See if this is any help:

 

http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article08-103

 

I dont know which program is trying to install something. So solutions 1 & 3 wont work fro me. As for solution 2, first of all I could not open the Group Policy Editor (I tried both gpedit.msc and mmc.exe). Second, If I could, it seems that this would permanantly diactivates the windows installer which I assume I need for installing and uninstalling programs...

 

thanks for your help...

 

 

Let the Installer run a bit longer and you should see what it is trying to install. You will be able to cancel the installation before it has finished.

 

Here is Microsoft`s way of fixing it.

Windows Installer CleanUp Utility
Read the instructions here before using it.  There is a download link too

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=290301

 

You will see a list of all installed programs, but just use this utility to remove the Installer for the program causing the problem

 

If you use this utility to remove the Windows Installer configuration information for your program and you plan to reinstall the program, you should reinstall the program in the same folder where you originally installed it. This prevents duplication of files on your hard disk or disks.