Msi Installer errors on CISCO VPN under Windows 7

Did you see this?

Error 2738:  Could not access VBScript runtime for custom action

If you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably pulling your hair out because other solutions don’t work.

The  problem is with installation procedures that rely on VBScript, or rely on it in special ways. So here are some solutions:

  1. Some programs won’t use VBScript if you do a “passive install.” If your install is named blah.msi, just type “blah.msi /passive” at a cmd prompt, and it will install with all defaults.
  2. Under Windows Vista and Windows 7, the vbscript.dll may not be registered. Here you need an elevated command prompt (select cmd.exe and RUN AS Administrator) and then enter regsvr32 vbscript.dll from the \windows\system32 directory (for 32 bit) or \windows\syswow64 directory for (64) bit.
  3. Oh, did I mention disabling antivirus software?
  4. You might need to delete the registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11CF-A4B0-00AA004A55E8} on a 32-bit machine or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11CF-A4B0-00AA004A55E8} on a 64-bit machine and then try step 2 again.
  5. But if you’re reading this, you probably already did all that stuff and it didn’t work. What I found out is that when I uninstalled McAfee Antivirus and put in Windows Defender, the McAfee uninstall left a nasty little registry entry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11CF-A4B0-00AA004A55E8} under the InProcess32 registry key that redirected VBScript away from vbscript.dll to a McAfee dll called scriptsn.dll (which doesn’t exist any more after you uninstall McAfee). So what I did was to copy the appropriate vbscript.dll to the directory indicated by the registry key, and rename it scriptsn.dll. Then my install worked fine.
  6. Instead of copying the file, you COULD change the owner of the registry key {B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}, and then grant yourself permission to change it, and then type in the path for the real vbscript.dll (either 32 or 64 bit).

See also:

  • CISCO VPN installation errors under Windows 7
  • Installation success or error status: 1603.
  • Registry key {B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}

About Kevin

Just an old guy with opinions that I like to bounce off other people.
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12 Responses to Msi Installer errors on CISCO VPN under Windows 7

  1. Athanasios says:

    Absolutely brilliant!
    Tried all the uninstall of McAfee, re-registering dll, etc found on many of the other websites with solutions to this problem, , and the only thing that worked was step 5.
    Thanks Kevin

  2. Kevin says:

    It must have happened as a result of changing themes. I have it numbered now. Thank for pointing this out.

  3. PJ says:

    Thanks. But you changed the HTML to give bullets , instead of numbers , so references to numbered steps are harder.

  4. John says:

    Thanks,
    I had the same problem but after uninstall AVAST, I did the las trick to redirect the dll and it works!!!

  5. Chris says:

    Thanks, worked for me. Never much liked McAfee after a bad experience with it over 10 years ago, don’t recommend it.

  6. grazianof says:

    Brilliant!! the McAfee reg key did the trick! I was able to install with no issues on Windows 7 (64 bit) after changing the reg key to point to the vbscript.dll.

    Thanks!!!

  7. Rich says:

    Deleting the registry key worked for me. I really needed to get this installed in a pinch and you guys saved me. Thanks!

  8. Kevin says:

    Throughout my career I prided myself on being the guy who finally figured out the problem others had given up on. Now I’m 60 years old and a lot of my technical skills are out of date. It’s gratifying to still be able to nail one and to be able to pay back all the other folks who solved problems I had.

  9. Russ says:

    THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! Today is Friday. I spent my entire evening yesterday and most of tonight trying to install the Cisco VPN Client for 64-bit. I had been using Shrew VPN (freeware) and it worked fine with my Cisco .PCF file, but now they’ve reconfigured my VPN at work and it’s “Cisco or death” (long story).

    Anyway, I’ve spent many hours following advice to remove registry keys that I DON’T HAVE, and registering “vbscript.all” over and over.

    I just ran across your blog, realized that my system had come pre-loaded with McAfee, which I promptly removed. I followed your advice here and it FINALLY installed.

    Again, Thanks!!!

  10. Raj says:

    you are great man. Finally it worked.Thanks a lot.

  11. BendeR says:

    Great post, step number 4 worked for me….Thank you!!

  12. Peter says:

    Excelent, this solved my problem that I was going slightly mad about, ty! 🙂

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