Error 5, Access is Denied while installing software on Windows 11

If while installing new software on Windows, you receive Error 5, Access is Denied message, this article may help you in troubleshooting and fixing the Windows Installer Access Denied error. This is one of the most common errors we get when we try to install any application on Windows 11/10. We may get to see this error message for a few reasons.

What causes System Error 5, Access is Denied in Windows?

It’s very common to encounter System Error 5 on a Windows PC. The error message indicates that you don’t have the administrative rights to run a command in Command Prompt. Multiple reasons can trigger the problem, but the most common ones are listed below.

1. You will face the error message if your system shows an incorrect date and time.
2. System error 5 messages cannot occur if you are trying to access a disabled account. They can also happen if the account isn’t present in a particular domain name.
3. The error message will occur if you try to access a restricted remote computer.

Access is Denied, Error 5 while installing software

In this article, we’ll discuss a few tips to resolve this problem.

1. Sign in as Admin and Run setup as Admin
2. Temporarily disable UAC
3. Temporarily disable security software
4. Take ownership of the Installer folder
5. Run the installation in Clean Boot State
6. Use built-in administrator account.

1] Sign in as Admin and Run setup as Admin

One of the common reasons is the lack of administration rights. If you are logged in as a Standard user, the installation will give you this error. So make sure you’re logged in as a Local Administrator. When I mean Local administrator, I mean to say that you need to log in as Local administrator – not Domain administrator. Because even if you are a Domain administrator, sometimes Domain policies will restrict access to certain locations. For instance, if you are installing Microsoft SQL Server, it’s highly recommended that you ensure that you are logged into the machine as a Local administrator; otherwise, you might get a lot of error messages including Microsoft SQL Service Fails to start.

2] Temporarily disable UAC

The other most common reason is User Account Control (UAC). Sometimes, UAC restricts access to certain file or registry locations. The best practice is to always right-click on the setup and click on “Run as administrator.” By doing so, the setup will be elevated with full administrator rights. In some cases, however, we may need to disable UAC temporarily until you finish the installation.

To do so, go to Start under search type in “UAC”.

Click on “Change User Account Control settings”.

Make sure you drag the bar all the way to “Never Notify” then click OK and reboot the system and try to install it again. Do remember to change back the UAC settings, after you have completed the installation.

3] Temporarily disable security software

If it does not help, you may next try to disable your security software – because this software can be very tricky sometimes. It may restrict access to a specific path or specific registry location. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to find it out. So it’s better to disable the security software completely and then try to install the software. Again, do remember to re-enable your security software, once your installation completes successfully.

Similar error: System error 5 has occurred, Access is denied appears when running a command in the Command Prompt.

4] Run the installation in Clean Boot State

Run the installation in Clean Boot State and see.

Related error: Unable to execute file in temporary directory, Error 5, Access Is Denied

5] Take ownership of the Installer folder

There are some common locations where sometimes we are denied permission. So far, the locations I have seen are Temp and Installer folder.

So go to C:\Windows\Installer and %temp% and Take Ownership of these folders. Then try again.

6] Use built-in administrator account

The last steps you could try is to enable the built-in administrator account:

To do this, click the Windows Start button and type in CMD.

Right-click on CMD, click on Run as administrator and execute the following command:

net user administrator /active:yes

You will get a message “Command ran successfully”.

Next, execute the following command:

net user administrator <Password>

Please replace the <Password> tag with your passwords, which you want to set to an administrator account.

To disable the administrator account, you will have to use:

net user administrator /active:no

Now install the software via this account and see.

Related read: Windows Installer Service could not be accessed or started.

How to open an encrypted file if Access is Denied may also interest you.