This article addresses what to do if when installing the iPhone drivers via CopyTrans Drivers Installer, you get the error message: “The MSI service encountered a fatal error” or “The Windows Installer service could not be accessed”. Alternatively, if installing iTunes on your PC, you get this message: “Error:-1603 fatal error during installation consult windows installer help”.
In both cases, that means there is a problem with your Windows Installer service or with another Windows system file. Here’s a troubleshooter that will hopefully fix it.
Restart your PC
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First and foremost, restart your computer, making sure that the iOS device is disconnected from the PC
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Keeping the device disconnected, re-try the iOS drivers installation procedure
If you continue experiencing the MSI error, follow the steps below.
Restart the Windows Installer service
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Click on the Windows Start menu or if you are on Windows 8, access the Search bar on the right of the screen. In the search box type “services.msc” and hit the Enter key
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In the Services window, look for the Windows Installer service. Right-click on it and select “Properties”
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Make sure that the service is Started. If the service is stopped, click on the “Start” button, then click OK
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Next, ensure that the Startup type is set to “Automatic” and click on the “Apply” button. Once the service is set to “Automatic”, your PC will ensure to run it on the next Windows start
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Restart your PC
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Now, re-try installing the iOS drivers via CopyTrans Drivers Installer
If the issue persists, continue with the steps below.
If you have an Error connecting to Apple ID server please follow the steps in our guide to fix the problem.
Automatically find and fix corrupt Windows system components
The MSI fatal error could also be caused by one or multiple Windows system files being corrupt. To troubleshoot the issue:
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Make sure that your PC is up to date by installing all available Windows updates
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Ensure you are logged in from a Windows account with administrative privileges and open an instance of Command prompt. To open Command prompt, click the Windows Start menu button, and type “cmd.exe”
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Right-click the cmd.exe search-result entry and select “Run as administrator”
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In the newly-opened Command prompt window, manually type in the following “sfc /scannow” (do not copy/paste and use without the quotation marks). Mind the space after “sfc”. Hit the Enter key
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Windows will automatically look for corrupt Windows system files and if possible – fix them. If your computer found any problematic files and fixed them, you can attempt once more to install the iOS drivers.
If nothing of the above helps…
If nothing of the above helps, either invite a technician to have a look at your PC or navigate to the official Microsoft website to fix the problem manually. Check this link to troubleshoot Windows Installer errors.