MSI installer is very slow or frozen when installing/updating the software

We have received a comment from a user that the installer seems to have frozen, or is very slow, but if left for 5 minutes or more the install does complete successfully providing it is left long enough.

Anti Virus software can cause a delay in the installation but Microsoft have a number of reports of this problem with MSI installer files and they offer a few reasons. The main cause seems to be related to System Restore. If you have enabled, or not disabled, System Restore then a new restore point will try to be created each time you install new software.

A quick first step is to turn off System Restore and check if that helps - Microsoft Website Page - Turn on or off Restore Points

The immediate cause of the problem is with the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) which stops working. This service is needed for System Restore and as most installers start with a restore point creation the system can hang whilst Windows keeps trying and trying. Microsoft offer 4 solutions/steps to fixing the broken restore point issue.

Microsoft Website Page - Shadow copy/Restore point issue

Last updated, 3 September 2014, 18:46