"The installer encountered error 1603" when installing Google Earth

Hi Rinus,

Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

As per the issue description you are getting error 1603 while installing Google earth on your system. You may receive this error message if any one of the following conditions is true:     

• The folder that you are trying to install the Windows Installer package to is encrypted.
• The drive that contains the folder that you are trying to install the Windows Installer package to is accessed as a substitute drive.
• The SYSTEM account does not have Full Control permissions on the folder that you are trying to install the Windows Installer package to. You notice the error message because the Windows Installer service uses the SYSTEM account to install software.

I would suggest you to try the steps provided below and see if it helps you to fix the issue.

Method 1:

I would suggest you to check if you have full permissions to the folder you are trying to install.

Follow the steps to give permissions to the folder:

Here are the steps to modify ownership and permissions of folders and files:

a.     Right-click the file or folder, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.

b.    Click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.

c.     Click Edit, and then do one of the following:

To change the owner to a user or group that is not listed, click Other users and groups and, in Enter the object name to select (examples), type the name of the user or group, and then click OK.

To change the owner to a user or group that is listed, in the Change owner to box, click the new owner.

d.    If you want to take ownership of the contents of the folder, select the Replace owner on sub containers and objects check box.

e.    Click OK, and then click Yes when you receive the following message:

          You do not have permission to read the contents of directory folder name. Do you want to replace the directory permissions with permissions granting you Full Control?

          All permissions will be replaced if you click Yes.

Note: folder name is the name of the folder that you want to take ownership of.

f.      Click OK, and then reapply the permissions and security settings that you want for the folder and its contents.

Additional considerations

   ·         An administrator can take ownership of any file on the computer.

   ·         Assigning ownership of a file or a folder might require you to elevate your permissions using User Access Control.

Method 2:

If issue persists, try to boot the computer in clean boot and disable security software temporarily then try to install Google earth as there could be a chance that some security software or some startup items is restricting it to get installed.

Step 1: Perform Clean boot.

Putting your system in Clean Boot state helps in identifying if any third party applications or startup items are causing the issue. You need to follow the steps from the article mentioned below to perform a Clean Boot.

How to perform a clean boot in Windows

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135/en-us

Note: Refer "How to reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting" to reset the computer to start as normal after troubleshooting.

Step 2: Disable Security software temporarily.

Note: Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn't disable your antivirus software. If you have to temporarily disable it to install other software, you should re-enable it as soon as you're done. If you're connected to the Internet or a network while your antivirus software is disabled, your computer is vulnerable to attacks.

Hope this would help. If issue still persists post back with current status of your computer and result of the proposed suggestion, we will be happy to assist you.

Regards,