How to install Windows Live Essentials on XP x64?

***NOTE: The method introduced in this post only applies if you want to install Windows Live Essentials on a XP x64 computer.***

According to the system requirements of Windows Live Essentials, Windows XP x64 is not on the supported operating system list. If you search the Internet, you will find many posts talking about how to install Windows Live on XP x64, but most of them will tell you to download some MSI files from Softpedia (for example this post, this post, and this post), which I don’t feel comfortable to do. So I decided to find another way to install Windows Live on XP x64. After some search and trial-and-error, I finally found a way to install Windows Live Writer, Mail, and Messenger (version 2009, Build 14.0.8089.0726) on my XP x64 computer. Here is how:

1. Find the individual installer of each Windows Live product

First, you will need find a computer that can install Windows Live Essentials, for example, XP 32-bit, Vista, or even Windows 7, then download and install the latest version of Windows Live Essentials.

Secondly, follow my previous post to find the downloaded individual installer for each Windows Live Essentials component.

2. Install Windows Live Writer, Mail, and Messenger on XP x64

Copy the installers (if there are multiple installers with the same name, then copy the one with the latest timestamp) from step 1 to an external hard drive or a USB flash drive, then run each installer on your XP x64 computer to install them.

You need to copy the following installers: Writer.msi, Mail.msi, Messenger.msi, wllogin.msi, and Contacts.msi

VERY IMPORTANT: You must install Contacts.msi to make Windows Live Mail and Messenger work, otherwise, you will get error 80040154 when you launch either Windows Live Mail or Messenger. Thanks to this post for this information, I am finally able to get Live Mail and Messenger to work.

Let me know if it helps you.