Windows Installer Error 1706: Setup cannot find the required files

Note: These errors occur because Windows has lost its internal path to the correct BOINC.MSI installer file. It's really a Windows problem, not so much a BOINC problem. No need to complain that BOINC needs to fix this, as BOINC cannot fix problems that are made by Windows!

It can happen that you to run into any of these errors when trying to install BOINC:

Error 1706. Setup cannot find the required files

or

C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations\{DF85BFC4-9509-4AA9-824A-5C6057FA8459}\BOINC.msi cannot be found.

or

"The feature you are trying to use is on a network resource that is unavailable".

or

Error 1714: older version cannot be removed

or

Error: Configuration data for this product is corrupt

The reason for this error is that the old BOINC.msi (Microsoft Installation file) is corrupt for whatever reason. This should be easy to fix.

Error 1325. XXX is not a valid short name.

STEP 1.

When your Windows version cannot find the old MSI file, you need to reinstall the old version of BOINC that you had before you started the upgrade, and choose to repair the installation. For this you need the old BOINC version installation file. If you no longer have it, take a look at The BOINC Archive , which holds all present and older BOINC versions.

Usually you can do the repair install, then immediately install the latest version of BOINC on top of the old version. This won't be possible with BOINC 4.19 and newer versions. BOINC 4.19 does need to be uninstalled through Add/Remove Programs.

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STEP 2.

Since the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility was discontinued by Windows, as it is quite powerful to use and with misuse you can wreck your Windows... they'd rather that you use their Program Install and Uninstall.

Now, if that does not work, then do use the WICUU: Download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility.

Run that on your computer.

The corrupt BOINC version shows up as either BOINC.msi or as a corrupt icon .msi (it'll be the top most option). Click on it to select it, then click Remove and Exit. You will need to reboot your computer now.

Then install the new version of BOINC. It should now work.

(Warning: Leave all other .msi files as they are, as else you have problems uninstalling other programs! )

(This version of the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility works correctly in all 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows.)

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STEP 3.

In case it is a BOINC 6.x.x version that went corrupt for whatever reason, do take a look at these steps on what you will need to remove manually to get rid of the older version.

The default directory where BOINC will install its executables into is:

• Windows 98/SE/ME: C:\Windows\All Users\BOINC\ or C:\Windows\Profiles\All Users\BOINC\
• Windows 2000/XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\BOINC\ (this may be a hidden directory)
• Windows Vista: C:\ProgramData\BOINC\ (this is a hidden directory)

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STEP 4.

When that doesn't work, try to uninstall BOINC through Add/Remove Programs. It's well possible you run into the same difficulties. In this case, make sure you exited BOINC completely (no parts of it running).

Go to Start->Search->All files and folders->type boinc.msi in the search option and click Search. All the BOINC.MSI files that can be found will be shown. Select them all and delete them.

Go to Start->Run->type regedit and click OK. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley and delete this key.

Then try to install the new BOINC. If you use different than default installation paths, make sure to change them again in the installer.

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When that doesn't work, or you continually have the following error: "Error: Configuration data for this product is corrupt", then follow these steps.

STEP 5 (Advanced Users -- Warning: We're going to edit the registry).

The next entry is for ADVANCED Users only. It will deal with using the registry and manually deleting entries there. If you do not feel at ease doing this, then do NOT do it! I will not take responsibility for you breaking your own Windows due to editing other keys than I told you to edit.

Also, make a backup of your registry prior to fiddling with it!

1. Open regedit by going to Start > Run and typing 'regedit'. Click OK.

1a. Alternatively on Windows Vista and 7, Start->type regedit in search->double click regedit.exe

2. Confirm that we're going to use regedit.

3. Click Edit in the top menu.

4. Click Find.

5. Type in BOINC.msi (with BOINC in capitals and msi in lower case) and click Find.

6. When an entry comes up in the registry, press Delete.

7. Confirm that you want to delete this key.

8. Press F3 to continue searching.

9. Repeat steps 6 to 8 until you see the message that you reached the end of the registry.

10. Exit regedit; File->Exit.

11. Reboot your computer.

12. Proceed with the install of BOINC.

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STEP 6 (Advanced users only).

The next entry is for ADVANCED Users only. It will deal with using the registry and manually deleting entries there. If you do not feel at ease doing this, then do NOT do it! I will not take responsibility for you breaking your own Windows due to deleting other keys than I told you to delete. Also, make a backup of your registry prior to fiddling with it!

We will try to manually delete all traces of BOINC.

Since BOINC will have made the separate BOINC (executable) and BOINC Data directories, it's easy to delete the BOINC directory that holds the executables. So just navigate to C:\Program Files\ for 64bit Windows or C:\Program Files (x86)\ for 32bit Windows and delete the BOINC directory.

We leave the BOINC Data directory in place as it holds all your project data.

The next thing to delete is the registry entries. Please be careful here, do not delete any other entries than the following two.

Go Start->Run and type regedit, then click OK. The registry editor will start up. First make a backup of it, by going File->Export.

Now we can delete entries that aren't needed anymore. In the left pane of the window you need to click on the + next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Next click on the + next to Software. Then look for the entry of Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley Click that one to select it, then press Delete on your keyboard.

Now we go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, click on its + to open it up. Click on the + next to Software. Look again for the entry of Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley Click it to select it, then press Delete on the keyboard.

Now go back to My Computer, top of the list in the left pane. Select My Computer, then go Edit->Search and fill in BOINC.msi, click OK. When it finds an entry, select the key in the left pane and click Delete.

Example given: It finds an entry at HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\(big number}\SourceList\PackageName it will have selected PackageName in the right pane. You will have to select the entry with the big number and then press Delete.

Now press F3 on the keyboard (continue search). Do the above for every entry of BOINC.MSI that it will find.

Close the registry editor with the X in the top right corner.

Next we'll search for old installation files of BOINC. You'd be surprised to see how many there are if you update regularly. Go Start->Search->All files and folders->type in boinc.msi and click Search.

In the right pane you'll get all the BOINC.msi files that are available on your system. When the search is done, select all of them and delete them.

That's it, BOINC is now off your system. You should reboot to make sure that the registry is read again. Then you can install your next BOINC.

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STEP 7, if we really don't know what to do anymore and we don't want to reformat.

When even that doesn't work, or your patience runs out.... There's one thing I can think of that will install BOINC no matter what. But you need to start the installation of BOINC from the command line.

NOTE: the following option is best not done with BOINC 6 or 7, due to the limited user accounts that need to be made for the client to run under. Warning: If you run BOINC 6 or 7, skip this step.

The next example is how to install BOINC 5.10.45 (32bit) regardless of what is in the directory.

Download Boinc 5.10.45 (32bit) and save it to somewhere easy to reach, like C:\ (just the root directory).

Then go Start->Run, type cmd and hit Enter. A command line window opens. In the window, type cd\ {Enter} (If the default drive isn't C:\, type C: {Enter}) Type boinc_5.10.45_windows_intelx86 /a {Enter} (there is a space between the executable and /a)

The installer should start. Make sure you do NOT write directly to the present BOINC directory though. What the /a command does is essentially unpack BOINC. So write it to a different directory. Let's assume C:\BOINC_Temp

When it's done, exit the command line window by pressing the X. Then navigate to the C:\BOINC_Temp directory. You see here that there are two directories made, one called Program Files and one called Windows.

The Windows directory contains the BOINC.scr file (screen saver). Copy this file to C:\Windows for Windows 98, SE, ME, XP or C:\WINNT for Windows NT or 2000.

The Program Files directory contains a sub-directory called BOINC. Copy this complete folder (or the contents of it) to your own BOINC directory. Click Yes to overwrite, or Overwrite all.

Done! You're updated. You can now delete the BOINC_Temp directory.

Original writer	Original FAQ	Date
Jorden	119	19-04-2007