Last week while installing an application, I got an error – The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation. The application installation failed, and I wasn’t sure what polices were preventing the installation.
On my Windows 10 virtual machine, I got this error when I was installing a software that was a .msi installer. The installer wasn’t corrupt, and I downloaded the installer again, but I got the same error.
First of all check if the antivirus is blocking the installation. This could occur because some antivirus software programs set very strict rule when it comes to installing applications. Therefore, temporarily disable the antivirus software running on the computer and check if you can install the software.
In my case, my initial suspect was an antivirus that could prevent this installation but no, it wasn’t the antivirus. Furthermore, the .msi installer was downloaded from a trusted source and I also made sure that UAC was off.
If you are also experiencing the same error, then I hope the steps mentioned in this post will surely help you.
The system administrator has set policies error can also be encountered while installing VMware Tools on Windows computer.
According to VMware KB, this error may occur twice if you are logged in twice as the same user on system. For example, you may see this error twice if you are logged in locally from the console and logged in through a Remote Terminal Service session.
In my case, I resolved this issue by enabling the Windows installer setting in the Windows Software Restriction Policy. In addition to that I also created a new software restriction policy and applied it to All users except local administrators.
System administrator has set policies to prevent installation
To fix the error System administrator has set policies to prevent this installation:
- Login to the system with an administrator account.
- Click Start > Run. Enter gpedit.msc.
- This brings up the Local Group Policy Editor.
- Expand Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Installer.
- On the right pane edit the policy setting – Turn off Windows Installer.
On the Turn off Windows Installer setting box, click Enabled. Under Options > Disable Windows Installer – Click the drop-down and select Never.
Click Apply and OK.
In the group policy editor, expand Windows Settings > Security Settings > Software Restriction Policies. Right click Software Restriction Policies and click New Software Restriction Policies.
On the right pane, right click Enforcement and click Properties. In the Enforcement properties box, look for Apply software restriction policies to the following users.
Select All users except local administrators. Click OK.
Close the group policy editor.
Launch the command prompt as administrator and run gpupdate /force. Finally once the policy gets updated, re-run the installer.
In my case after performing the above steps, I did not see the error again.
Fix System administrator has set policies – Registry Method
To fix “The System administrator has set policies to prevent this installation” error by tweaking the registry.
Here are steps for editing the registry:
- Click Start > Run and type regedit and click OK. This opens the registry editor.
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer.
- Right click DisableMSI and click Modify. Change the value to 0.
- Close the Registry Editor.
- Log off and login back to the machine.
Note: If you are running Windows operating systems that are Home versions, the Group Policy Editor is not available.
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