It appears that the Action Center jumped into play with one of the finders of the bug. So Microsoft has acknowledged the error and has posted a fix. Now it appears all you need to do is delete a registry key and all will be well. I think this is the preferred way as turning off the CEIP defeats the whole purpose of the Beta test.

Reading TechNet it appears this fix solves a great many issues installing programs. In the TechNet threads people reported now having success installing Java, various plug-in's and even games (such as Crysis Warhammer).

If you have gotten an error message like "Windows Installer Has Stopped Responding" this is the fix.

Side note: If you delete via regedit, it's HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions .

*Great* find, my friend. Enjoy the rep.

Also Stickified

hey vegas +REP!!

good job...

A confirmation from Live Search - Beta QnA:

I am part of the CEIP team at Microsoft and wanted to share how to fix the issue and share more information.

*Description:
New machines installing Windows 7 Beta will not experience this problem. An issue related to the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP also known as SQM) client in the Windows 7 Beta is causing crashes of Explorer, MSI-based installers and other applications. In order to resolve the issue, impacted customers need to run the following script from an elevated command prompt. This script will stop crashes related to CEIP.

*Background:
Microsoft deployed a configuration change which exposed this problem. The script provided below removes those changes (registry keys) to prevent further CEIP related crashes.

*Detailed instructions:

1. Select and copy the following to your clipboard:
   
   Code:

   reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions /va /f

2. Click on "Start", then "All Programs", then "Accessories"
3. Right click on "Command Prompt", then click on "Run as administrator"
4. In the UAC prompt, verify that the program’s name is "Windows Command Processor" and then click "Yes"
5. Right click on the "Administrator: Command Prompt" window’s black area, then select "Paste"
6. Press "Enter", you should see “The operation completed successfully”. If you see “ERROR: Access is denied”, please make sure you followed Step 3.
7. Close the "Administrator: Command Prompt window"

Thank you for using Windows7 BETA!

brua100 said:

Hi tryed the reg change and still getting this same error message
All tabs on this clip carry same error message and yes all programs are closed time of installation dispite what it says lol any advice????

i had a problem with this...

a full shutdown (shutting down unplugging the cord for 1 minute...)
and cold boot should solve your problem...

hdjunkie said:

Any way to fix installshield .exes?

it depends on what program...
if the exe in question calls up a msi (another installer it should be possible...)
it should be possible...