Windows Installer CleanUp Utility

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 23, 2009
Updated • Apr 10, 2014
Windows
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9

It can happen that an installation of software in Windows fails. Reasons for it failing can be numerous from mundane reasons like running out of hard disk space to more serious ones that include Registry corruption or crashes.

One problem that can arise from a failed software installation are installation leftovers that can not only impact disk size but also stability and performance of the computer system.

In addition, a failed installation may prevent future attempts at installing the program on the system where it failed to install on the first time.

The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility has been developed by Microsoft as a tool to clean a computer system after a failed installation of a software program using Windows installer.

The computer program will display a list of all applications that have been installed using Windows Installer giving you the option to remove installers properly from the computer system.

It is possible to select one or multiple programs from the list for removal. The cleanup program will then remove the installation files from the computer system so that it can be removed or installed properly.

Microsoft advises to not use the program to cleanup Office 2007 installers this way. The reason for this is that it can happen that installers can become corrupted so that it becomes impossible to remove the program from the operating system.

The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

Update: Microsoft has retired the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility (MSICUU2.exe). The company is offering a Program Install and Uninstall Fix It solution instead which you can run on all recent versions of the Windows operating system.

All you have to do is click on the run now button on the page linked above to download the Fix It solution to your local system.

Run the program once it has been downloaded and follow the instructions to resolve installation related issues on your Windows PC.

It is highly recommended to select the manual option which enables you to verify findings of the program before changes are made.

You then need to select if you have troubles installing or uninstalling software. The Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter will scan the system afterwards and display a list of programs in the end.

Follow the instructions until you get to the point where you can resolve the issue.

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Comments

  1. turu said on July 24, 2009 at 5:45 am
    Reply

    Thank you, Martin and Mark. I’ll try both.

  2. Jojo said on July 23, 2009 at 9:53 pm
    Reply

    Speaking of freeing up space, Fred Langa wrote about how “Huge WinSxS folders gobbles up disk space” in Windows Secrets. I wrote back that:

    ==================
    WinSxS is nothing! On my system it is only about 52MB.

    The REAL problem for me is C:\Windows\Installer. As you can see from the data below, this folder is 2.22GB! It takes up fully 20% of my entire (partitioned) C: drive, which is 10MB.
    ==================

    But I never received any reply from Fred nor Windows Secrets nor saw any write-up on this folder in their newsletter.

    I had tried to delete this folder but that royally corrupted Windows and I had to restore the C: drive to recover.

    Does anyone know how to reduce the size of this C:\Windows\Installer folder?

  3. Martin said on July 23, 2009 at 3:53 pm
    Reply

    Hej Dummy its there.

  4. Gamaware said on July 23, 2009 at 3:41 pm
    Reply

    Does CCleaner do the same?

  5. jocko jackamone said on July 23, 2009 at 3:38 pm
    Reply

    hey dummy wheres the download link?

  6. Mark said on July 23, 2009 at 3:11 pm
    Reply

    @ turu

    You can try Windows XP Update Remover here > http://www.tech-pro.net/windows-update-remover.html

  7. turu said on July 23, 2009 at 2:23 pm
    Reply

    this is kinda off-topic, but have you feature some sort of “Windows Update Cleaner” which works like this program ?

    I think i saw it once at here, but couldn’t find it again by using search box…so
    i will appreciate if somebody tell me proper link…

    sorry for off-topic

    1. Martin said on July 23, 2009 at 2:56 pm
      Reply

      Crap Cleaner can probably do this? http://www.ccleaner.com/update/

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