Hmmm... I've been using Postgres since '95 and running Postgres on Windows since, oh, the early naughts, surely before version 8.2 and I am right now still running 9.3 on Windows 7 on the very box I'm typing this on.
One thing you don't state is what version of Windows you're trying to run on, though we see it's a 64 bit processor.
It's been a little while since I've done this installation, but I believe the installer for Windows isn't provided by the PostgreSQL team, but by EnterpriseDb - is that what you ran?
Perhaps you have bit-rot? sha1sum on the 9.3.1.1 release:
20bd1b72b5707c74a013e1bcb9a36502c8f0544e postgresql-9.3.1-1-windows-x64.exe
I have successfully used Cygwin's tools to add service to Windows. Here's a brief description of what it can do (this is an older version):
$ cygrunsrv.exe --help
Usage: cygrunsrv [OPTION]...
Main options: Exactly one is required.
-I, --install <svc_name> Installes a new service named <svc_name>.
-R, --remove <svc_name> Removes a service named <svc_name>.
-S, --start <svc_name> Starts a service named <svc_name>.
-E, --stop <svc_name> Stops a service named <svc_name>.
-Q, --query <svc_name> Queries a service named <svc_name>.
-L, --list [server] Lists services that have been installed
with cygrunsrv.
<svc_name> can be a local service or "server/svc_name" or "server\svc_name".
Required install options:
-p, --path <app_path> Application path which is run as a service.
Miscellaneous install options:
-P, --crs-path <path> Path to cygrunsrv. This is useful for testing or
when installing a service on a remote machine.
-a, --args <args> Optional string with command line options which
is given to the service application on startup.
-c, --chdir <directory> Optional directory which will be used as working
directory for the application.
-e, --env <VAR=VALUE> Optional environment strings which are added
to the environment when service is started.
You can add up to 255 environment strings using
the `--env' option.
Note: /bin is always added to $PATH to allow all
started applications to find cygwin DLLs.
-d, --disp <display name> Optional string which contains the display name
of the service. Defaults to service name.
-f, --desc <description> Optional string which contains the service
description.
-t, --type [auto|manual] Optional start type of service. Defaults to `auto'.
-u, --user <user name> Optional user name to start service as.
Defaults to SYSTEM account.
-w, --passwd <password> Optional password for user. Only needed
if a user is given. If a user has an empty
password, enter `-w '. If a user is given but
no password, cygrunsrv will ask for a password
interactively.
-s, --termsig <signal> Optional signal to send to service application
when service is stopped. <signal> can be a number
or a signal name such as HUP, INT, QUIT, etc.
Default is TERM.
-z, --shutsig <signal> Optional signal to send to service application
when shutdown has been initiated. Default is the
same signal as defined as termination signal.
-y, --dep <svc_name2> Optional name of service that must be started
before this new service. The --dep option may
be given up to 16 times, listing another dependent
service each time.
-0, --stdin <file> Optional input file used for stdin redirection.
Default is /dev/null.
-1, --stdout <file> Optional output file used for stdout redirection.
Default is /var/log/<svc_name>.log.
-2, --stderr <file> Optional output file used for stderr redirection.
Default is /var/log/<svc_name>.log.
-x, --pidfile <file> Optional path for .pid file written by application
after fork().
Default is that application must not fork().
-n, --neverexits Service should never exit by itself.
-O, --preshutdown Stop service application during system preshutdown.
-o, --shutdown Stop service application during system shutdown.
(Only one of --preshutdown and --shutdown is
accepted. Preshutdown is preferred, but only
available since Windows Vista/Longhorn. On earlier
OS versions it's silently converted to --shutdown).
-i, --interactive Allow service to interact with the desktop
(No effect since Windows Vista/Longhorn).
-j, --nohide Don't hide console window when service interacts
with desktop.
Informative output:
-V, --verbose When used with --query or --list, causes extra
-h, --help print this help, then exit.
-v, --version print cygrunsrv program version number, then exit.
I have used this to successfully add services to windows (up to and including, but not beyond Windows 7), and the Cygwin project is active and likely works well on the youngest version.
Additionally, I have run Postgres on many systems where Postgres was NOT formally installed; it has its own configuration files and is self-contained. If you're comfortable using command-line tools, you can probably pretty easily get Postgres running for you "by hand" - just follow the directions as if it was running on a Linux / Unix box! (If you try this, I STRONGLY recommend using Cygwin as your CLI.) That said, it's a sure bet that PGAdmin requires those Windows registry entries, so your graphical tools likely won't run this way, but who knows, they might! It's just a port to connect to and some permissions / authentication passing.
Also, along all these years, I wrote myself some installation notes to help out those who follow. Here's what I wrote about Postgres on Windows, last updated in '09, so the links may no longer be valid:
$ cat PostgresOnWindows/README.TXT
NOTE! Before you run the installation, you must extract the entire
ZIP file to a temporary directory. Just double-clicking on the
MSI files inside the ZIP will NOT work.
Before you begin, please read the installation instructions at
http://pginstaller.projects.postgresql.org
Also see the FAQ available at
http://www.postgresql.org/docs/faqs.FAQ_windows.html
As an alternative, find someone like me who has it installed and running to extract your data since it doesn't sound like you care about using Postgres.
