Fix for Windows Installer errors 2738 and 2739

When you try to install a program using Windows Installer (.msi) Setup package, you may encounter error 2738 or 2739 and the setup fails.

Errors 2738, 2739 occur if the Windows Installer Setup uses Windows Script (.vbs or .js) custom actions, and the VBScript or JScript runtimes are not registered in the computer.

The above errors occur if the installer fails to run .js and .vbs scripts as the VBScript and/or JScript engines are not working properly.

It’s possible that your anti-virus software has hooked into the script engine in order to block the execution of scripts. For instance, older versions of McAfee anti-virus replace the vbscript.dll reference in the registry to their DLL (the version number suffix varies) below:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\McAfee\SystemCore\ScriptSn.20110222204811.dll

Resolution

Windows 11-specific fix

Windows 11 24H2 (and above) handles VBScript as a Feature-on-Demand (FOD). So, if you’re using Windows 11 24H2 or higher, please check if the VBScript FOD is installed. You can install VBScript using Windows Features in Settings or using the DISM command.

From an admin Command Prompt window, run this command:

DISM /Online /Add-Capability /CapabilityName:VBSCRIPT~~~~

Generic fix for all Windows versions, including Windows 11

Option 1: Registry fix

To automate the steps mentioned in the next section, you can use this registry fix.

To fix error 2738 and/or 2739, download Download vbscript_jscript_2738_2739_fix.zip.

Unzip and extract the archive. It contains the following files:

jscript-fix-32-bit.reg
jscript-fix-64-bit.reg
vbscript-fix-32-bit.reg
vbscript-fix-64-bit.reg

If you have Windows 64-bit, run the two 64-bit REG files, and restart Windows. The fixes apply to Windows 11, 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and earlier.

Option 2: Manual procedure

To fix the Vbscript error 2738 and/or JScript error 2739 manually:

• (Before proceeding, you may want to create a System Restore Point or take a complete registry backup.)

Fix VBScript error 2738

1. Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
2. Go to the following branch:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}\InprocServer32

3. In the right-pane, double-click (default) and set its data to:

   C:\Windows\System32\vbscript.dll

4. If you’re using the 64-bit version of Windows, additionally, go to the following key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}\InprocServer32

5. In the right-pane, double-click (default) and set its data to:

   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\vbscript.dll

6. Go to the following keys (if they exist) under HKEY_CURRENT_USER

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}

7. Delete each of the above keys.
8. Exit the Registry Editor.

Fix JScript error 2739

1. Start the Registry Editor (regedit.exe)
2. Go to the following branch:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}\InprocServer32

3. In the right-pane, double-click (default) and set its data to:

   C:\Windows\System32\jscript.dll

4. If you’re using the 64-bit version of Windows, additionally, go to the following key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}\InprocServer32

5. In the right-pane, double-click (default) and set its data to:

   C:\Windows\SysWOW64\jscript.dll

6. Go to the following keys (if they exist) under HKEY_CURRENT_USER

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}

7. Delete each of the above keys if they exist.
8. Exit the Registry Editor.

VBScript: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{B54F3741-5B07-11CF-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}
JScript: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{F414C260-6AC0-11CF-B6D1-00AA00BBBB58}

For Windows 7, Vista, and earlier

• Open an elevated Command Prompt. To do so, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
• Run the following commands one by one and press Enter after each line:

  regsvr32 vbscript.dll
  
  regsvr32 jscript.dll

  For Windows 64-bit editions, run these two commands in addition:

  c:\windows\syswow64\regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll
  
  c:\windows\syswow64\regsvr32.exe jscript.dll

  You should see the output DllRegisterServer in filename.dll succeeded for each command. In case you get the error 0×80004005, it’s probably because you’re trying to register the DLLs from a normal (non-elevated) Command Prompt window.

• Type Exit to close the Command Prompt window.

The Regsvr32.exe method doesn’t remove the redundant HKCU registry key. If this method doesn’t help, follow the registry editing method discussed earlier.