Symptom
You are installing software on Windows (e.g. JDK).
The installation fails and you have an error in the log of events, for example:
"Source: MsiInstaller
Event ID: 11708
Product: J2SE Development Kit 5.0 Update 5–Installation operation failed.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.”
Cause
You have recently installed Microsoft Installer 3.1 or higher.
Solution
Uninstall Microsoft Installer 3.1.
You can then install the software properly.