Epic Games launcher not installing

[jkx262]

Been having trouble trying to install the launcher. I just get the error "The older version of Epic Games Launcher cannot be removed."

I've deleted local files and gone into the registry already. Tried using the Microsoft install/uninstall tool and other programs to look for the problem. Nothing shows up in those. I had it installed on my old HDD that went to crap. It tries to install to disk 0 which is the one I have now. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[Barty1884]

There should be no need to touch the registry.

Do you have any leftover files here:
C:\Users\[profile]\AppData\Local\EpicGamesLauncher

If so, delete them.


I have heard of a workaround, changing drive letters - but haven't tried it myself, so would hesitate to recommend.

 

[jkx262]

There should be no need to touch the registry.

Do you have any leftover files here:
C:\Users\[profile]\AppData\Local\EpicGamesLauncher

If so, delete them.


I have heard of a workaround, changing drive letters - but haven't tried it myself, so would hesitate to recommend.

Deleted the leftover files already. I can't change the drive letter from C to 0. It's just trying to install to disk "0" and won't let me choose a location.

 

[Barty1884]

At the point of install, you can't redirect it to a D drive or anything?

 

[jkx262]

At the point of install, you can't redirect it to a D drive or anything?

Nope, It just shows this.
https://gyazo.com/0a8cf8a1a7d1537d019ffb74cc3b73c0

 

[Barty1884]

That doesn't look right. I don't know what causes that, unfortunately. I'll see if I can get some second opinions.

 

[jkx262]

Thank you

 

[gardenman]

Hi, I've seen a similar problem before but it was a while back and some things have changed since then. Read the last 2 messages here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3707379/issues-uninstalling.html The person had installed the same launcher to another drive and that drive was removed. He could not install it back to drive C because the installation program wanted to install it to the old location.

You would want to make a registry backup and probably a restore point before trying anything like that. More backup info can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/322756/how-to-back-up-and-restore-the-registry-in-windows

Also I think the registry location has changed. I think it's now located at:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{0E63B233-DC24-442C-BD38-0B91D90FEC5B}

I tried to replicate your problem but it doesn't say "0" for me no matter what I try. I don't think it means "disk 0", I think it means the old installation path cannot be found.

I'm not sure if that will help or not. If you try anything with the registry make the backup first and know how to restore it if needed. Good luck.

 

[jkx262]

Hi, I've seen a similar problem before but it was a while back and some things have changed since then. Read the last 2 messages here: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-3707379/issues-uninstalling.html The person had installed the same launcher to another drive and that drive was removed. He could not install it back to drive C because the installation program wanted to install it to the old location.

You would want to make a registry backup and probably a restore point before trying anything like that. More backup info can be found here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/322756/how-to-back-up-and-restore-the-registry-in-windows

Also I think the registry location has changed. I think it's now located at:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{0E63B233-DC24-442C-BD38-0B91D90FEC5B}

I tried to replicate your problem but it doesn't say "0" for me no matter what I try. I don't think it means "disk 0", I think it means the old installation path cannot be found.

I'm not sure if that will help or not. If you try anything with the registry make the backup first and know how to restore it if needed. Good luck.

I searched the registry for both of those and neither are in it. If you have any other ideas I would be happy to try anything. Thank you for the help so far.

 

[gardenman]

I searched the registry for both of those and neither are in it. If you have any other ideas I would be happy to try anything. Thank you for the help so far.

If I could reproduce the same problem on my test machine then I might be able to figure out how to fix it. That's what I did in the other thread. The problem is, I can't. I don't know how you got to this point. Even if you explained what all you've done (such as installed to drive D, removed drive D, ran CCleaner registry cleaner, removed this and that registry entry), I still may not be able to reproduce the same problem on my system.

Is the launcher still listed in Control Panel / Programs & Features? It's likely this will only show up if it is still listed in the Programs & Features. Go to:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
and look through each of the subkeys until you find the one with the DisplayName of "Epic Games Launcher". Take a screen shot of that and post it (be sure there's no private info in the screen shot).

Maybe the Microsoft Installer is corrupt or has other problems. Click Start / Run and type in msiexec and press OK. Do you get any errors? For me it just shows a Window listing all of the possible parameters.
Reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2438651/how-to-troubleshoot-windows-installer-errors
Quote: "If the MSI engine is working, you should not receive any error messages."
There's also a link to a troubleshooter from that page:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed
Go there and click the Download button then choose "Open". It will pop up the troubleshooter.

By the way, I'm using "EpicInstaller-7.16.0-fortnite.msi" to test with on my test system. I'm assuming that's what you are using since Fortnite seems to be pretty popular these days. The ".msi" part of the filename means it's a Microsoft Installer setup. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer

We both are using version 1.1.167.0 of the installer. Screen shot of how it looks on my system:
https://i.postimg.cc/CLcWqQxP/ss1.jpg
And the registry entry that I hope you can find:
https://i.postimg.cc/vHT0pHGh/ss2.jpg

 

[jkx262]

I searched the registry for both of those and neither are in it. If you have any other ideas I would be happy to try anything. Thank you for the help so far.

If I could reproduce the same problem on my test machine then I might be able to figure out how to fix it. That's what I did in the other thread. The problem is, I can't. I don't know how you got to this point. Even if you explained what all you've done (such as installed to drive D, removed drive D, ran CCleaner registry cleaner, removed this and that registry entry), I still may not be able to reproduce the same problem on my system.

Is the launcher still listed in Control Panel / Programs & Features? It's likely this will only show up if it is still listed in the Programs & Features. Go to:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
and look through each of the subkeys until you find the one with the DisplayName of "Epic Games Launcher". Take a screen shot of that and post it (be sure there's no private info in the screen shot).

Maybe the Microsoft Installer is corrupt or has other problems. Click Start / Run and type in msiexec and press OK. Do you get any errors? For me it just shows a Window listing all of the possible parameters.
Reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2438651/how-to-troubleshoot-windows-installer-errors
Quote: "If the MSI engine is working, you should not receive any error messages."
There's also a link to a troubleshooter from that page:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17588/fix-problems-that-block-programs-from-being-installed-or-removed
Go there and click the Download button then choose "Open". It will pop up the troubleshooter.

By the way, I'm using "EpicInstaller-7.16.0-fortnite.msi" to test with on my test system. I'm assuming that's what you are using since Fortnite seems to be pretty popular these days. The ".msi" part of the filename means it's a Microsoft Installer setup. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer

We both are using version 1.1.167.0 of the installer. Screen shot of how it looks on my system:
https://i.postimg.cc/CLcWqQxP/ss1.jpg
And the registry entry that I hope you can find:
https://i.postimg.cc/vHT0pHGh/ss2.jpg

Okay it's fixed finally! I used to Microsoft troubleshooter for installing/uninstalling. There was nothing in the registry so I figured I would give the troubleshooter another shot. The name wasn't listed under it but I just clicked on one of the three that say "Name not available" and fixed them. I guess one of them was the problem I'm able to download the launcher now. Thank you everyone for the help!

 

[BaroqueBB]

I just wanna say thank you. I've scoured the internet for some time now looking for a fix for this exact problem. I tried that troubleshooter and lo and behold there were the three "Name not available" applications. I uninstalled them and it worked like a charm. I don't know what causes that issue, but I'm glad to have finally found a fix.