SQM Client Causing Crashing in Windows 7

Many users have started experiencing random crashing of explorer and msiexec.exe when trying to start Windows Update or install anything that uses an MSI based installer.  This issue is bad enough that some people have even formatted because of it, only to have it come back again.

Rafael has discovered that the fault lies with the SQM Client which is part of the Customer Experience Improvement Program.  It seems that ANY process that calls WinSqmStartSession in ntdll.dll will start crashing when MachineThrottling is enabled in the registry, which seems to happen as a result of CEIP running.

Use the following to fix the issue.

  1. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Type reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions /va /f and press enter.
  3. That’s it, no further action is necessary

Posted by: Chris123NT

Published on: January 18th, 2009 at 11:14 PM

Tagged with , , ,

Posted in Windows 7

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91 Responses to 'SQM Client Causing Crashing in Windows 7'

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  1. January 18, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    GoodThings2Life:

    Thanks!! This helped a lot of people including myself! :)

  2. January 18, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    Benjamin Pan:

    You are a definite lifesaver. Thanks a bunch!

  3. January 19, 2009 at 2:55 am

    SQM client causing customer experience improvement program crashing in Windows 7:

    [...] Source:→ Christ123NT’s Blog [...]

  4. January 19, 2009 at 5:03 am

    Finguz:

    Thankyou very much, this has saved me a lot of messing around :)

  5. January 19, 2009 at 6:04 am

    madlogik:

    THANKS! I was going nuts!
    now I need a fix for “memory management” bsod… but heh … life is a challenge!!

  6. January 19, 2009 at 6:09 am

    xiphi:

    Thank you!! I just started getting this issue last night when I got home. Very weird!

  7. January 19, 2009 at 6:19 am

    Bashed:

    Followed to the letter but did not work for me. :(

    Back to vista.

    TATA!

  8. January 19, 2009 at 6:52 am

    Sunshine:

    Thanks, worked like a charm :)

  9. January 19, 2009 at 7:29 am

    Rob:

    Fantastic – that worked perfectly. That was driving me nuts yesterday. Thank you!

  10. January 19, 2009 at 7:53 am

    Hello:

    Thanks! Worked perfectly.

    But why was Customer Experience Improvement Program activated? I chose to NOT participate when i was asked in the beginning of the installation of windows.

  11. January 19, 2009 at 8:09 am

    Brad:

    YESSSSSSS! I LIKE INSTALLING THINGS!!!

  12. January 19, 2009 at 8:46 am

    ranjith:

    how to delete the string values (Except for (Default)) in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions

  13. January 19, 2009 at 9:07 am

    Corradoc:

    Thank you. I stucked with this since this morning without a way out.
    You saved me :)

  14. January 19, 2009 at 10:02 am

    VerM:

    Contemplating to re-install everything back… until came across your quick fix… thank you…

  15. January 19, 2009 at 10:49 am

    Sam Johnson:

    This fixed my problem; thanks a ton!

  16. January 19, 2009 at 11:18 am

    SQM Client Causing Crashing in Windows 7 at Chris123NT’s Blog | WinSe7en:

    [...] Program. Doesn’t seem to be improving customer experience! See the original post at: SQM Client Causing Crashing in Windows 7 at Chris123NT’s Blog Tags: Crash, SQM Categories: WebLinks Views: 0 views Posted By: Joe Last Edit: 19 Jan [...]

  17. January 19, 2009 at 11:49 am

    Applesauce:

    The HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions is not in there! HKLM is not even there!

  18. January 19, 2009 at 11:59 am

    AeroXperience » Blog Archive » Why the CEIP bug in Windows 7 should never have happened:

    [...] Holmes, a mutual friend of mine and Rafael, recently discovered (along with Rafael) the source of a round of interesting crashes in Windows 7 Beta 1. The bug itself is uninteresting and typical; besides crashing virtually [...]

  19. January 19, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    Bifnewman:

    FUCKING INCREDIBLE! For all that need help with step one start Registry Editor (regedit search in start). HKLM stands for HKey_Local_Machine so you should be good from there. THANKS SO MUCH THIS WAS PISSING ME OFF!!!!

  20. January 19, 2009 at 12:57 pm

    Win 7 testers find (and fix themselves) troublesome installer bug | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com:

    [...] enthusiast Chris Holmes’ blog: “Many users have started experiencing random crashing of explorer and msiexec.exe when trying to start Windows Update or install anything that uses an MSI based installer.  This [...]

  21. January 19, 2009 at 1:06 pm

    Applesauce:

    Thanks Bifnewman, but the folders empty except for the ‘defalt’. Am I missing something? Ive seen some other similar fixes but, I can’t do anything because there arent any other files!

  22. January 19, 2009 at 1:52 pm

    SQM bug in Windows 7? Something is wrong... - SuperSite Blog:

    [...] this is all resolved, if you’re a beta tester, please kill the CEIP in Windows 7 and proceed to report any UX quirks you run into through the submit feedback tool next [...]

  23. January 19, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    Chris123NT:

    @AppleSauce

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions

    If that folder is empty except for the (Default) value then you should not be seeing the issue.

  24. January 19, 2009 at 1:59 pm

    Applesauce:

    Hmmmph, then it must be something else, I’m getting the all the symptoms.

  25. January 19, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    Chris123NT:

    Try disabling CEIP by following the remainder of the instructions and then reboot and see what happens.

  26. January 19, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    it-flow.pl » Windows Update, Msiexec crash ?:

    [...] Więcej informacji na blogu Chris Holmes’a. [...]

  27. January 19, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    Harry56:

    Worked perfect, thanks Chris!

  28. January 19, 2009 at 2:50 pm

    Kris:

    Just go to Other Downloads, for Java, and get the Kernel installer… It worked for me. This fix allowed my windows updates to finally work, but didnt fix my java issue. The kernel did.

  29. January 19, 2009 at 3:31 pm

    Mmoney667:

    thanks a bunch

  30. January 19, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    Dan:

    AWESOME! This fixed the installation of QuickBooks 2009 for me!!!! YAY!

  31. January 19, 2009 at 4:28 pm

    Cardoc:

    This worked great for me, I had a real problem getting a program to install but this worked flawlessly. Thanks

  32. January 19, 2009 at 4:37 pm

    Ken Stone:

    Worked for me. Thanks very much!!

  33. January 19, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    Surrix:

    Do “string values” constitute the REG_QWORD keys MachineThrottling and 591363?

  34. January 19, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    James:

    Thanks, i was thinking of reinstalling windows, lifesaver.

  35. January 19, 2009 at 5:46 pm

    Robert Leidner:

    Worked like a charm for Office 2007. Thanks, Bob

  36. January 19, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    Simon:

    Thanks, been trying to install QuickTime and was just about to troubleshoot and raise a bug when I came across this in my news feed – now installing.

  37. January 19, 2009 at 6:55 pm

    Dae 23:

    can someone please post a direc6t link to where I can download the kernal installer

  38. January 19, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    Windows Installer Crashing on Win7? Chris has the answer! | CHARGED's Digital Lifestyle at Work or Play:

    [...] http://chris123nt.com/2009/01/18/sqm-client-causing-crashing-in-windows-7/ [...]

  39. January 19, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    Zarkonia:

    Absolutely spot on! Many Thanks…

    Yes, for me the “string values” constituted the REG_QWORD keys MachineThrottling and 591363.

  40. January 19, 2009 at 8:49 pm

    Dave:

    This worked great, thanks!

  41. January 19, 2009 at 9:43 pm

    Mark:

    I went to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions and just like Applesauce, there’s only (Default) and nothing else.
    Maybe it has to do with me installing Windows 7 without a key.

  42. January 19, 2009 at 10:23 pm

    PHil:

    THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!!!!

  43. January 19, 2009 at 11:14 pm

    Windows 7: Fix Windows Installer Explorer Update Has Stopped Working:

    [...] Sources: My Digital Life, Chris123nt [...]

  44. January 19, 2009 at 11:40 pm

    Surrix:

    I also wanted to add how much I appreciate this. This was driving me crazy and I was about ready to reformat and lose countless hours of work.

    I disabled the setting in GPEdit, but I haven’t deleted those keys yet as I don’t think REG_QWORDs constitute strings. Even though I haven’t, the issue seems to be fixed anyway. But before I go deleting reg keys, I figure it’s better to be safe than sorry.

  45. January 20, 2009 at 5:14 am

    Fix Windows Installer, Explorer, Update Has Stopped Working in Windows 7 | ComputerFinance.net:

    [...] Sources: My Digital Life, Chris123nt [...]

  46. January 20, 2009 at 6:34 am

    Eran:

    Man,
    This solved my issue with installing Windows Live Messenger.
    Great work man!

  47. January 20, 2009 at 7:07 am

    InsomniacGeek:

    Hi.
    Thanks a lot, it worked for me. Now I can install those program that didn’t install before.

  48. January 20, 2009 at 8:54 am

    Synn:

    Worked! THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  49. January 20, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    ThnkfulMAn:

    Thanks!!

  50. January 21, 2009 at 3:14 am

    Gimi:

    you baster!!!!

  51. January 21, 2009 at 7:38 am

    Rainer:

    Thanks so much!!!

  52. January 21, 2009 at 8:06 am

    DPOBA:

    а сколько будет стоить эта винда? примерные цены кто-нибудь знает?

  53. January 22, 2009 at 12:05 am

    fr0st:

    Thanks a ton! Windows update wasn’t working but now it is!!! I was going to reformat tomorrow if I didn’t find a fix.

  54. January 22, 2009 at 2:05 am

    Business News Research » Win 7 testers find (and fix themselves) troublesome installer bug | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com:

    [...] “Many users have started experiencing random crashing of explorer and msiexec.exe when trying to start Windows Update or install anything that uses an MSI based installer.  This issue is bad enough that some people have even formatted because of it, only to have it come back again. [...]

  55. January 22, 2009 at 2:46 pm

    Win 7 Tip: Fix That MSI Installer Bug And Get Apps Running Again [Windows 7]:

    [...] bug, s­in­­ce th­ey­’re MS­I-ba­s­ed­. [Chri­s­123NT via [...]

  56. January 22, 2009 at 5:40 pm

    8 Characters » Windows 7 and Skype:

    [...] http://chris123nt.com/2009/01/18/sqm-client-causing-crashing-in-windows-7/ var disqus_url = ‘http://720.com.au/web/?p=44 ‘; var disqus_title = ‘Windows 7 and Skype’; var disqus_message = ‘Just a quick one for those of you who have installed the Windows 7 beta release from MS (7000) and have had troubles installing Skype. Apparently, the problem is only because of a Windows update. Have a look at this:%0Ahttp://chris123nt.com/2009/01/18/sqm-client-causing-crashing-in-windows-7/%0A’; View the entire comment thread. « Data Clouds [...]

  57. January 22, 2009 at 6:42 pm

    MrWizard:

    AWESOME!!! Thanks!

  58. January 22, 2009 at 7:40 pm

    Win 7 Tip: Fix That MSI Installer Bug And Get Apps Running Again [Windows 7] | ComputerFinance.net:

    [...] updates can’t install when you’re hit by this bug, since they’re MSI-based. [Chris123NT via [...]

  59. January 22, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    Win 7 Tip: Fix That MSI Installer Bug And Get Apps Running Again [Windows 7] | Gigategy:

    [...] updates can’t install when you’re hit by this bug, since they’re MSI-based. [Chris123NT via [...]

  60. January 22, 2009 at 8:40 pm

    Win 7 Tip: Fix That MSI Installer Bug And Get Apps Running Again [Windows 7] | The gadgets:

    [...] updates can’t install when you’re hit by this bug, since they’re MSI-based. [Chris123NT via [...]

  61. January 22, 2009 at 11:52 pm

    hwade54:

    I have tried this fix but im getting an error in the command prompt that it cant find the value or the string

    help

  62. January 23, 2009 at 12:06 am

    Gadget» Blog Archive » Win 7 Tip: Fix That MSI Installer Bug And Get Apps Running Again [Windows 7]:

    [...] updates can’t install when you’re hit by this bug, since they’re MSI-based. [Chris123NT via [...]

  63. January 23, 2009 at 12:32 am

    Windows 7: MSIEXEC and EXPLORER Crash When Installing Programs | Technipages:

    [...] SQM Client Causing Crashing in Windows 7 [...]

  64. January 23, 2009 at 10:20 pm

    Fred:

    thanks, it’s working wh00t wh00t

  65. January 24, 2009 at 1:06 pm

    Jared:

    This works well. Skype beta wouldn’t install even though I had it working earlier. (Before some update I am sure) This drove me insane.

  66. January 24, 2009 at 3:56 pm

    Fix Windows Installer, Explorer, Update Has Stopped Working in Windows 7:

    [...] Sources: My Digital Life, Chris123nt [...]

  67. January 24, 2009 at 5:02 pm

    Pavel:

    Hello Cris!
    Iam one of thousands users a new “Windows 7″
    I have a problem…
    Not with “HKLM\Software\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions”,
    but with “Computer Configuration->Administrative Templates->System->Internet Communication Management->Internet Communication settings”
    I can not theese things found!, what is it?
    Can You help me please?

  68. January 24, 2009 at 11:25 pm

    Clark Jacobsohn:

    Okay, I figured something out. If the file does not show up, try using regedit.exe. Instead of “HKLM”, it will say “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE”. Then go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions”, just like before, but rename “MachineThrottling” to “_MachineThrottling”. This worked for me.

  69. January 28, 2009 at 3:54 am

    Tech Presales and Business News for Austrian Partners : Probleme beim Softwareinstallieren auf Windows 7 ?:

    [...] Scholda von eHouse hat einen guten Tipp bei http://chris123nt.com/2009/01/18/sqm-client-causing-crashing-in-windows-7/ [...]

  70. January 28, 2009 at 6:41 am

    Ru Servers Reference Blog » [Windows 7] Windows Installer has stopped working:

    [...] turning off Customer Experience Improvement Program or by editing the registry. Turning off CEIP: »chris123nt.com/2009/01/18/sqm-cl···ndows-7/ regedit: navigate to HKLMSoftwareMicrosoftSQMClientWindowsDisabledSessions rename [...]

  71. February 2, 2009 at 11:56 pm

    JoJo Lawren:

    Chris,
    Just wanted you to know how much you’re appriciated!
    The dedication you show in helping others is a rare trait in humans these days!

    Wish I had some way to return your generousity!

    All The Best,
    JoJo

  72. February 16, 2009 at 3:25 am

    Obaz:

    not work

  73. February 26, 2009 at 3:59 am

    Cyril:

    Awesome!!! Thanks!

  74. March 2, 2009 at 1:27 pm

    nic:

    what if you dont have a machine throttling lsit in regedit ??

    also over the last week i have had to use the fix 3x for the problem with windows 7 explorer , i have to use the script twice with in comand promt, once after reboot to become stable which only lasts for a few days. is there a better way to fix his problem

  75. March 27, 2009 at 2:50 am

    Mark:

    Man, I let Microsoft take over my computer for 6 1/2 hrs. and they couldn’t fix this. I stumble across your post and in 30 sec. its cured. Thank you so much!

  76. April 12, 2009 at 8:37 am

    WiND:

    Я, хоть и не постоянный читатель, но всё же скажу свое мнение. На ваш сайт попал совсем случайно. Однако нашел много чего нового и интересного. Так что, как говорится, АФФТАР ПЕШИ ИСЧО! :)

  77. May 11, 2009 at 6:16 am

    Ken:

    Does anyone know if the RC has the same problem?

  78. May 14, 2009 at 2:15 am

    Richard:

    TY very much, someone should report this problem to MS

  79. May 17, 2009 at 11:39 am

    Marty:

    I have Windows 7 RC and I’ve got this problem. The solution that has been given here, not helping me at all. I’ve tried it several times and everytime it said “successfull”, but nothing have changed. Is there any other solution to this? :(

  80. May 30, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    sean:

    I’ve done the two steps listed, rebooted, reinstalled, done steps again. no luck. msi’s still crashing
    build 7100 x64

  81. June 7, 2009 at 5:05 am

    sambo:

    ditto, using RC 7100 64 clean install and explorer along with Iexplore keep crashing

    driving me nuts.

    Seems to have now affected firefox as well.

  82. June 8, 2009 at 5:09 am

    Jonk:

    Didn’t work for me. Still the same shit…

  83. June 13, 2009 at 7:14 pm

    Danny:

    using RC 7100 64 clean install

    followed above and did not work

  84. June 23, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    James:

    I am running the Windows 7 RC and ie 8, SQL Server 2008 (Known issues not related to this msi issue as of yet), Visual Studio 2010 Beta and Visual 2008 Standard, and Office 2007 (all products). The problem did not occur until today. msi is still crashing. I have tried to close it everytime it opens in task manager, but, computers are fster than I. I had to stop program w. task manager to install an update and now…msi crashes.
    My hopes is to resolve this issue prior the release of Windows 7 for real.
    For now, I will not attempt the above remedies as they appear to not work at minimum 99% of th time.
    If there be any other validated approaches, we all would appreciate the knowledge to remedy msiexec

  85. June 28, 2009 at 10:26 am

    chris h:

    Thanks, query however with XP. a 1721 Win Installer error pops up with Java. Found the 4.5 update Windows Installer Redistributable, unfortunately to no effect: installation fails again with a 1721 package error on a new XP install. [Firefox is also having constant page reloading issues if that is at all related] Does any one have any ideas about this pls?

  86. July 11, 2009 at 9:34 am

    simonr:

    using RC 7100 64 clean install

    the work round did not work with this system

  87. January 24, 2010 at 5:27 am

    speede:

    tried both of your things to do with the reg….and nope, still nothing, the installer keeps coming up with “installer has stopped working” like no shit hey…. any other suggestions buddy????????????

  88. January 25, 2010 at 1:02 am

    Chris123NT:

    @speede this article refers to an issue that was occuring in early beta builds of Windows 7 so your issue is likely unrelated. Can you give any additional info as to how your errors started?

  89. February 4, 2010 at 12:23 pm

    Barb:

    I am running Windows Vista. I cannot install any software that uses Windows Installer, such as H&R Block Tax software. Windows installer has tried to download .NET update since NOvember 2009 and it fails everytime. Other updates download successfully except for patches for our Dell printer. Can you help?

  90. February 4, 2010 at 12:27 pm

    Barb:

    I should also say, that I get no error messages ( I know nothing about the registry, I am very low tech. It should just work), Window Installer just stops. Eventually, after a while it says Window Installer is no longer working (or similar) retry or quit. When you click quit, nothing happens. You have to go to task manager and end the process. I am running Windows Vista HOme premium package sp2 32-bit.

  91. February 4, 2010 at 12:42 pm

    Barb:

    I also can’t uninstall anything that uses window installers. It was suggested to uninstall updates to fix the problem. I can’t do that.

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