Installation issues

Solution Details

If you are having issues with installation, start by disabling spam/virus protection software and local firewalls until after the installation.  Also, try running the installer by right-clicking on the installer executable file and choose "Run as administrator".  It may be necessary to log into your computer with an administrative account before installing software.
 
If you are having issues updating your software from within Altium Designer, try running the online installer from here:  
https://www.altium.com/products/downloads
 
Sometimes firewalls or routers blocking some of the installation traffic or other factors cause the online installer to fail.  This Knowledge Base article describes how to acquire the offline installer package, which is like having the installer on a set of floppy discs in a zipped file:
https://www.altium.com/documentation/knowledge-base/altium-designer/offline-installer
 
You may get some insight into the root cause of the issue by checking the Installation and other log files which can be found in C:\Users\Public\Documents\Altium\Logs.  There might be something helpful in the Windows Event Viewer.
 
Regarding these two errors:
 
System Error.  Code: 5.
Access denied
 

 
System Error.  Code: 2.
The system cannot find the file specified (usually in your Temp directory)
 

 
We get a handful of similar cases after a new release.  This is most likely caused by virus protection software such as Carbon Black.  Please turn off your virus/malware protection software before attempting the installation. 
 
In the past, after a new release, customers have said that when they tried again later in the week, after an anti-virus software update, the installer was able to finish without error and Altium Designer is working for them.  Sometimes re-booting is necessary for the virus scanning software to complete its update.  If updating virus protection doesn't happen or doesn't help, try adding the Altium Designer installer to the exclusion list for the Anti-virus software.  Here's a link for Carbon Black:
https://community.carbonblack.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/Carbon-Black-Cloud-How-to-Set-up-Exclusions-in-the-Carbon-Black/ta-p/42334

Our developers have worked with Carbon Black in the past, but it seems to be a recurring issue.  If you are using Carbon Black, it will probably be necessary to report the false positive to Carbon Black: 
https://community.carbonblack.com/t5/Knowledge-Base/All-Products-How-to-report-Malware-False-Positives-to-VMware/ta-p/101821

If you are using Windows Defender, please run the windows updater to install the latest Windows Defender update then try running the installer. If Windows updater doesn't find the update, try opening Windows "Virus & Threat Protection" and use the Check for Updates link under the Virus & Threat Protection Updates section.
 
If you can't get the Defender update for some reason, go to Settings, then go to Update & Security then Windows Security. Then click on "Open Windows Security" then click on "Virus & Thread protection". Then click on "Manage settings"
Then click on "Add or remove exclusions"
Then click on "Add an exclusion" and select folder. Select C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Temp and click "Select Folder".
Install Altium Designer
Please note that <UserName> should be name of user on the computer.
You should remove the exclusion after the installation is complete.
 
You can also try disabling Defender before running the installer then enabling it again after the installation is finished.
 
Several customers also reported that they were able to use the Offline installer without issue:
https://www.altium.com/documentation/knowledge-base/altium-designer/offline-installer

Uninstalling any partial install, re-booting, turning off your virus protection software (or at least updating the software to a newer version or adding the exclusion), then trying the installer again usually will resolve this issue.  Using the offline installer may be helpful in this situation.  (See the third paragraph at the top of this article.)
 
As a fallback option, your virus protection probably already knows about older versions of Altium Designer, so if this is holding you up, you can install a previous version.
 
If you have IT support, show them the system error code 2 message that indicates the file in the Temp folder can't be found. Also send them these suggestions. They should be able to go out and get an update to be installed, or add the exclusion, or they can turn off virus protection for you for the purpose of running the installer then turn it back on again.
 
If you have issues uninstalling, it is probably because the installation didn't finish properly. Here's our Knowledge Base article on uninstalling:
https://www.altium.com/documentation/knowledge-base/altium-designer/how-to-perform-a-thorough-uninstall

Regarding the error "Cannot patch":
Cannot patch...


This issue is usually resolved by using the offline installer.  (See the third paragraph at the top of this article.)

Regarding the error "Failed to create key"
Please see this Knowledge Base article:
https://www.altium.com/documentation/knowledge-base/altium-designer/failed-to-create-key
 
If your installation hangs during an Altium update, then you get an error like this one when launching Altium Designer after an update:


Install Altium Designer from our downloads page:
https://www.altium.com/products/downloads
...as a new install rather than an upgrade.  You may need to read this Knowledge Base article:
https://www.altium.com/documentation/knowledge-base/altium-designer/installing-multiple-instances-of-ad-versions

During the install and first launch, don't import preferences if asked. If Altium starts up and runs without error, you can then go to Preferences and use the Import From... button at the bottom to import preferences from your most recent previously installed version.


Some of the issues that cause a failure to launch may also affect installation, so please see this Knowledge Base article as well:
https://www.altium.com/documentation/knowledge-base/altium-designer/startup-issue-failure-to-launch-or-install

If you get this error:



Your network is probably blocking godaddy.com which is used to verify security certificates.  While you're waiting for that to get fixed, you can use the Offline installer.  (See the third paragraph at the top of this article.)

Also confirm that TLS 1.2 is enabled in your system using the following procedure:
(especially if you got this message, "the connection with the server has been reset" and won't let you connect or Error: EULA download has failed, setup cannot proceed. Error from appregistry.api.altium.com  Server SSL certificate is invalid.)

Press "Win+I" to launch the Windows Settings panel
Type "Internet Options" in the search bar
Launch the Internet Properties panel (Figure 1)
Click on the Advanced tab
Scroll down to the bottom of the list to find the "Security" section
Confirm "Use TLS 1.2" is enabled (Figure 2)


If you get:  “Error from appregistry.api.altium.com: Invalid UserName/Password combination. Do you want to retry? Yes/No”, try running the installer by right-clicking on the installer executable file and choose "Run as administrator".  It may be necessary to log into your computer with an administrative account before installing software.  Some customers have to obtain a special password for administrative access.