “MSIServer”. To do this, right-click on the “Minimal” or “Network” section and select “Create”, “Section”. We give it the name “MSIServer”.
- A new parameter will be automatically created in this section. Set it to “Service”.
You can perform these registry actions from the command line. To do this we do the following:
- Launch the command line and enter: REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal\MSIServer" /VE /T REG_SZ /F /D "Service".
Now, to launch or start using the capabilities of Windows Installer, you should enter “net start msiserver” in the command line or go to Service Management and set the Installer status to “Enabled”. Programs can be removed or installed in safe mode.
Safe Mode in Windows systems is one of the basic tools that allows you to restore system functionality. One of the significant disadvantages of safe mode is the inability to install/uninstall programs from msi packages. This limitation is due to the fact that the developers considered the service Windows Installer(Window Installer) is potentially unsafe, and decided to cancel the start of this service when the system boots in safe mode. Which in some cases is extremely inconvenient.
Most modern applications use the Windows Installer service for their correct installation/uninstallation, and if it is not available, their installation or uninstallation is impossible. Let's assume that in order to restore the system's functionality, it is necessary to remove in safe mode some application that interferes with the normal loading of the system (for example, an antivirus). When you try to run a standard uninstaller to remove an application, the system reports:
The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personal for assistance
It is also not possible to manually start the Windows Installer service in Safe Mode (Services -> Windows Installer -> Start):
Windows could not start the Windows Installer service on Local Computer. Error 1084: This service cannot be started in Safe Mode
However, there is a small trick that allows you to start the Windows Installer service in safe mode and correctly uninstall the software.
To enable the Windows installer service in Safe Mode:
After starting the MSISServer service, it is possible to directly uninstall/install any application with an msi installer in safe mode.
Windows Safe Mode is a very convenient and necessary tool. On computers that are infected with viruses or have problems with hardware drivers, safe mode may be the only way to solve the problem with your computer.
Booting Windows into Safe Mode does not load any third-party software or drivers, thus increasing the likelihood that the boot will be successful and you will be able to fix the problem in Safe Mode.
In theory, your computer should start Windows Safe Mode on its own if a failure occurs during boot, however, sometimes it is necessary to manually start Safe Mode, which is done as follows:
- IN Windows 7 and earlier versions: you must press F8 after turning on the computer, as a result a menu will appear in which you can select to boot into safe mode. More details about this in the article
- IN Windows 8: You need to press Shift and F8 when you turn on the computer, but this may not work. In details: .
What exactly can be fixed in safe mode?
After you have launched safe mode, you can perform the following actions on the system to correct computer errors:
- Scan your computer for viruses, perform virus treatment - very often those viruses that the antivirus cannot remove in normal mode are easily removed in a safe way. If you don't have an antivirus, you can install it while in safe mode.
- Run System Restore- if just recently the computer was working stably, but now it’s starting to crash, use system restore to return the computer to the state it was in before.
- Remove installed software- if problems with the startup or operation of Windows began after some program or game was installed (especially for programs that install their own drivers), a blue screen of death began to appear, then you can remove the installed software in safe mode. It is very likely that after this the computer will boot normally.
- Update hardware drivers - provided that system instability is caused by system device drivers, you can download and install the latest drivers from the official websites of equipment manufacturers.
- Remove banner from desktop - safe mode with command line support is one of the main ways to get rid of SMS ransomware, how to do this is described in detail in the instructions.
- See if crashes occur in Safe Mode - If during normal booting of Windows the computer has problems - blue screen of death, automatic reboot or similar, but they are absent in safe mode, then most likely the problem is software. If, on the contrary, the computer does not work in safe mode, causing the same failures, then there is a possibility that they are caused by hardware problems. It is worth noting that normal operation in safe mode does not guarantee that there are no hardware problems - it happens that they arise only when the equipment is heavily loaded, for example, a video card, which does not happen in safe mode.
Here are some of the things you can do in Safe Mode. This is not a complete list. In some cases, when solving and diagnosing the causes of a problem takes an prohibitively long time and takes a lot of effort, reinstalling Windows may be the best option.
Read why you need safe mode. How to start your computer in safe mode and fix your PC using it. Windows Safe Mode is an important built-in tool. On computers infected with malware or crashing due to driver errors, Safe Mode may be the only way to start.
Safe Mode starts your computer with the minimum required set of drivers and services. All third-party programs are disabled, and even system tools are limited to only the necessary set of functions.
Safe Mode is a great way to get rid of malware that is blocking your computer from booting or functioning. It also provides an environment in which you can roll back system or driver updates, clean up startup, remove recently installed programs, or diagnose and troubleshoot Windows problems.
Content:When can Safe Mode help?
During normal startup, Windows loads all system services, installed hardware drivers, and programs from startup. In Safe Mode, the system starts with the standard video driver, which provides a low screen resolution and does not affect hardware support. Windows starts only with the services necessary for the system and disables autoloading of third-party programs.
If your computer reboots cyclically, freezes during boot, displays a BSOD error with a blue screen of death, or the system is blocked from booting by a ransomware virus banner, then safe mode will be an excellent solution for diagnosing and treating these problems.
How to start your computer in safe mode
Your Windows 10 PC will automatically start in safe mode if it fails 3 times in a row. But you can force start safe mode. . To launch Safe Mode in Windows 7 or 8, you must hold down the Shift button while rebooting the system.
How to fix PC in safe mode?
After starting Safe Mode, you can perform a number of common system maintenance and troubleshooting tasks:
Search and remove viruses. Use an antivirus to scan your computer and remove malware in safe mode. Malicious programs run in the background and interfere with the operation of the system and antivirus. A virus that does not allow itself to be removed normally can be removed in Safe Mode. If you don't have an antivirus yet, you can download and install one. Windows 10 already has a free antivirus built-in that will help you find and remove the virus.
Running System Restore. If yesterday your computer was working normally, but as a result of changing settings or installing new drivers or programs, problems appeared - use restore points. Automatic Windows Update is usually turned on by default on most computers. Sometimes such updates lead to the PC being blocked from loading, the system reboots cyclically or displays an error and a blue screen of death. Often booting into safe mode and rolling back to an earlier successful system configuration will completely resolve the problem.
Removing recently installed faulty software. If installing a program blocks the system from starting or results in a blue screen error, you can uninstall it in the Control Panel. Such errors can be caused not only by programs that start automatically when the system starts, but by software that constantly monitors the availability of updates on the Internet.
Removing or updating drivers. Automatic driver updates can also lead to system failures. In safe mode, most drivers do not start or are replaced with less functional but more stable versions. Often the cause of the crash may be the video or sound card driver. If you or the system automatically updated the driver to a faulty version, roll back to the previous version or use the driver from the official website of the device manufacturer.
Determining the cause of the failure. If the computer does not start in normal mode, not in safe mode, then most likely your hardware is faulty. In this case, you should disconnect all third-party devices and restart. Ideally, you should leave only the processor, memory and hard drive with the system. Then connect the devices one at a time and repeat the launch to detect the problem. If you receive a BSOD error during normal startup, use the Event Log and System Stability Monitor for more information and recommendations to resolve the issue.
Reinstalling Windows
Often, finding and solving a problem that leads to a system crash is not justified in terms of the time spent. A faster and easier solution would be to clean install Windows.
Of course, reinstalling Windows will result in the loss of your personal files, so make sure you have a backup. Windows 8 or 10 provides an alternative to reinstallation - resetting the computer to its original state. At the same time, you can save your personal files.
If after this your computer is still unstable, then there is a hardware failure in your computer. To continue working with the PC, you need to identify the faulty part and replace it.
Often, when trying to uninstall a program, users are faced with the fact that the program is not uninstalled. When trying to uninstall a program through the Control Panel, the user receives an error that interrupts the uninstallation process. After which the program remains on the computer.
If you also don't know how to remove a program that won't uninstall, then this article should help you. Here we will look at three simple and effective ways to solve this problem.
Method number 1. Stop all processes that are associated with the program.
If the program is not uninstalled, then most likely it is currently running. In order to stop the program, open “ ” (for example, using the key combination CTRL+SHIFT+ESC) and go to the list of processes. In the list of processes you need to find those processes that are associated with the program and stop them.
If you have Windows 8 or Windows 10, then you need to right-click on the process you want to end and select “End task” from the menu that appears. In Windows 7 and older versions of Windows, the menu item you need will be called "End Process".
After all processes associated with the program have been stopped, you need to try to remove the program again. If this method does not help remove the program, then try restarting your computer and try again. Perhaps something is frozen on your computer and thus blocked the program from being uninstalled.
Method number 2. Use a special program to remove programs.
If the program is not removed even after a reboot, you can try to remove it using a special program. The most popular program of this kind is. This program allows you to remove any other programs. Moreover, uninstallation is possible even in cases where the uninstaller does not work or the program is not displayed in the control panel.
Using Revo Uninstaller is quite simple. First you need to run this program and wait until it scans your computer and displays all installed programs. After this, you need to right-click on the program you want to remove and select “Delete”.
After this, a window will appear in which you need to select how to remove the program. In most cases, the Moderate option will do.
Here you can click on the “Select All” button and confirm the deletion by clicking on the “Next” button.
Method number 3. Uninstall the program through safe mode.
If none of the above helps you remove the program, then you need to boot your computer into and try again.
In safe mode, only the main components of the operating system are loaded; other programs that may block uninstallation are not loaded. Therefore, in safe mode, deletion should proceed without problems.
