These instuctions are extracted from ​http://postgis.refractions.net/pipermail/postgis-users/2007-February/014782.html

(Note for newer installer -- our tests seem to suggest you only need to turn off UAC and can skip the rest of these instructions)

The standard win32 installer of PostgreSQL fails on its own. There are a some tricks needed to get through the new security measures in Vista, but it can be done, and in the end it works fine. Here's how:

1. Turn off the Windows Vista User Account Contral (UAC). This is done

from Users in the Control Panel.

2. Enable the Vista 'Administrator' user account. By default it is disabled.

• In the Start Menu, right click on Computer, select Manage
• In System Tools / Local Users and Groups / Users, open the

properties of the Administrator account and enable it. You will have to assign a new password to the account. Installation will not work from a regular account with administrator rights, it must be this master Administrator account.

3. Create a new standard limited user account called postgres. Give it

a password. The PostgreSQL installer can not create this account in Vista so do it ahead of time yourself.

4. Login to the new Administrator account.

5. Install PostgreSQL from the windows msi installer file. Remember to

not install PostGIS at this point, you'll want the more upto date version than wha tthe installer has.

• It will ask for the postgres username and password you created in step 3.
• Install as a Service
• DO NOT select to have the installer initialize a new database. It

will not work. postgres.exe protects you by not running when it has administrator rights, if you try to have the installer initialize a new database you will get an 'initdb failed' error message and the installation will rollback. If you dig deeper it will tell you that initdb can not find the postgres application even though it is present in the bin directory. It is there, it just won't run.

6. When the installer has finished successfully, logout of windows.

Log back in as the postgres user.

7. Open a command prompt, this is found in Accessories in the start

menue / All Programs.

8. Initialize a postgresql database.

• change to the C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\8.2\bin directory
• run a command something like:

initdb -D "C:\Program FIles\PostgreSQL\8.2\data" -U postgres -E UTF8

9. You should now have a working installation of PostgreSQL. Install

PostGIS using the appropriate installer from www.refractions.net. Remember to get the installer that is made for your version of PostgreSQL.

10. Disable the Administrator account and turn UAC back on.

11. Profit!!