How to Reinstall an Ikernel

InstallShield comes as a standard, preinstalled feature on computers running Windows operating systems. The InstallShield application launches automatically whenever you try to install a program onto your computer. iKernel is an InstallShield program file that helps the program launch. If you try to install a new application on your computer and receive an error message that iKernel.exe is missing, you must replace iKernel in the InstallShield folder in order for InstallShield to work again.

Perform Windows Update

• 1

  Click "Start," "All Programs" and then "Windows Update." The "Windows Update" window opens on the screen.

• 2

  Click the "Check for updates" button in the left navigation pane of the window. The computer automatically searches the Internet for any available updates for Windows and Microsoft programs installed on the hard drive. As Windows Update searches for updates to the programs, a "Checking for Updates" message appears in the main pane of the window. This process may take several minutes.

• 3

  Press the "Install Updates" button to install all of the updates on your computer. During the update process, Windows automatically recognizes the missing iKernel.exe file in InstallShield and replaces it.

Manually Replace iKernel

• 1

  Click "Start," and click either "Computer" or "My Computer" to view the drive list. Double-click the "C:" drive, and then double-click the "Program Files" folder, the "Common Files" folder and the "InstallShield" folder.

• 2

  Right-click the "engine" folder, and choose "Delete." When the message appears asking you to confirm that you want to delete the file, click "Continue."

• 3

  Get new iKernel files for the InstallShield program at the InstallShield website (see Resources). Download the files to your computer by clicking the "iKernel engine update" link. The files automatically download to the "Downloads" folder on most Windows computers.

• 4

  Navigate to the "Downloads" folder on the "C:" drive. Double-click the "ikernelupdate.exe" file, and follow the on-screen instructions to reinstall the files to InstallShield.