Two installation tips for Windows 7 x64: Skype and Adobe Master Collection

Welcome June! Today is time to share two installation tips for common software products you might also be using on daily basis. Both the following tips apply to the following environment: Windows Server 2008 R2 running Active Directory, and a domain member workstation running Windows 7 x64. Also, local documents (i.e. those usually on the C: drive) have been relocated to a network drive.

Firstly, there's Skype, your trusty online messaging and conferencing solution, now owned by Microsoft. Whe you try to install Skype onto a computer that has documents re-mapeed to a network drive, you will encounter an installation error 1603. Other people have seen the same error, too.

The fix? Start a command prompt in elevated mode (as an administrator), and make sure you map the network drive to the same drive letter as you normally have. Then, launch Skype setup from that same command prompt.

Secondly, there's Adobe's Creative Suite (in my case, Master Collection CS5). Adobe's installation program does not like domain computers where you are not logged in with the Administrator account to the computer where you are installing the product. If you don't, you will get an installation exit code 7, and lots of errors and warnings similar to this: "WARNING: Payload cannot be installed due to dependent operation failure".

The fix? Log in to your computer as the Administrator (of your domain), and then install. Note that this is different from having administrator rights on your computer. Adobe insists you install with the Administrator account, it is not a permission issue. Instead, it's what I call sloppy programming.