Tuesday, October 23, 2007

" Setup failed to launch installation engine RPC Server unavailable"

Here is a solution to the BIG bugging error "Setup failed to launch installation engine RPC Server unavailable".

Normally, this is an indication of the Sasser worm or its variants. If you are using Windows XP without SP2 ,immediately install Service Pack 2 for Windows XP or atleast the patch for the Sasser Worm.For more technical info on that problem and how to remove the worm ,it would be helpful if you visit Microsft's Knowledge Base (extensive it is , I might add) here

On the other hand ,if you are using Windows XP with SP2 and still facing this problem, do the following.


  1. Verify that the Remote Procedure Call service is running.

    For this, goto Start>Run and enter services.msc and in the right pane ,find a service called Remote Procedure Call (RPC). Make sure the 'status' is Started.If this is not the case , just right-click and press Start.

    Retry the installation.

    Note: Generally, this service cannot even be stopped as it is an 'essential' service.

  2. In case this doesn't work, make sure another service called "DCOM Server Process Launcher" is also started.

    Recommended: Goto Services as described earlier and right-click on Properties. Under the General tab ,set the startup type to Automatic.

PS: Also recommended that you scan your system with Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool(KB890830).