Troubleshooting Installation Errors

Over 99% of installation failures of our software are caused by one of:

• Incomplete download of setup file (most likely)
• Overly "intrusive" adblocker/antivirus/antimalware software (quite likely)
• Missing permissions on chosen custom path (common)
• Insufficient hard disk space (common)
• Installation of other software not complete yet (common)
• Error during uninstallation of previous version (occasional)
• Presence of temporary files from other software installation (rare)

Running an incomplete or corrupt installer file will result in a Windows error message like "This installation package could not be opened. Contact the application vendor to verify that this is a valid Windows Installer package."

All our executable files are digitally signed, which makes it possible to confirm the integrity of the file. If you right-click the setup file and select Properties, you should be able to verify that it has a valid digital signature. If it hasn't, then this is likely the result of an interrupted download. In this case, we advise to re-download and verify that the new download has a different file size. If the issue persists, as often indicated by the size remaining unchanged, and by a lack of digital signature, this probably means that you are re-downloading the same partial or corrupt file from your local browser cache, or from an ISP cache, in which case you can try and press Ctrl to force a cache flush when re-downloading.

If you establish that the setup application has a valid digital signature, and the installation still fails, or if the digital signature is missing after several downloads, we advise to temporarily turn off any adblocker or antivirus/antimalware software that you may be running, and retry the installation. Adblockers and low-quality antivirus programs have become a significant cause of download and installation problems, and other system issues. Reputable applications like Windows Defender and Kaspersky are safe to use, but others may need to be re-evaluated.

If the software asks for permission to proceed with an installation step (e.g. copying a file, writing to the registry, etc.), and you do not authorize such step, the installation will be incomplete and the software will most likely not work as intended.

Sometimes, especially when specifying a custom destination directory in the advanced setup options, the current user (administrator account used to install) or the TrustedInstaller user account (used by many Windows Installer steps) do not have enough access rights on the destination drive or directories. This leads to errors like "Error 1310. Error writing to file" and "System error 1307. Verify that you have access to that directory." In this case, consider resetting the security settings on the destination directory. If you set a custom path, try the default installation settings.

If the installation still fails, this could indicate a low disk space on either the destination partition, or the partition holding the temporary files (Windows "Temp" directory). As a rule of thumb, you should make sure that the partitions that are used have at least 100 MB of disk space, plus three times the size of the setup file itself.

Because our software uses standard Windows installer (MSI) functionality, which is also used by other installers, if a previous installation of another program has not completed yet, any attempt to install new software may trigger the request to complete the previous installation. In this case, make sure to either complete any pending installations of other software, or uninstall such software, if you do not wish to complete said installations. The other software may require a reboot to complete this installation or uninstallation process.

Normally there is no need to uninstall a previous version of the software before installing a newer version, as uninstallation is usually invoked automatically by the new installation. However, manually invoking the uninstallation of the previous version from the Control Panel may help confirm which part works, and which one is failing. After uninstallation is complete, please confirm in the Control Panel that the previous software is not installed any longer.

If uninstallation of the previous version fails (for example with an error like "One of the library files needed to run this application cannot be found"), then the advice is to run the original installer again to Repair or Install (whatever option is available) the old version again. This is because if some files are missing, uninstallation itself may fail. If uninstallation still fails, run Microsoft's Program Install and Uninstall Troubleshooter, select the option to manually uninstall an application, then select the name of the software that needs to be force-uninstalled.

Important: do not try to run third-party "cleaners" or "uninstallers", or to delete registry keys. These attemptes generally complicate more than they resolve, as Windows Installer may then miss even more items. If an application fails to uninstall, repairing the original installation should be the first choice, and the Microsoft uninstallation tool should be left as the second option (after which cleanining any leftover items is a possible step).

As a last step, if you verified all of the previous steps and you performed a reboot, and installation of the new software still fails, you may want to try emptying the temporary directory, to make sure that temporary files which may have been left over by other installations have been removed. There is a known issue with some versions of InstallShield setup packages, which, by not removing certain temporary files, prevent the installation of other programs. To solve this, delete the contents of the "Temp" directory used by the installer. To access this directory type "%temp%" in the path field of an Explorer window. This points to a directory like "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp", "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp", "C:\Windows\Temp", "C:\WinNT\Temp", "C:\Temp", or similar. Some temporary files may be in use, in which case the deletion may not completely succeed, but, unless the procedure which created these temporary files is still in progress (or if it required a reboot which has not yet been performed), it is usually safe to delete the entire contents of these directories.

If you need to report an installation error, please be sure to include a log file.

Related Links

• Digital Signature Errors
• Installation Fails with "Error 1316"
• Installation Fails with "Installation Package Could Not Be Opened"
• Windows Installer Logging
• Installation from CD Fails (Rolls Back)
• Safer Windows