Windows Installer error 1303 -- now what??

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Smith
  • Start date Start date
J

John Smith

Running XP Pro SP1 on an IBM Thinkpad A31p...

I've been beta testing some commercial software and after removing the
previous beta in preparation for installing the new one, I'm now unable to
install any software from this company -- I get error 1303: "The installer
has insufficient privileges to access this directory: E:\Documents and
Settings\JohnSmith\Application Data\Autodesk. The installation cannot
continue. Log on as administrator or contact your system administrator."

This error is listed in MS tech support as an Office Installer error, but
I'm not installing Office. I also found a link on Adobe's site, where the
same error appears when installing Acrobat 7.

As user JohnSmith I have administrator privileges. I get the error message
when trying to install either of the two prior versions of the program. When
I try to install the new beta, I get the message that it's already
installed.

I uninstalled the previous beta through Control Panel. I deleted the
relevant Application Data folders in JohnSmith\Docs and Settings and All
Users\Docs and Settings, and then Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk
Shared.

In Windows, I've checked the properties of Docs and Settings\All Users, and
the Administrators group shows full control is selected. I've set the
Advanced button's Replace permission entries on all child objects...

I can't find anything else I should be doing...

Help?
 
Thanks for your help.

I always disable my virus scanner (NAV2004) before installing software. I'd
rather not uninstall it if that's what you're suggesting... I've always
managed to install these programs with NAV installed but disabled and would
like to get back to that place.

Also, unfortunately the software I'm installing needs a live internet
connection as it must be authorized before it can be used.
 
How 'bout "Safe Mode with Networking" and loggin as administrator, does that
work?
 
1. "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if
you are running Windows in safe mode..."

2. In any case, I'd rather not have to run this program as "Administrator".

3. It appears I can create a new user and install under that. Why not just
do that? Because I'd have to reinstall Office and all my other
applications -- but maybe that's what I'm going to have to do, if no one can
tell me how to get around this 1303 error. Microsoft and other vendors post
technical docs on how to do this (which don't seem to work in my case), so
I'd have thought it was possible to fix the problem.
 
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