Admin can't install .msi's?
 

Wow, two issues in one day.
I can't seem to install a .msi type Windows Installer. The exact message I get is "Access is denied". Thats all I get told.
To be specific, the file itself is Terragen, from http://www.planetside.co.uk/terragen/, but having found a couple other .msi's lying around and being "denied access" to install them as well, I'm thinkin that its not just a corrupt file or something. My account is the admin on this computer. I've also tried in safe mode as the default admin.
I also tried reinstalling the MSI installer (vers 3.0 i think) from microsoft, but when I run it it says that because I'm running SP2, I already have a more up-to-date version and promptly terminates itself.

What the hell is going on? Surely my admin has rights to run an installer?

Thanks all

Have you do anything weird with permissions on the drive (i.e.: folder permissions for your user, the Windows directory, etc.)?

sounds like a permissions issue to me as well. any changes that you may have made?

try right clicking on the file and going to Install As...

type in the username and password. if you are set as an administrator on the computer and it's connected to the domain, remove the user and re-add, or re-apply group policy.

if your computer is standalone, you might try adding an acct. with admin rights and try installing it from there just to see if it works. if it works, remove your acct. (not administrator acct, just the acct. with admin access) and readd.

thanks for your suggestions, but I have all right I can possibly think of. Also there was no 'install as' option in the menu. Ah well, I might try making another user.

I'm sorry, it's not "install as..", it's "run as". My fault, I'm used to a different operating system.

I've tried so many many things now and nothing has worked, I'm about to flip out and eat my own fucking face off.
I cant find the method to "re-apply group policy". where is this found?

Just a thought... Check and see what permissions are denied. If you are a member of a group that is denied access, deny will take precedence.

Ok, ok I got it to work. I'm making this post just to record my findings so i wont forget, and of course if anyone else ever has this exceedingly strange problem. I havnt actually, er, solved anything, to be honest. But this workaround works:

C:\windows\system32\msiexec.exe /i "Path\....\file.msi" /TARGETDIR="Path\etcetc"

Without the TARGETDIR property in the cmdline, it would begin the installation setup, but would yell error and bail off its skatebaord when the actual file-copying stage began. With TARGETDIR it works fine.

Fuckin wierd, but there you go. After several hours of playing with permissions, user accounts and security policies, I had to go play Quake3 just so I didnt throw the fucking thing across the room. Good god. I swear its taken, like, 3 years off my life.