Windows 7 MSI.dll is either corrupted or bad

julio99

Senior Member
When I try and open Programs and Features on my Windows 7x64 laptop it crashes momentarily with the proverbial, "explorer.exe is stopping" and explorer.exe is now restarting and I get to try and open Programs and features again. I went to the Event Viewer to troubleshoot what was causing this and it appears to be the MSI.dll according to the details in Event Viewer. Is there anyway to stop this stopping and starting by fixing whatever the problem is?


msi.PNG
 
Does this happen all the time? When I used Avast I occasionally noticed this in control panel after a definition update.
Joe
 
Does this happen all the time? When I used Avast I occasionally noticed this in control panel after a definition update.
Joe
I'm guessing that you are referring to AntiVirus program updates? I use Norton IS 2013 and I just opened the Interface and noticed that it had just updated 45 sec. previous to me opening the interface and I went to the CP and tried "Programs and Features" and it didn't crash so I'm going to say that it crashes when it feels like. Let's say I open it tomorrow when I first start using it and it will almost surely crash. Good thing I don't use P&F a lot or I'd be going batty! This is why I'm trying to get to the bottom of this now. MSI is something to do with the installer, right? Is there a way to re-register the Windows 7 installer?
 
Hi

If you have a system restore point from before the problem started try going back to that.

Run Malwarebytes and make sure this isn't a malware problem.

Try logging into safe mode and see if the problem still happens.

Personally I would dump Norton AV and use Microsoft Security Essentials.
Norton may be OK but I guarantee that your computer will run better without it.
It just has too much overhead.

It's hard to say which program the .msi file is associated with.
But re-installing Norton might replace it with a new copy.

You could also try running SFC /scannow from the run menu and see if Windows will replace it.

Mike
 
Hi

If you have a system restore point from before the problem started try going back to that.

Run Malwarebytes and make sure this isn't a malware problem.

Try logging into safe mode and see if the problem still happens.

Personally I would dump Norton AV and use Microsoft Security Essentials.
Norton may be OK but I guarantee that your computer will run better without it.
It just has too much overhead.

It's hard to say which program the .msi file is associated with.
But re-installing Norton might replace it with a new copy.

You could also try running SFC /scannow from the run menu and see if Windows will replace it.

Mike
Already scanned with MBAM. Clean as a whistle, not to mention the 012/013 Versions of Norton are light on resources even though they do have a bit much overhead. I've used all the Security Suites, top ones anyway and they all have their plus and minus. Security Essentials is rated so far down on all the top security reviews, why would anyone entrust their OS to Microsoft? I ran Windows Live One Care a few years when it still cost money and I learned the hard way when I finally switched to a different security suite that Live One Care left a lot of poison on my system. Now it's free and you think it's worth checking out? I'm not mocking here. If you know something I don't about why I should us a security suite that's free than one from a reputable company and yes I'm aware that Norton has had tons of issues in the past, but their last couple of suites were top rated on all the lists that mattered. I was running KIS2012 and found too many warnings and pop-up warnings and it does slow you down a taste. I ran BitDefender IS 2012 and found that to be the easiest to use but it always seemed unfinished, like it was put out before it was ready and I found myself in their forums looking for temp workarounds. So you see I'm not new to security products. How would re-installing Norton replace the msi.dll with a new one?? I was going to try the sfc /scannow tomorrow if I still had the problem in the morrning. I ran a performance fix-it fro Microsoft that found a couple of minor problems, but I don't know the extent of this one so I'll wait and see what tomorrow morning brings because as we speak it seems to be working ok now, but the problem is sporadic to start with.
 
My own experience has been that MSE works better then other software I've run and doesn't effect the performance of my computer as much.

I haven't had a single problem since I started using it, I previously used Norton, which I can get for free through my ISP.
It caused blue screens and freezes when I was running Windows 7 and was a total bear to get rid of.

I use it with Malwarebytes and CCleaner and haven't had any of the problems I had with Norton AVG or McAfee, I'm running Windows 8 now.

Installing Norton might restore the .dll file if it is what created it to start with as I said it's hard to pin down where it came from.
You seemed to indicate that the problem was somehow related to it.

If the problem is sporadic it sounds more like a conflict then a corrupted file.

If it doesn't happen in Safe Mode it could indicate that the program that conflict isn't running.
But if it's random anyway it's pretty hard to tell.
 
I have to agree with Mike. I would get rid of Norton. I used Norton without much trouble until I upgraded to Norton 2013. Had the same problem. I have now went to Microsoft Security Essentials and have yet to have any problems whatsoever.
 
The last Norton I used I dumped before the subscription expired. There were constant problems with the auto update. I switched to MSE in trying to eliminate the potential problems causing BSODS. I was using Avast free before that.
Joe
 
Joe, Sonny and Mike, Thanks guys for all your input and suggestions. I have yet to have any problems with Norton, but be sure if I do I will can the program fast. I'm not one to let problems linger where I have to live in their forums because something or other fails to work properly. I do find with Norton that their are an awful lot of settings that seem redundant. I do like programs that are more "set and forget" which I do believe Security Essentials is more like. Can I ask you guys what firewall you all are using? Windows 7, Comodo? Just curious if I have to make a change. I did get this issue fixed. I re-scanned my computer with a couple of these explorer.exe backups that I had lingering in the windows folder but because they weren't active when I first scanned them, there was no Malware found. Once I made them active MBAM found something called "Heuristics..Reserved.Word.Exploit" Quarantined them and problem resolved, so if that did it fine, if not I'll keep my eye on things. Thanks again guys.
 
I had Comodo installed with ESET Nod32 AV at one time but there was a conflict with both programs had the same exact part in it that is just slipping my mind right now so I uninstalled them and made a change to another suite, but Comodo is top shelf Firewall. It passed Shields Up big time for me. Nothing opened at all. If I ever go back to just a AV again besides ESET I will definitely go with Comodo. Thanks Joe.
 
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