TurboTax

File with experts
File your taxes
Experts at your fingertips

An expert helps with your taxes, or does them for you
TurboTax Expert Full Service

TurboTax Expert Assist

TurboTax Self-Employed
Prior year taxes
File myself
File myself
Do it yourself

We'll guide you step-by-step
TurboTax Do It Yourself

TurboTax Self-Employed

TurboTax Desktop
TurboTax Free

Activate your product

Prior year taxes
Business
Business
Business taxes

Get your T2 corporate return done right, your way
TurboTax Business

TurboTax Business Desktop
Tax situations
Tax situations
Tax situations

Find extra guidance for your big life moves
For investors

For 25 and younger

For self-employed

For new to Canada

For life changes
Resources
Resources
Resources

Explore tax tools, get tips, and read reviews
Personal income tax calculator

RRSP savings calculator

Learning hub

TurboTax support (FAQ)

TurboTax community
Pricing

Level 1

Question

How do I fix Microsoft Installer Error 1603?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 20, 2021
8 replies
20 views

I can't open turbotax premier 2020 on a Windows 10 laptop with the business edition of Windows 10. On the update page, I get "Microsoft installer error 1603." Even though I manually updated turbotax successfully, turbotax won't open because the update page appears and shows the "microsoft installer error 1603" again. I've tried disabling my antivirus, and that didn't work. I've used turbotax for many years and never had this problem. How do I fix this?

TurboTax Online

DoninGA

Level 15

If you have the 2020 Premier edition and the 2020 Business edition installed on the same computer, restart your computer. After restart the error should be eliminated.

hnshipman-01

Level 2

Restarting the computer was not any help.

hnshipman-01

Level 2

I have tried everything that I can find on the website. I have signed in as Administrator, I have the Firewall/virus protection turned off, I looked for .NET Microsoft errors, I did a manual download of the update and installation seemed to go through, but when I try to open the Turbotax program, it asks for updates, and I get the same Microsoft installer error: 1603; so, I cannot open the program. I need to speak with a real customer AGENT!!

Frustrated more

Level 2

OBVIOUSLY 1603 error is a problem. For intuit to TOTALLY ignore the problem and force us all to uninstall and reinstall repeatedly is offensive.

I have used Turbo Tax forever. Next year it will be some other tax software. I am sure I will not be alone.

iN-Tu-IT-09

Level 2

I posted this in spring of 2021 for filing for the 2020 tax year. Yes, TurboTax had a software problem that year. As I remember, I was able to get to tech support and the woman had the solution that once implemented (it took about five minutes) enabled me to send off my return.

I used TurboTax for 2021 taxes this spring. Everything worked fine. I favor TurboTax because their plug-ins to stock brokerages and other financial institutions work really well, saving me hours of time and lots of money on tax advisors. And they did fix that problem last year. Stuff happens, even for the big companies. Software is intensely complicated stuff, especially when everything has to be secure against brilliant hackers at home and esp. those in other countries who work full time trying to steal dough through hacking.

DMcK

F_lrf_4209

Level 2

How do I

CarissaM

Level 15

You are commenting on an older thread. What are you wanting to do exactly? @F_lrf_4209

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post. **Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

ty77

Level 3

TT has an artiucle which has 2 possible solutions: https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/taxes/discussion/when-trying-to-update-i-get-the-error-mes[product key removed]ng-to-file-1040-22-xxxxxx-rbf-has-anyone/01/2875104#M1049080

However, neither of them fixed my issue. Although TT has successfully updated at least 3 times since it was installed, it started the 1603 error today. Then I remembered I had the same issue last year, and remembered how I fixed it. Here is what I found.

I typically don't install programs to my C drive. Instead I install them on a spearate drive(partition). That separate drive has full admin rights, so installing TT there should have full rights. I solved it last year and this year both by unistalling TT, and re-installing. But on the rinstall, I did not chagne the install location. Maybe it was simply the inistall and reinstall process that resolved it and not the changing of hte location. But it took only a few minutes to do vs. the time to research and try other things. I guess Ill have to wait until 2023 install to see if it is hte location causing hte issue.

wataxpayer

Level 2

This same problem happens to me year after year. It installs and updates just fine the first time. Then when I save my tax return and come back at a later date, it will try to update again, and lo and behold, it produces a 1603 error without fail.

It appears that once installed, it cannot update successfully more than once. I've tried all the measures listed on Intuit's website. Run as admin? Check. Update .NET framework? Check. Disable firewall? Check. Disable anti-virus? Check. Which is a rather ridiculous solution to propose. I mean, if you were writing a piece of malware that couldn't get past anti-virus software, just put up a dialog with an error #1603 and tell the user to disable the anti-virus software. But I digress...

The ONLY thing that works for me is:

Uninstall Turbo Tax
Reboot
Reinstall Turbo Tax and let it update
Complete and file my tax return

I don't need to make ANY other changes. However, after this has been done, I have to ensure I don't do anything that causes the updater runs again because the updater appears to never work more than once. If I save my tax return and re-open it the next day, the updater will try to run again, and I have to repeat the above steps.

My guess is that TurboTax probably considers it a Microsoft installer issue. However, this is the only program where I experience this problem, and it can't be the only program that uses Microsoft's installer. All others where I do experience an installer issue are fixed with a reboot. TurboTax, for some reason, requires an uninstall and reinstall.

For me, this is the only serious flaw in an otherwise dependable piece of software, so I continue to use it. I really wish Intuit would fix it. Heck, I'd be willing to test it this scenario for them on my computer if it would help fix it.

NCCC

Level 2

Good Solution.

Tried "manual download of TurboTax updates - did not work

Tried to edit TurboTax Program Files "Allow" in all associated sub-files - did not work

Finally uninstalled _ reboot _ reinstalled TurboTax:

All prior data was correct after through check

Filed Federal and State

SForrestLO

Level 11

Please see this Turbo Tax help article for assistance with this error.
Error 1603: "A fatal error occurred during installation or updating"

@balerm

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post. **Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

lakebluffmoe1

Level 2

I've downloaded the patch and TurboTax says it was updated. But when I sign on again I get the same messages.

MoniqueLO_

Level 10

Please feel free to contact Customer Support so you can speak with a TurboTax representative who can assist you.

@lakebluffmoe1

dillygafjim

Level 2

I having same problem as others. I succesfully downloaded the update manuallybut When i try to TurboTax I get the "update message and the error.

SForrestLO

Level 11

Please see this Turbo Tax help article for assistance with this error.
Error 1603: "A fatal error occurred during installation or updating"
@dillygafjim

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post. **Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

DaveInSunnyvale

Level 2

HERE IS WHAT WORKED FOR ME. (This problem happened on one of my (Windows10) PC's but not the other.)

I ran a free program that repaired the permissions on my Program Files directories and Registry. The program is from Tweaking.com, the Windows Repair program (free). There a great youtube that explains how to run it. (Hint: You are looking for the "Presets: Permission Only" button.) Run it using the default settings, reboot, and (for me) the "Error 1603" installation problem stopped.

That might be enough. For me, after the above, I was worried that my original install might be messed up, so I...

Uninstalled TurboTax2022
Installed it again as Administrator (right-click on the install file and select "run as administrator")
Ran TurboTax itself as Administrator (right-click, "run as administrator").

The initial update ran successfully, and after that, TurboTax ran perfectly every time.

I did not need to bring up SafeMode, turn off my virus software, etc.

(I then uninstalled Windows Repair - I no longer needed it.)

I hope this helps others.