Windows® Setup creates log files for all actions that occur during installation. If you are experiencing problems installing Windows, consult the log files to troubleshoot the installation.
WindowsВ Setup log files are available in the following directories:
Log file location
Description
Log location before Setup can access the drive.
Log location when Setup rolls back in the event of a fatal error.
Log location of Setup actions after disk configuration.
Used to log Plug and Play device installations.
Location of memory dump from bug checks.
Location of log minidumps from bug checks.
Location of Sysprep logs.
WindowsВ Setup Event Logs
WindowsВ Setup includes the ability to review the WindowsВ Setup performance events in the Windows Event Log viewer. This enables you to more easily review the actions that occurred during WindowsВ Setup and to review the performance statistics for different parts of WindowsВ Setup. You can filter the log so as to view only relevant items that you are interested in. The WindowsВ Setup performance events are saved into a log file that is named Setup.etl, which is available in the %WINDIR%\Panther directory of all installations. To view the logs, you must use the Event Viewer included with the Windows media that corresponds to the version of the customized image that you are building.
To view the logs on a computer that does not include the corresponding kit, you must run a script from the root of the media that installs the Event Trace for Windows (ETW) provider. From the command line, type:
where D is the drive letter of the Windows DVD media.
To view the WindowsВ Setup event logs
Start the Event Viewer, expand the Windows Logs node, and then click System.
In the Actions pane, click Open Saved Log and then locate the Setup.etl file. By default, this file is available in the %WINDIR%\Panther directory.
The log file contents appear in the Event Viewer.
To Export the log to a file
From the command line, use the Wevtutil or Tracerpt commands to save the log to an .xml or text file. For information about how to use these tools, see the command-line Help. The following commands show examples of how to use the tools:
Enable Windows Installer logging
Windows includes a registry-activated logging service to help diagnose Windows Installer issues. This article describes how to enable this logging service.
Original product version: В Windows 10 — all editions, Windows Server 2012 R2 Original KB number: В 223300
The registry entry in this article is valid for all Windows operating systems.
Windows Installer logging
Windows Installer can use logging to help assist in troubleshooting issues with installing software packages. This logging is enabled by adding keys and values to the registry. After the entries have been added and enabled, you can retry the problem installation and Windows Installer will track the progress and post it to the Temp folder. The new log’s file name is random. However, the first letters are Msi and the file name has a .log extension. To locate the Temp folder, type the following line at a command prompt:
To enable Windows Installer logging manually, see the following section.
Enable Windows Installer logging manually
This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.
To enable Windows Installer logging yourself, open the registry by using Regedit.exe, and then create the following subkey and keys:
The letters in the value field can be in any order. Each letter turns on a different logging mode. Each letter’s actual function is as follows for MSI version 1.1:
v — Verbose output
o — Out-of-disk-space messages
i — Status messages
c — Initial UI parameters
e — All error messages
w — Non-fatal warnings
a — Start up of actions
r — Action-specific records
m — Out-of-memory or fatal exit information
u — User requests
p — Terminal properties
+ — Append to existing file
! — Flush each line to the log
x — Extra debugging information. The x flag is available only in Windows Server 2003 and later operating systems, and on the MSI redistributable version 3.0, and on later versions of the MSI redistributable.
* — Wildcard. Log all information except the v and the x option. To include the v and the x option, specify /l*vx.
This change should be used only for troubleshooting and should not be left on because it will have adverse effects on system performance and disk space. Each time that you use the Add or Remove Programs item in Control Panel, a new Msi*.log file is created. To disable the logging, remove the Logging registry value.
Enable Windows Installer logging with Group Policies
You can enable logging with Group Policies by editing the appropriate OU or Directory Group Policy. Under Group Policy, expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, expand Windows Components, and then select Windows Installer.
Double-click Logging, and then click Enabled. In the Logging box, enter the options you want to log. The log file, Msi.log, appears in the Temp folder of the system volume.
For more information about MSI logging, see Windows Help. To do this, search by using the phrase msi logging, and then select Managing options for computers through Group Policy.
The addition of the x flag is available natively in Windows Server 2003 and later operating systems, on the MSI redistributable version 3.0, and on later versions of the MSI redistributable.
How to Enable Microsoft Installer logging and Verbose logging to gather additional troubleshooting Information
Symptoms
Windows Installer uses logging to help you troubleshoot issues that may occur when you install software packages. After you enable logging, you can try the unsuccessful installation again. Windows Installer tracks the progress and records the data in a log file. These logs can then be reviewed by support professionals to help determine the issue.
Cause
Microsoft Installer issues can be caused by data corruption, corrupted installations and many other different issues.
Resolution
To troubleshoot these issues, you have to enable logging for two processes, and then try to install the updates again. When you enable logging, the actual error codes that are generated by Windows Installer are captured. As soon as the error codes are captured, you can determine the actual issue and the resolution for that issue. These errors will require you to contact Microsoft Support to resolve the issue. However, you have to do several things before you contact Microsoft Support.
To enable and collect the Windows Installer logs, follow the steps for your operating system.
Step 1: Enable Microsoft Installer logging and Windows Update verbose logging
To have us enable logging for you, go to the «Here’s an easy fix» section. If you prefer to fix this problem manually, go to the «Let me fix it myself» section.
Here’s an easy fix
To fix this problem automatically, click the Download button. In the File Download dialog box, click Run or Open, and then follow the steps in the easy fix wizard.
This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.
If you’re not on the computer that has the problem, save the easy fix solution to a flash drive or a CD, and then run it on the computer that has the problem.
For Windows 8, Windows 7
For Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003
For computers that are running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003
Click Start, click Run, type Notepad, and then click OK.
Type the following commands in Notepad.
On the File menu, click Save As.
In the Save in list, click Desktop.
In the File name box, type LoggingOn.reg, click All Files in the Save as type list, and then click Save.
On the desktop, double-click the LoggingOn.reg file to add the registry keys to the Windows registry.
Click OK in the message box.
Try to install the update again to capture the additional error information in the Windows Installer .log file.
For computers that are running Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
Click Start , and then in the Start Search box, type Notepad.
In the Programs list, click Notepad.
Type the following commands in Notepad.
On the File menu, click Save As.
In the Save in list, click Desktop.
In the File name box, type LoggingOn.reg, click All Files in the Save as type list, and then click Save.
On the desktop, double-click the LoggingOn.reg file to add the registry values to the Windows registry.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or click Continue.
Click Yes, and then click OK.
Try to install the update again to capture the additional error information in the Windows Installer .log file.
Step 2: Try to install updates again to create the log filesTo try to install the updates again, visit the following Microsoft Update Web site:
http://update.microsoft.comNote It can take several minutes to collect these logs, and the update process may not seem to be functioning correctly. Allow for the necessary time for the process to finish.
Step 3: Disable Microsoft Installer logging and Windows Update verbose loggingImportant As soon as Windows Update or Microsoft Update has finished, disable Windows Installer logging. Having logging enabled can require too much time every time that you install updates, can slow down your computer, and can create large log files that require large amounts of disk space.
To have us disable logging for you, go to the «Here’s an easy fix» section. If you prefer to fix this problem manually, go to the «Let me fix it myself» section.
Here’s an easy fix To fix this problem automatically, click the Download button. In the File Download dialog box, click Run or Open, and then follow the steps in the easy fix wizard.
This wizard may be in English only. However, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.
If you’re not on the computer that has the problem, save the easy fix solution to a flash drive or a CD, and then run it on the computer that has the problem.
For Windows 8, Windows 7
For Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003
To disable Windows Installer logging, follow the steps for your operating system.
For computers that are running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003
Click Start, click Run, type Notepad, and then click OK.
Type the following commands in Notepad.
On the File menu, click Save As.
In the Save in list, click Desktop.
In the File name box, type LoggingOff.reg, click All Files in the Save as type list, and then click Save.
On the desktop, double-click the LoggingOff.reg file to remove the registry values from the Windows registry.
Click OK in the message box.
Delete the LoggingOn.reg and LoggingOff.reg files from the desktop
Contact Microsoft Support for help, and reference this Microsoft Knowledge Base article when you speak to the support agent. For more information about how to contact Microsoft Support, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
For computers that are running Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
Click Start , and then type Notepad in the Start Search box.
In the Programs list, click Notepad.
Type the following commands in Notepad.
In Notepad, click Save As on the File menu.
In the Save in list, click Desktop.
In the File name box, type LoggingOff.reg, click All Files in the Save as type list, and then click Save.
On the desktop, double-click the LoggingOff.reg file to remove the registry values from the Windows registry.
If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or click Continue.
Click Yes, and then click OK.
Delete the LoggingOn.reg and LoggingOff.reg files from the desktop.
Contact Microsoft Support for help, and reference this Microsoft Knowledge Base article when you speak to the support agent. For more information about how to contact Microsoft Support, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
In most cases, the Windows Installer log starts with msi, ends with a .log extension, and includes a group of characters. For example, the Windows Installer log will have a file name that resembles the following:
msib3a6g.log On computers that are running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003, the installer log is located in the following directory:
C:\Documents and Settings\ \Local Settings\Temp\ To open this directory, click Start, click Run, type %temp%, and then click OK.
Note This information assumes that Windows is installed to the default drive C. If this is not the case, adjust the drive letter for the folder path to match the installation drive.
On computers that are running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008, the installer log is located in the following directory:
C:\Users\, type %temp% in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
Note This information assumes that Windows is installed to the default drive C. If this is not the case, adjust the drive letter for the folder path to match the installation drive.
For more information about how to enable Windows Installer logging, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
314852 How to enable Windows Installer logging in Windows XP
, and then in the Start Search box, type Notepad.
