Installing new software should go off without a hitch, but this is rarely the case. If you’re installing a Window’s installer program, you might be confronted with the Error 1603 – an installer error. Gruesome at best, Error 1603 insists you’ve experienced “a fatal error” during installation.

Error 1603

What you really need to know is that something went wrong with your installation, and unlike so many other errors, this one can actually have quite a few causes – most of them rather obscure.

For example, you might have received Error 1603 because your hard drive is locked and can’t be written on. Or perhaps your set-up was corrupted during the installation process and is now unable to install correctly. I might be that the short file name on your machine is wrong and the bad name is blocking the installation.

Sadly, these are all seemingly unrelated causes which make it just a bit trickier to figure out this error than some others.

Resolving Error 1603

You can’t solve this error unless you have a general idea of what is causing it. However, most of us aren’t tech wizards, so we can do quite a bit through process of elimination first before things get too technical.

Start by installing the program you’ve been having trouble with on a different drive. For example, if you’re installing the program on one of your two hard drives, simply try installing it on the other. Before you do that, however, uninstall the program so that there isn’t a corrupted version from your previous attempts that might go on to cause problems for you. Once uninstalled, you’ll be working with a blank slate. Try installing the program on another hard drive or in a different folder on your computer.

This method would circumvent any encrypted drives that might be making it impossible to install the program correctly in your first choice of folder.

If that still produces errors, be sure you’re not installing the program on a drive that isn’t a primary drive. If you’ve been trying to install the program on an external hard drive or on a flash drive, try one more time to install the program on your C drive, which is the primary hard drive.

Before you start the install, be sure you’ve removed the program or uninstalled it after your failed attempts. Then, restart your computer so that you’re working with as fresh a canvas as possible before trying again. Try installing the program to your C drive normally.

Often using an alternative folder, drive or using your primary drive will resolve the problem without needing to do anything else. You’ll know the problem is resolved when the program is installed correctly and you’re able to use it normally.

The More Technical Solution to Error 1603

If you’ve tried different folders and drives, but you’re still not finding success, you do have more options, but we warned in advance that these are more complex solutions and they require a bit of technical know-how or at least try-how.

If you’re working in Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you’re next step is to Grant Full Control permissions to the SYSTEM account. You can do this by opening My Computer.

In the My Computer window that opens, right-click on the drive that you’re trying to work with. It’s most likely the C drive if you’re not installing the program on an alternative hard drive. Right-click and then select Properties for that drive.



In the Properties menu, click on Security to bring that tab forward.

On the Security tab, check to be sure that the Name box says SYSTEM. If you’re using Windows XP, you’ll see a Group or user name box rather than Name, and in that case be sure it also says SYSTEM.

If you don’t see SYSTEM, add it to the Name by clicking on Add. In the Select Users or Groups, look for the Name field. Find SYSTEM in the list and then click on Add. Finally click OK.



Now that SYSTEM is in the Name box, you’ll need to adjust the permissions. In the Permissions section of the box, select Full Control under Allow and then select Advanced.

You’ll be shown a verification message along the lines of "Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries shown here that apply to child objects," or perhaps "Reset permissions on all child objects and enable propagation of inheritable permissions." Select the box that appears and click on OK.

Follow any additional instructions as your computer applies the new permissions.

Finally, install the Windows Installer package again.  Hopefully the install will now not be inhibited by misapplied permission settings.