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.

[Krzysztof]

Also happens when the installer itself is in such a folder.

[Alex]

Thank you for the feedback Krzysztof. We've updated the Answer to include the information about the installer folder as well.

[Krzysztof]

You have added the reason but no remedy. I know it is obvious, but still…

[Sanket]

I am getting following error while installing Matlab R2012a

Error finding installer class. An exception occurred while looking for class.

I have installed Windows 8.1 on my PC, previously matlab was working fine on Windows 7.

I have tried the method of checking the TMP and TEMP variables under both System and User variables, I have set them to C:\WINDOWS\TEMP. I have tried to install Matlab in safe mode, but the error is still coming.

[Krzysztof]

Still happens in R2014a.

[Scott]

Hello Krzysztof,

In MATLAB R2014a the error message has been updated to read "You have entered an invalid folder name. Folder names cannot contain non-English characters." As long as you are installing MATLAB into a folder which does not contain characters from a non-Latin alphabet, you shouldn't encounter this error.

Thanks,

-Scott

[Laura]

Hello Scott,

I also tried to install MATLAB R2014a and had the "Error finding installer class" not the one you said. I tried changing the TEMP and TMP variables and to install the product on safe mode but neither worked. I contacted the installation support and I hope they helped me.

[Scott]

Hi Laura,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have successfully reproduced this issue and submitted a bug report to the developers.

-Scott

[Ramon Quesnay]

Thanks to MathWorks Support Team, your answer solved my installing problem.

[Sébastien MAILFERT]

I copied the installer into the C:\ hard drive: this solved my problem. Thanks.

[Anton Polishchuk]

TY, Sёbastien, your answer helped me !!

[Kevin Dupraz]

Same for me, just copied the file into C:/programfiles/Matlab and it worked.

Thank you.

[Marcos Vinícius]

Sébastien MAILFERT The same happened for me. Thanks for the helpful answer

[Emil Traidl]

It also worked for me when I copied the installer into the C:\

Thank you Sébastien

[Nikos Petikidis]

yes in the end it was that simple... thank you guys

[Tomás Nunes]

Did you guys just copied it to the C:\ or to a specific folder within C:\? It's not working for me..

[Walter Roberson]

Anywhere on C: such as your downloads directory.

[Andre Almeida]

Thanks for the answer. The problem for me is that my username had this "é" in it. I solved it by moving the Matlab temp folder to c:\Program Files and running the setup from there. Not the perfect solution, but it works. If any of you know how to change your username (in the Windows paths as well) in Windows 10 please tag me! Thanks!

[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 :)

[Gokce Tulunay]

Finally, the error is gone. Thank you!

[Edmond Venables]

How do you find _temp_matlab_R2016a_win64 ?

[Beatriz Pires]

thank you, your answer was really helpful

[Norbert Andrásik]

Thank you! It works!

Answer 3

[Andre]

Hi,

the autoinstaller extracts into a Directory starting with "./_temp", ie. it tries to create an install Directory at the current directory. To me it seems that it doesn't look after the environment variables. You can copy the downloaded installer into eg. c:\Temp and then start a command prompt Switch to c:\Temp and run the installer from within the command prompt window. This will extract the temporary files and run the installer in GUI mode and works flawlessly.

Cheers

[KMottie]

I can confirm this works on the R2014b installer with the same error. Copied into C:\Windows\Temp, ran the installer with a Command Prompt with administrator rights and it worked.

Best,

Mottie

[sofia rodriguez]

I was also having this problem. Finally tried out this solution, and it worked. Thanks!

[Jesus Villero]

It worked out for me too! Thank you!

[Renato Costa]

Same problem here. Very frustrating and disappointing. The whole problem seems to be a BUG in the installer, which is not reading the Window's TEMP variable correctly. Moving manually the downloaded install file to the C:\TEMP, and running from there, should resolve. It worked for me. PS: the installer downloads files to the C:\Users\user_name\Downloads folder, not TEMP!! Go figure ...

[Leopold Seifert]

This hint really works out perfectly, i was loosing patience after i tried it for about an hour

[David Galé]

Very good idea the fact of moving the extracted folder (_temp_matlab_R2016b_win64) to C:\Windows\Temp. It works correctly.

[Paula Jimenez]

Thank you!!

Answer 4

[João Sarabando]

Hello, I`ve already tried all the solutions and they didn`t work. I`m trying to install r2015 in windows 8.1 64bits. Can anyone please help me?

[Shawn Lyons]

@João Sarabando

MATLAB Central is not regularly monitored for support questions, please contact MathWorks support for assistance.

http://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us/

-Shawn

MathWorks Support

Answer 5

[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

Answer 6

[Jaeho]

Hello Thanks for the recommendations. I just moved the directory installation files to TEMP and my installation is running. Emerson Brandao

[Edmond Venables]

Can you tell me how to do that?

Answer 7

[Manuel Lopez]

Thank you!!

Answer 8

[Andre Beaulieu]

I succeeded by saving the download on the computer and then by moving the saved directory in the c:. Finally I double clicked on Setup and EUREKA !

Answer 9

[Artem Nikiforov]

Hello, people. Nothing works. I do not know what to do.

<<

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[Kyle Perry]

Hi Artem,

Based on your screenshot, this may be happening because of Non-Latin characters in your username. If you move the installer to the root of your C: drive you should be able to work around this issue.

Answer 10

[Balint Szili]

The installer should be updated, I have accents in my user name, and therefore in the standard path, too.

Answer 11

[Muaaz Tariq]

I have tried all the mentioned solutions, but I am still getting the same error on 2015 Matlab installtion. Any other solution?

Answer 12

[Riyadh Alqamati]

Place the file in the disk (c or d) where the operating system is located, then run it

[Sofia Pelica]

It worked for me. Thanks

Answer 13

[Juan Martin Maffi]

Hello everyone,

I am still having this problem and have tried all suggested solutions. Do you have any other ideas? I am installing Matlab R2018a on a Win 7 x64.

Many thanks

[Walter Roberson]

At this point you should contact Mathworks for free installation support.

Answer 14

[Utsha Sen]

Hey there, My problem is quite different from everyone. I've installed it correctly & was working with it. But I was facing issues while adding on toolboxes. so I decideemd to uninstall it. But it ain't uninstalling. I've tried several times, but its giving me the same error messege "Error Finding Class". Help me out please!

[Colin Fraser]

I'd recommend you take a look at this article.

https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/92244-how-do-i-uninstall-matlab-on-windows-when-the-uninstaller-fails

If you are still experiencing this issue, please create a service request below.

https://www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us.html

-Colin Fraser