By default, in the case of failure of any installation, Windows Installer tries to gain the original state of the system. Thus in order to do that, it nullifies the changes it has made during the installation of that failure program. This is basically called Rollback of installation. For example, if you have installed Visual Studio or any other version of it when the setup is unable to finish the installation, it generates the rollback script to reverse the changes it has made to your computer. While this feature is definitely useful, as a system administrator, there may be times, where you may want to disable this Rollback feature. You can do so by configuring the Prohibit Rollback group policy. This policy is designed to reduce the amount of temporary disk space required to install programs. It can also prevent malicious users from interrupting an installation to compromise the system.

Disable Rollback using Registry Editor

  1. Press Windows Key + R combination, type put Regedt32.exe in Run dialog box and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to this registry key:

3. In the right pane of this location, you’ll see the DWORD DisableRollback having its Value data set to 1. Double click on it to modify:

  1. In order to fix the Windows Installer, in the above box put the Value data equals to 0. Click OK. Alternatively, you can delete the DisableRollback DWORD, and it’ll also fix the issue. That’s it! You may close the Registry Editor and reboot; your problem should be fixed.

Prohibit Rollback using Local Group Policy Editor

  1. Press Windows Key + R combination, type put gpedit.msc in Run dialog box and hit Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.

  2. Navigate here: Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Installer

  3. In the right pane of this location, look for the setting Prohibit rollback. Since you’re facing the issue, this policy should show Enabled status. Double click on it to modify:

  4. In the above window, set the policy to Not Configured or Disable state to solve your issue. Click Apply followed by OK. That’s it! You may close the Group Policy Editor and reboot to see the results. As we mentioned earlier, if you configure this policy, Windows Installer will be prevented from recording the original state of the system and sequence of changes it makes during installation and from retaining files it intends to delete later. As a result, the Windows installer cannot restore the computer to its original state if the installation does not complete. And because an incomplete installation can render the system or a program inoperable, do not use this policy unless essential.