Why do I receive a message stating "Error finding installer class" when trying to install MATLAB on Windows?

After starting the installation, I receive the following error message:

Error finding installer class

This error may also manifest as:

Invalid disk

Cannot find appropriate setup.exe file.

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

There are several circumstances which may cause this error:

• Non-ASCII characters (e.g. !@#$&^?) are present in the path to the MATLAB installation folder, or the name of the folder itself
• Non-ASCII characters are present in the path to the Windows TEMP folder, the name of the TEMP folder itself, or the values of the TEMP and/or TMP environment variables
• Non-ASCII characters are present in the path to the folder containing the MATLAB installer, or the name of the folder itself
• There is a problem with the installation files (damaged DVD, corrupt or incomplete downloads)
• MATLAB is already installed and you are running the setup.exe from the installation folder/directory

To resolve this issue:

Verify that the MATLAB installer is in a folder that contains ASCII characters only, and/or move the folder to the root of your C drive.

If the installer launches, verify that you are installing MATLAB into a folder with ASCII characters only.

Verify that the Windows TEMP and TMP environment variables contain ASCII characters only.

Windows 7:

1. Right click on “Computer” and select “Properties”
2. Click on “Advanced Settings” on the left side
3. Click “Yes” if User Account Control prompt asks “Allow changes”)
4. Click on the “Environment Variables” button (bottom)

Windows 8.1:

1. Right click on “This PC” and select “Properties”
2. Click on “Advanced Settings” on the left side
3. Click “Yes” if User Account Control prompt asks “Allow changes”)
4. Click on the “Environment Variables” button (bottom)

Windows 10:

1. Type “environment variable” into the search field and select “Edit the system environment variables” to open System Properties
2. Click “Yes” if User Account Control prompt asks “Allow changes”)
3. Click “Environment Variables” button (bottom)

Check the TMP and TEMP variables under both System and User. If the variable is set to a value between percent signs (e.g. %TMP%) or to a path containing only ASCII characters, then the variable does not need to be modified.

If either of the variables are set to values that contain non-ASCII characters (e.g. !@#$&^?), the variables must be modified. To do so, double click on the variable or highlight it and choose “Edit”.

After modifying variables, restart the computer and try running the MATLAB installer again.

Run the MATLAB installer in Windows Safe mode.

If the installation folder and the TEMP/TMP folders all contain only ASCII characters, try running the MATLAB installer in Windows Safe Mode with networking. To boot your computer into safe mode, follow the steps below.

Windows 7:

1. Open the Start menu
2. Type msconfig and press enter
3. Click on the tab labeled “Boot”
4. Check the box labeled “Safe boot”
5. Click the button labeled “Network”
6. Restart your computer

Windows 8.1:

1. Press the “Start” button
2. Right click on the power button in the lower right
3. Hold shift and click on “Restart”
4. Click on “Troubleshoot”
5. Click on “Advanced options”
6. Click on “Windows Startup Settings”
7. Click on “Restart”
8. After your computer restarts, enter the number “5”

Windows 10:

1. Open the Start menu
2. Click “Power”
3. Hold shift and click on “Restart”
4. Click on “Troubleshoot”
5. Click on “Advanced options”
6. Click on “Windows Startup Settings”
7. Click on “Restart”
8. After your computer restarts, enter the number “5”

Use different installation files

If the installer does not work after the workarounds above, the installer may be corrupt. Redownload the installation files from the MathWorks website and clear the installer’s download cache by deleting the “MathWorks” folder in your “Downloads” folder.

[Walter Roberson]

Anywhere on C: such as your downloads directory.

[Walter Roberson]

https://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/3-ways-to-change-user-account-name-in-windows-10.html might help. I do not know if the methods there rename the directory, though.

Answer 2

[Peter Mortensen]

We had the same issue... We got the message as attached. First we checked the Enviromental Variables and found that there were not used any signs in the text like !@ and so on. So that was NOT the issue in our case.

Downloading the file and running it from the "Downloads" folder on Windows computer turned out to be the reason for this error warning. We simply dragged the "_temp_matlab_R2016a_win64" into the root folder "C:\Program Files" and tried to run the program through the "C:\Program Files\_temp_matlab_R2016a_win64\setup.exe" file within the folder.

This made it and we got into the installation process.

The installation process will take quite a while. It will download and install each function seperately, and currently we are at 20% of downloading MATLAB Compiler... So expect some time - turn on the TV and make a cup of coffee while you wait. This is way further than we got previosuly and expect it to work fully..

Good luck to you all out there :)

Answer 3

[S.Hassan Al-Mosawi]

Do like this video I was facing same problem.

"Error finding installer class" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTRTffiAZFc

[Adi Nor]

Thank you .. The problem is solved by following the steps provided by this video