Solved Can't install anything - setup wizard never gets anywhere

For the last 10 days or so I haven't been able to install ANYTHING.
Not sure if it is related to a recent Windows update or not.
Regardless of what I try to install, the status bar never moves. Just sits there like this. (screen shot below)
I've let it sit for over 24 hours. Tried I think 5 different pieces of software during this time.
After 20 minutes or so a window will pop up to say "Installer is no longer responding" and then it lets me cancel.
A game I tried to play (already installed previously) wanted to install a VC++ redistributable, and that also froze and never got anywhere.
The game attempted to do this 'behind the scenes' and that failed.

I have not rolled back Windows updates. I'm not sure how to do that anyway without Windows re-updating within a week or so.

My Windows 11 drive is a 4TB WD SN850X SSD, reporting 100% drive health (installed about a month ago).

Steps I have tried:

Restarting (heheheh)

Re-register the Windows Installer:
Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
Type msiexec /unregister and press Enter, then type msiexec /regserver and press Enter.
Check Disk for Errors:

Open Command Prompt as an administrator.
Type chkdsk /f and press Enter to check the disk for errors.

Check for Corrupted Files:
In the Command Prompt (admin), type sfc /scannow to check for corrupted system files.

Thank you for any assistance!!

Make sure to execute SFC /Scannow command after executing Dism /Online /cleanup-image /restorehealth command.

You can also perform in-place upgrade of Windows 11. In-place upgrade is to use to replace the current operating system files on your computer. Unlike a clean installation of Windows, you can start a Windows in-place upgrade when your OS is still running. And an in-place upgrade can keep your files, settings, & apps during the upgrade process. You can perform a Windows 11 in-place upgrade is to use the Windows 11 Media Creation Tool. Make sure to select Upgrade this PC now and click Next. Follow the on-screen guide to perform a Windows 11 in-place upgrade.

Welcome to the forums!

It is hard to tell what is going on until you fill out your system specs and OS version. The more details, the better.

After that you could list apps here that you have installed. Especially apps that affect how the OS runs and behaves like AV and apps that modify registry etc... Also do you have any games installed that use kernel based anti cheat?

The login user account could be corrupted, see another user account have same problem.

Kaizen777 said:

Regardless of what I try to install, the status bar never moves. Just sits there.....

Click to expand...

Welcome to Eleven Forum.

Check to see if it was being blocked by Controlled Folder Access. See if it's in the list of Recently blocked apps in Step 7 here:


If so, you can allow it, but only do so if you really trust the source of this app.

Bree said:

Check to see if it was being blocked by Controlled Folder Access.

Click to expand...

I ALWAYS forget this one, as I have it disabled by any means necessary. It is a HUGE pain. Great point!

SlicEnDicE said:

I ALWAYS forget this one, as I have it disabled by any means necessary. It is a HUGE pain. Great point!

Click to expand...

I have been using it since 2017 when it first appeared in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update 1709. It was off by default, but I turned it on to test it. I had to allow a couple of apps access (VLC was one) but once added it causes no further disturbance. I just have to be aware that any new app may need adding, but it's not a big deal once you get used to it. I have it enabled on all my machines.

SlicEnDicE said:

I ALWAYS forget this one, as I have it disabled by any means necessary. It is a HUGE pain. Great point!

Click to expand...

Good catch @Bree
I'm with @SlicEnDicE. I wouldn't have thought of it either since I'm accustomed to it being off in my systems. Now I'll remember to check that if I run into the problem for someone else.

Thank you @FreeBooter, @SlicEnDicE, and @Bree! I appreciate it!

@FreeBooter - thanks for the tips (did them) and great idea with the in place upgrade. I definitely want to create a system image prior to doing that. Guess what? I can't! More on that below.

@SlicEnDicE
I did update my system specs a few minutes after I posted.
I made a list of installed programs, near 500 of them. ; )
I could attach that if you think it might help. I don't have any AV installed, just Windows Defender.
I'm not aware of any games that use kernel based anti cheat, though it is a possibility.
If I do, I'm sure they were installed long ago.

@Bree
Turns out Controlled Folder Access was off, though thanks for the suggestion!


More information:

New oddities discovered. Tried to image it using Windows system image creator through the control panel, and with Macrium reflect.
Neither succeeded. Volume Shadow Copy error 0x80042316. I tried many steps to resolve that and have been unable.
I do believe the main problem of this thread and this problem are related.

Another related issue - I went to see if I had any restore points and System Restore couldn't find Available Drives.. it was 'Searching...' forever.
I then rebooted and tried that again right away, it worked fine... until I tried to install a program... then it couldn't find any drives again.
Whatever the problem is, it's creating global issues...
And no luck, no existing restore points. Oops. Didn't realize that wasn't happening.



I can say that this problem started when I was attempting to upgrade Da Vinci Resolve (popular free video editor) to the latest version. It installed two other programs it needed successfully, and the actual update to Resolve is where I first saw the installer go nowhere. Might be related to this, might not be. Funnily, I tried to uninstall it and related components completely and was reminded that I cannot uninstall anything.

Worst case scenario I have to do a clean install. It wouldn't be the end of the world I suppose. It would also be nightmarish to get everything I need reinstalled and setup again. It would be nice if there was a universal way to copy programs and settings and move them to another install in 2024. There are too many ways to store settings (registry, APPDATA folders, local program folders, etc)
If you happen to know of any good solutions for that I'd love to hear it! There's a high probability I'm going to have to nuke it and rebuild. =D

I'm not too worried about personal and project files as I keep everything on the cloud these days.
Thanks again!

Kaizen777 said:

I made a list of installed programs, near 500 of them. ; )
I could attach that if you think it might help. I don't have any AV installed, just Windows Defender.

Click to expand...

Yeah I saw the updated system specs, but waited for your response here first.

No need to post the full app list now but keep it ready in case we need to take a look.

Have you checked Reliability History and Event Viewer for any errors? There could be some hints about what's going on.

To me it sounds like something has tried to install/update but failed and is now blocking further installs.

What about Windows Fast Startup? Have you disabled it in Windows Power Options? It is a useless feature for your fast system and can cause a lot of corruptions. Usually it works great though and can be left enabled.

EDIT: Since you have so many apps installed, first thing you should do is to do a Windows Clean Boot so we can determine if there's some driver or service conflicts. It will boot your system with minimal drivers and services enabled. If you need help with that, ask.

Thanks so much!

I tried the Windows Clean Boot
(These instructions -https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd#bkmk_reset_w11)
Essentially disable all startup items and all non-Microsoft services, yes?
Anyway, did that and am still not able to install or uninstall anything.

I'm thinking about trying the in-place Win11 upgrade without my whole system being backed up. Worst case it corrupts my install and I have to start from scratch. I've made peace with that now. I do have a lot of software installed I haven't used in a long time. Clean slate is a nice idea, once I get over how much setup I will have to do - but I can spread that out over time.

SlicEnDicE said:

Yeah I saw the updated system specs, but waited for your response here first.

No need to post the full app list now but keep it ready in case we need to take a look.

Have you checked Reliability History and Event Viewer for any errors? There could be some hints about what's going on.

To me it sounds like something has tried to install/update but failed and is now blocking further installs.

What about Windows Fast Startup? Have you disabled it in Windows Power Options? It is a useless feature for your fast system and can cause a lot of corruptions. Usually it works great though and can be left enabled.

EDIT: Since you have so many apps installed, first thing you should do is to do a Windows Clean Boot so we can determine if there's some driver or service conflicts. It will boot your system with minimal drivers and services enabled. If you need help with that, ask.

Click to expand...

Kaizen777 said:

Thanks so much!

I tried the Windows Clean Boot
(These instructions -https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd#bkmk_reset_w11)
Essentially disable all startup items and all non-Microsoft services, yes?
Anyway, did that and am still not able to install or uninstall anything.

I'm thinking about trying the in-place Win11 upgrade without my whole system being backed up. Worst case it corrupts my install and I have to start from scratch. I've made peace with that now. I do have a lot of software installed I haven't used in a long time. Clean slate is a nice idea, once I get over how much setup I will have to do - but I can spread that out over time.

Click to expand...

You could try that, if you are prepared for everything to go south...as it may happen. But best case scenario, it fixed your issue...

This option would be the easiest way out. But before that, have you already tried to create a new user and login to that? Possible you profile is corrupt...

Kaizen777 said:

It would be nice if there was a universal way to copy programs and settings and move them to another install in 2024.

Click to expand...

Most modern imaging applications can do this for you.There are MANY MANY threads here about that subject and we all urge users to do just that in many, many more threads across the forum. Poll on Backup software
I can completely backup everything in 10 minutes and restore that backup in 8.
Whatever backup solution you choose, test your recovery media to make sure you can restore from it.

I was trying to refer to the ability to transfer programs and settings between Windows installations in order to avoid the hassle of having to reinstall every program again and configure them. Sure if you do regular backups (which I need to start doing) that is helpful, but at some point it's possible that Windows starts malfunctioning to the point where you just need to start with a clean slate, and it would be great to be able to easily transfer your software and software settings without having to redownload it all and reconfigure it all. =D

glasskuter said:

Most modern imaging applications can do this for you.There are MANY MANY threads here about that subject and we all urge users to do just that in many, many more threads across the forum. Poll on Backup software
I can completely backup everything in 10 minutes and restore that backup in 8.
Whatever backup solution you choose, test your recovery media to make sure you can restore from it.

Click to expand...

Kaizen777 said:

at some point it's possible that Windows starts malfunctioning to the point where you just need to start with a clean slate, and it would be great to be able to easily transfer your software and software settings without having to redownload it all and reconfigure it all. =D

Click to expand...

What I do is after I get everything set up and working after a clean install is make an image which I call my master image, and yes it takes me days to get everything just right and like I want. IMO this is a clean slate state. If windows ever gets to the point where one of my "regular images" doesn't resolve a problem. I restore the master image, even if it's several years old. It's a heck of lot easier to apply a few updates than it is to install a passel of apps and change a bunch of settings.

I also use Macrium images if I'm changing computers. I first disable the license for all apps that have licenses from the old machine. I then restore the image to my new computer using Macrium's 'restore to dissimilar hardware' and then relicense the licensed software to the new machine.

Like some people here will take a system drive out of one system and put it into another system, many here just do a plain old image restore and let windows work the drivers out. But I'm kind of OCD and do not want unused drivers floating around in driverstore so I do take this extra step of "dissimilar hardware" out of precaution. And I'm not one of those who will move an OS drive from one system to another. We all do things in our own way and that's not my way.

@SlicEnDicE - The in place upgrade resolved the issue. I'm now able to install and uninstall programs. Thank you so much for your help!
I still may nuke it and start from scratch since I have come to like the idea of a clean slate. The great thing is I can take my time getting to it. Much appreciated.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in!

This is awesome news! Thanks for returning back with your solution! We'll never know what the issue was, but at least your system works, which matters the most.