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Error 1603: "A fatal error occurred during installation or updating"

Updated: 11/19/2009
Article ID: 5093

Error 1603 occurs when installing or updating TurboTax:

A fatal error occurred during installation or updating.

Possible Causes

  • An anti-virus, anti-malware, firewall, desktop search or backup program is interfering with Windows Installer.
  • You don't have enough free space on your hard disk(s).
  • You're not logged in as an administrator.
  • An unknown Microsoft Installer error occurred.

Important: If error 1603 occurs when updating TurboTax, your best bet is to download and install a manual update (search for "manual update" in the Search field above). If error 1603 occurs when installing TurboTax, try the solutions below.

 

Solution

Follow these steps:

  1. Log in as a computer administrator.
  2. Exit all running programs and close browser windows.
  3. Temporarily turn off anti-virus, anti-malware, firewall, desktop search or backup programs you've installed.
  4. Update TurboTax.

If the error occurs again, restart your computer, and then repeat the steps above.

Still having problems?

Try downloading the Windows Installer.

Error 1603 when installing Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1

We're investigating a solution to this issue. Please click here to sign up so we can contact you once a solution is available.


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