{"id":347,"date":"2008-06-28T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2008-06-28T04:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=347"},"modified":"2025-08-12T16:16:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T10:46:28","slug":"windows-installer-errors-2738-and-2739","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/windows-installer-errors-2738-and-2739\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix for Windows Installer errors 2738 and 2739"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you try to install a program using Windows Installer (.msi) Setup package, you may encounter error 2738 or 2739 and the setup fails.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-18025\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/vbscript-jscript-2738-2739-errors.png\" alt=\"vbscript and jscript error 2738 and 2739 \" width=\"608\" height=\"505\" \/><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Error code<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Description<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2738<\/td>\n<td>Could not access VBScript run time for custom action<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2739<\/td>\n<td>Could not access JScript run time for custom action<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;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:<\/p>\n<pre>C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\McAfee\\SystemCore\\ScriptSn.20110222204811.dll<\/pre>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/epic-games-launcher-error-2738\/\">[Fix] Epic Games Launcher Setup Error 2738 in Windows 11<\/a><\/div>\n<h2>Resolution<\/h2>\n<h3>Windows 11-specific fix<\/h3>\n<p>Windows 11 24H2 (and above) handles VBScript as a Feature-on-Demand (FOD). So, if you\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n<p>From an admin Command Prompt window, run this command:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"cmd\">\r\nDISM \/Online \/Add-Capability \/CapabilityName:VBSCRIPT~~~~\r\n<\/pre>\n<hr>\n<h3>Generic fix for all Windows versions, including Windows 11<\/h3>\n<h4>Option 1: Registry fix<\/h4>\n<p>To automate the steps mentioned in the next section, you can use this registry fix.<\/p>\n<p>To fix error 2738 and\/or 2739, download <strong>Download<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/06\/vbscript_jscript_2738_2739_fix.zip\">vbscript_jscript_2738_2739_fix.zip<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Unzip and extract the archive. It contains the following files:<\/p>\n<pre>\r\njscript-fix-32-bit.reg\r\njscript-fix-64-bit.reg\r\nvbscript-fix-32-bit.reg\r\nvbscript-fix-64-bit.reg\r\n<\/pre>\n<p>If you have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/find-windows-10-build-version-edition-bit\/\">Windows 64-bit<\/a>, run the two 64-bit REG files, and restart Windows. The fixes apply to Windows 11, 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and earlier.<\/p>\n<h4>Option 2: Manual procedure<\/h4>\n<p>To fix the Vbscript error 2738 and\/or JScript error 2739 manually:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>(Before proceeding, you may want to create a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/create-restore-protection-point-rollback-windows\/\">System Restore Point<\/a> or take a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/automatically-backup-registry-hives-windows-10\/\">complete registry backup<\/a>.)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Fix VBScript error 2738<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Start the Registry Editor (<code>regedit.exe<\/code>)<\/li>\n<li>Go to the following branch:\n<pre>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\CLSID\\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}\\InprocServer32<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the right-pane, double-click <strong>(default)<\/strong> and set its data to:\n<pre>C:\\Windows\\System32\\vbscript.dll<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>If you&#8217;re using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/find-windows-10-build-version-edition-bit\/\">64-bit version<\/a> of Windows, additionally, go to the following key:\n<pre>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\Wow6432Node\\CLSID\\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}\\InprocServer32<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the right-pane, double-click <strong>(default)<\/strong> and set its data to:\n<pre>C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\vbscript.dll<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Go to the following keys (if they exist) under <code>HKEY_CURRENT_USER<\/code>\n<pre>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\CLSID\\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}\r\nHKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\Wow6432Node\\CLSID\\{B54F3741-5B07-11cf-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Delete each of the above keys.<\/li>\n<li>Exit the Registry Editor.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Fix JScript error 2739<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Start the Registry Editor (<code>regedit.exe<\/code>)<\/li>\n<li>Go to the following branch:\n<pre>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\CLSID\\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}\\InprocServer32<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the right-pane, double-click <strong>(default)<\/strong> and set its data to:\n<pre>C:\\Windows\\System32\\jscript.dll<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>If you&#8217;re using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/find-windows-10-build-version-edition-bit\/\">64-bit version<\/a> of Windows, additionally, go to the following key:\n<pre>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\Wow6432Node\\CLSID\\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}\\InprocServer32<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the right-pane, double-click <strong>(default)<\/strong> and set its data to:\n<pre>C:\\Windows\\SysWOW64\\jscript.dll<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Go to the following keys (if they exist) under <code>HKEY_CURRENT_USER<\/code>\n<pre>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\CLSID\\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}\r\nHKEY_CURRENT_USER\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\Wow6432Node\\CLSID\\{f414c260-6ac0-11cf-b6d1-00aa00bbbb58}<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<li>Delete each of the above keys if they exist.<\/li>\n<li>Exit the Registry Editor.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qt\">\n<h4>Tech explanation about 2738 and 2739 errors<\/h4>\n<p>Quoting <a href=\"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/setup\/windows-installer-errors-2738-and-2739-with-script-custom-actions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Raymond Chen<\/a> [MSFT]<\/p>\n<p><em>As a security measure, Windows Installer will not load script engines registered in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. As a user-writable store, a normal user could get an elevated install to run their library masking as a script engine if the custom action was not explicitly attributed with msidbCustomActionTypeNoImpersonate (0x0800). This is an elevation of privileges attack; thus, Windows Installer returns error message 2738 or 2739 for custom actions type 6 and type 5, respectively, and returns Windows error 1603, ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE.<\/p>\n<p>Check that vbscript.dll and jscript.dll aren&#8217;t registered in HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU), checking for the registry keys below.<\/p>\n<pre>\r\nVBScript: HKCU\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\CLSID\\{B54F3741-5B07-11CF-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}\r\nJScript: HKCU\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\CLSID\\{F414C260-6AC0-11CF-B6D1-00AA00BBBB58}\r\n<\/pre>\n<p>Remove these keys if they exist in HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU).<\/em>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-there-is-no-script-engine-for-file-extension-when-running-vbs-files\/\">Can&#8217;t find Script Engine Vbscript, and &#8220;no script engine for .vbs&#8221;<\/a><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>For Windows 7, Vista, and earlier<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Open an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/open-elevated-command-prompt-windows\/\">elevated Command Prompt<\/a>. To do so, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click <b>Run as administrator<\/b>.<\/li>\n<li>Run the following commands one by one and press <code>Enter<\/code> after each line:\n<pre>regsvr32 vbscript.dll\r\n\r\nregsvr32 jscript.dll<\/pre>\n<p>For Windows 64-bit editions, run these two commands <strong>in addition<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<pre>c:\\windows\\syswow64\\regsvr32.exe vbscript.dll\r\n\r\nc:\\windows\\syswow64\\regsvr32.exe jscript.dll<\/pre>\n<p>You should see the output <b><i>DllRegisterServer in filename.dll succeeded<\/i><\/b> for each command. In case you get the error <code><b>0\u00d780004005<\/b><\/code>, it&#8217;s probably because you&#8217;re trying to register the DLLs from a normal (non-elevated) Command Prompt window.<\/li>\n<li>Type <b>Exit<\/b> to close the Command Prompt window.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/register-dlls-elevated-using-the-context-menu\/\">Register DLLs elevated using the context menu<\/a><\/div>\n<p>The Regsvr32.exe method doesn&#8217;t remove the redundant HKCU registry key. If this method doesn&#8217;t help, follow the registry editing method discussed earlier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you try to install a program using Windows Installer (.msi) Setup package, you may encounter error 2738 or 2739 and the setup fails.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[191],"class_list":["post-347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows","tag-error-messages"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":79262,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/epic-games-launcher-error-2738\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":0},"title":"[Fix] Epic Games Launcher Setup Error 2738 in Windows 11","author":"Ramesh","date":"August 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When you try to install or uninstall Epic Games Launcher, the error code 2738 might occur. The installer has encountered an unexpected error installing this package. This may indicate a problem with this package. The error code is 2738. Cause Error 2738 is a Windows Installer error code.\u00a0As mentioned in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":80566,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-1720-windows-installer-package\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":1},"title":"Error 1720: There is a problem with this Windows Installer Package","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 25, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Error 1720 may be shown when you try to install an app using the .msi installer. Here's the full error message: Error 1720: There is a problem with this Windows Installer Package. A Script required for this install to complete could not be run. Contact your support personnel or package\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 11&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 11","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-11\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"windows installer error 1720","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/msi-error-1720-2-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/msi-error-1720-2-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/msi-error-1720-2-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1541,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-there-is-no-script-engine-for-file-extension-when-running-js-files\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":2},"title":"[Fix] There is no script engine for file extension .JS &#8211; Error","author":"Ramesh","date":"January 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"When you attempt to run a .js (JScript Script File) file, one of the following errors may occur: Can't find script engine \"JScript\" for script \"filename.js\". There is no script engine for file extension \".js\". RELATED: [Fix] Can't find Script Engine Vbscript, and \"no script engine for .vbs\" [Fix] There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"There is no script engine for file extension","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/js-engine-error.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/js-engine-error.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/js-engine-error.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/01\/js-engine-error.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/adding-the-run-as-administrator-option-for-vbs-and-js-files\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":3},"title":"Add Run as Administrator Context Menu Item for VBS and JS files","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"By default, Windows does not include the Run as Administrator option in the context menu for Vbscript (.VBS) and JScript (.JS) files. So, to run a script elevated, you either need to launch the script from elevated Command Prompt window, or use the VBScript self-elevation method as described in article\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"add run as administrator context menu for vbs files","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/script_runas.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":235,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/error-there-is-no-script-engine-for-file-extension-when-running-vbs-files\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":4},"title":"[Fix] Can&#8217;t find Script Engine Vbscript, and &#8220;no script engine for .vbs&#8221;","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"When you run a VBScript or .msi setup file that runs a VBScript, you may receive one of the following errors: Can't find script engine \"VBScript\" for script C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows\\OFFICEICON.vbs There is no script engine for file extension \".vbs\". This happens if the vbscript.dll module is not registered correctly or the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18205,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/script-error-maintenance-vbs-at-startup\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":5},"title":"[Fix] Script Error C:\\Windows\\system32 Maintenance.vbs at Startup","author":"Ramesh","date":"August 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Whenever you start your computer, the following error may popup: Windows Script Host Script: C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\Maintenance.vbs Line: 10 Char: 2 Error: Type mismatch 'CInt' Code: 800A000D Source: Microsoft VBScript runtime error However, you may find no reference to this file in MSConfig or the Task Manager Startup tab. You may be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"installwinsat maintenance.vbs error","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/installwinsat-maintenance-error-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/installwinsat-maintenance-error-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/installwinsat-maintenance-error-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/installwinsat-maintenance-error-1.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}