Safe Mode is one of the basic Windows tools that allows you to restore the operating system, check it for damage, and delete non-removable files. However, this mode has one drawback - the inability to install software from msi packages. This means that the Windows Installer service or the Windows Installer in Safe Mode is not running. The developers themselves considered this service potentially unsafe and deleted it from 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 are faced with a Windows error, which 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 a 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".

You can fix this situation by doing the following:

  • We restart the computer in safe mode.
  • Press "Win + R" and enter "regedit".

  • The Registry Editor will open. If you booted into 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".

These registry actions can be performed at the command prompt. To do this, 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, in order to start or start using the features of the Windows Installer, it is worth typing "net start msiserver" at the command line or go to Manage Services and set the Installer status to "Enabled". Programs can be uninstalled or installed in safe mode.

Read what you need safe mode for. 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 bugs, 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 loading or running. It also provides an environment where you can roll back system or driver updates, clean up startup, uninstall recently installed programs, or diagnose and troubleshoot Windows.

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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 a standard video driver that 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 restarts cycling, freezes during boot, gives a BSOD error with a blue screen of death, or system boot is blocked 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 after 3 failed boot attempts in a row. But you can force start safe mode. . To start safe mode in Windows 7 or 8, you must hold down the Shift button during system reboot.

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 removal of 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 in normal mode can be removed in safe mode. If you don't already have an antivirus, you can download and install it. Windows 10 already has a free antivirus built in to help you find and remove the virus.

    Starting System Restore. If yesterday your computer was working fine, but as a result of changing settings or installing new drivers or programs, failures appeared - use restore points. Windows Automatic Update is usually enabled by default on most computers. Sometimes such updates lead to blocking the PC boot, the system reboots cyclically or gives an error and a blue screen of death. Often, booting into safe mode and rolling back to an earlier known good system configuration will completely resolve the issue.


    Removing Recently Installed Malware. 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 at system startup, but by software that constantly monitors for updates on the Internet.

    Uninstalling or updating drivers. Automatic driver updates can also cause system crashes. In safe mode, most drivers do not start or are replaced with less functional, but more stable versions. Often the cause of the crash can be a video or sound card driver. If you or the system automatically updated the driver to a failed version, roll back to the previous version or use the driver from the official website of the device manufacturer.

    Determining the cause of failure. If the computer does not start in a non-normal mode, not in safe mode, then most likely your hardware is failing. In this case, it is worth disconnecting all third-party devices and restarting. Ideally, you should leave only the processor, memory and hard drive with the system. Then connect the devices one by one and repeat the launch to find the problem. If you get a BSOD error during normal startup, use the Event Log and System Reliability Monitor for more information and troubleshooting advice.

Reinstalling Windows

Often, finding and solving the problem of a crashing system is not justified in terms of the time spent. A faster and easier solution would be a clean install of Windows.

Of course, reinstalling Windows will cause you to lose your personal files, so make sure you have a backup. Windows 8 or 10 provides an alternative to reinstallation - resetting your PC. In doing so, you can keep your personal files.

If your computer is still unstable after doing this, then there is a hardware failure in your computer. To continue working with the PC, you must identify the failed part and replace it.

If you are reading this post, you already know that Windows Installer (MSI) does not run in Windows Safe Mode by default. This is very frustrating, because you may have installed an application or program in normal mode, which subsequently prevents Windows 10 from starting. Attempting to uninstall a program from safe mode causes an error because the Windows Installer service does not start in safe mode. Here is a simple workaround that will allow you to start the Windows Installer service in safe mode.

Let's say that after an improper shutdown, one of the programs began to prevent the operating system from loading normally. As soon as the desktop loaded, the OS was getting BAD_POOL_HEADER(). If you know which of the installed programs is causing the system crash, you need to remove it, if not, you will have to remove one by one, the last installed applications.

If you try to uninstall an application that was installed from an MSI package in safe mode, you will get the following error:

Failed to access the Windows Installer service. Perhaps the Windows Installer is not installed. Contact support for help.

How to uninstall a program or application in safe mode

To enable the Windows InstallerInstaller in safe mode, do the following.

Navigate to the next registry key.

Create a new subkey named "MSIServer".

In the created section MSIServer, set value for default string parameter on the "Service" as shown below. This will allow the Windows installer to run normally in safe mode (no network support).

Now repeat the same for

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network

This will enable Windows Installer in Safe Mode with Networking. See screenshot below.

Now open a command prompt and type:

This will instantly activate the Windows Installer service.

Now you can uninstall any application or program in safe mode!

This trick works on all modern versions of Windows, including Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7.

To save you time, you can download ready-made registry files.

The archive contains two files:

Enable Windows Installer in Safe Mode - Enable uninstall apps in safe mode.

Disable Windows Installer in Safe Mode- Turn off uninstalling applications in Safe Mode (undo changes).

Safe Mode (Safe Mode) in Windows systems is one of the basic tools that allow you to restore the system. One of the significant disadvantages of safe mode is the inability to install / uninstall programs from msi packages. This limitation is because the developers considered the service Windows Installer(Window Installer) is potentially unsafe, and decided to stop this service from starting when the system boots in safe mode. Which in some cases is extremely inconvenient.

Most modern applications for their correct installation / removal use the services of the Windows Installer service, and if it is not available, their installation or removal is impossible. Let's say that in order to restore the system's performance, it is necessary to remove some application in safe mode that interferes with the normal boot of the system (for example, an antivirus). When you try to run the standard uninstaller to remove the 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

Manually starting the Windows Installer service in Safe Mode also fails (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 little trick that allows you to start the Windows Installer service in safe mode and uninstall the software correctly.

To enable the Windows installer service in Safe Mode:


After starting the MSIServer service, it is possible to directly remove / install any application with an msi installer in safe mode.

Not infrequently, when trying to remove a program, users are faced with the fact that the program is not removed. When trying to start the uninstallation of the program through the "Control Panel", the user receives an error that interrupts the uninstallation process. After that, the program remains on the computer.

If you also don't know how to uninstall 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 removed, 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 want will be called End Process.

After all processes associated with the program are stopped, you need to try again to uninstall the program. If this method did not help to remove the program, then try restarting your computer and try again. Perhaps something has hung up on you and thus blocked the removal of the program.

Method number 2. Use a special program to remove programs.

If the program is not removed even after a reboot, then 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. At the same time, 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 that, you need to right-click on the program you want to remove and select "Uninstall".

After that, a window will appear in which you need to select a method for uninstalling 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. Remove the program through safe mode.

If none of the above helps to remove the program, then you need to boot the computer into and try again.

In safe mode, only the main components of the operating system are loaded; other programs that can block uninstallation are not loaded. Therefore, in safe mode, the removal should go without problems.