Oracle VirtualBox Installer Failing
I have recently reinstalled Windows 11 on my machine due to critical system files missing and I wanted to reinstall Oracle VirtualBox to continue work on my VMs, but when I installed the necessary C++ and ran the installer, but got a network error about a .msi file in my temp folder being missing, and I cannot find said .mis file in my entire computer. Is there anybody with knowledge of VirtualBox that can help me with this here?
7 Replies
I'm not familar with that. If you had to install a c++ distributable though, did you restart after?
Did you try uninstalling and starting over?
Yes to both. The missing file is a temporary network file from the VirtualBox installer though.
I'm sort of convinced this is an error that is occurring from previous install files and configuration.
I'm curious if this tool will help:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed-
Beyond that we can try and edit any left over registry keys, but I'd rather have that be the last resort.
I did a full device search and found it in my registry, so I think that the specific files need to be modified first.
I think this might be something to try:
From an elevated cmd
Otherwise, I personally would load regedit and find (ctrl+f) any keys with "virtual box" or "dn2kqnvom4n6p6o0my7edzw.msi" in them and delete the keys. Be super careful though, registry editing should be done with extreme caution.
I also found this: https://support.microfocus.com/kb/doc.php?id=7023386 How to use Microsoft Msizap to remove orphaned cached Windows installer files.
I have to stress I've never run into this problem personally, I'm just looking up things I personally would try.
I did that and deleted all of the keys associated with Virtualbox. The installation worked and all deleted keys were recreated.
@Foon - The Prettiest Princess
So.. It looks like this issue was caused by leftover registry keys or installer cache paths from a previous VirtualBox installation referencing a missing .msi file. That’s why it kept failing even after reinstalls.
Here’s a summary of what fixed it for me:
1. Searched the registry (regedit) for any keys containing:
• virtualbox
• or the exact missing file name: dn2kqnvom4n6p6o0my7edzw.msi
2. Deleted those keys carefully (only ones related to VirtualBox — be cautious editing the registry).
3. Ran the installer again — all deleted keys were automatically recreated and the installation succeeded.
If that doesn’t work for someone, they can also try from an elevated command prompt:
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase
That cleans up old Windows component store junk that might interfere with installers.
Last resort: use Microsoft’s MSIZap tool to remove orphaned installer cache entries.