Error 1606 - What's going wrong?

[Ricardo Eloy]

Hi, folks!

I was trying to install SimCloth 3 on my laptop (running WinXP Pro) and everytime I get this error message:

 

Error 1606. Could not access network location %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\start menu\programs\startup\.

 

I'm the machine's administrator, so I guess there shouldn't be a problem. What to do?

Thanks!

[AJLynn]

Network location? That's odd. Do Start menu -> Run and type in cmd to get the "good" command prompt, and type:

 

echo %ALLUSERSPROFILE%

 

It should respond:

 

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users

 

(Or whatever drive you're using - on my AMD it's G:\)

 

Sounds like you might have that system variable changed somehow. If it is... I'm not sure how to help you, I guess there are a lot of places those can be set - autoexec.bat, logon scripts, probably in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE in the registry, some kind of malware being run on boot...

 

If the all users path is correct, have a look at it on the disk and make sure the directory the installer is looking for is there, and there's nothing wrong with it or the disk.

[Ricardo Eloy]

Thank you for your reply, Andrew, but I'm afraid everything is working just fine, including the registry (I ran System Mechanic and a couple other Ad-Aware like softs and nothing unusual showed up).

It seems this happens with all MSI (Windows Installer) files, including Office. Any other thoughts?

[AJLynn]

I think you just got beyond my level. Have you tried any of the MS support options or their forums?

[Ricardo Eloy]

Yeah. I actually got to change the registry as they tell you to, but it was not effective. I added a couple entries but still get that message... Guess I'll just sit right down and cry...

[Ricardo Eloy]

Good news! I fixed it. The problem is that there is a key in the registry that tells all softwares where to look for permissions when they're installed. For some reason (still to be figured out), that address was modified, telling all installers to look for permission in that ghost network place. What I did: searched the registry for that strange value (%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\start menu\programs\startup\) and replaced it with he real address (on my C drive). Worked like a charm. The only thing is that I accidentally changed another key that added all the Administrative tools to my start up menu, making all those performance/security stuff to load along with Windows (nothing that System Mechanic could't fix).

Anyway, that's the solution (and I won't have to cry anymore...)