Turbo Tax Deluxe 2021 Won't Install

[Red Wood]

At this point I'm beginning to wonder if literally anybody is able to install TurboTax 2021 on a Windows 10 PC without having to jump through all these hoops.  This has got to be the single worst installer for any ubiquitous mainstream software program I've ever encountered.  At what point is there a class action lawsuit to compensate users for all this wasted time?  Aren't developers who earn billions from an unsuspecting consumer market to be held accountable in situations like this?

[agbarnes]

I was able to view events log, but not sure what most of it means.  Thanks for the suggestion, but not sure what to do with this information.

[Carl]

If it was a problem with the TTX installer, there would be tens of thousands of posts about it by now. It's obvious to me it's either an issue with your operating system, or some other program installed on your operating system. Perhaps the event logs will help in finding and fixing the issue.

[Tax_Frenzy]

I had made a note of this error code after Intuit wanted to install this same software to take a look at my PC on when I called them in mid-December:

Extractor Create Process [C:\Users\A********** D*****\AppData\Local\Temp\GlanceGuest Setup - 4.17.1.19exe/SILENT/LOG] failed, error 193.

[DoninGA]

Using Windows 10 Version 10.0.19044

Installed TurboTax 2021 Premier for Windows from download with no issues.  Updated TurboTax to Version 021.000.0407 with no issues.

Running application as Administrator.

[agbarnes]

I installed H&R Block software on the same machine that is unable to install Turbotax 2021.  It installed quickly and easily.  No spending 5 minutes looking for updates every time you open it.  Worked great.  Significantly cheaper too.  It imports data from previous years Turbotax files.  I guess I'll see how it goes, but I am pretty sure I am done with Turbotax and Intuit forever.  Good luck all!

[Tax_Frenzy]

I agree with agbarnes. I see this as my golden opportunity to try one of the other available tax software products and say farewell to TurboTax and Intuit after 28 years of use.

This has been one of the worst and most time-consuming software fiascos that I can recall, in a very long time. Is it rocket science to ensure that your software installs quickly and easily on a state-of-the-art PC running the latest version of Windows 10?

Why should the end-user, who is already paying a more than reasonable price for this software, have to spend countless hours troubleshooting this issue when TurboTax Tech Support itself apparently has no idea how to solve it?

Time is money and that also includes my time, not just Intuit's.

[Red Wood]

Since I finally got my TT installed after wasting hours on the problem, I'm going to go ahead and use it this year, but I think it might be the last time.  Since other packages can import and use my old TT files I'm very likely to jump ship next year.

[rmcorporateuser73]

I installed Turbo Tax Business from a CD on my brand new Windows 10 computer but it continually hangs at the Activation page.   Just a blank dialog, no buttons, nothing.  Customer support was absolutely worthless.  First the automated voice system was incapable of understanding my email address.  I tried multiple times and it always got it wrong.  Finally after saying "AGENT" over and over it said it would connect me with an agent.  The agent finally answered and immediately hung up.  Neither of us got a chance to say a word.   I called back and went through the entire painful process again, it still couldn't get my email address right (because my email domain name is not a word and has to be spelled out).  Finally spoke with an agent who knew nothing.  Plus, the connection was so bad that only some of her words were recognizable.  I had to ask her to repeat just about every sentence.  Due to that poor connection SHE was unable to get my email address correct.  She was unable to even recognize that this was an issue for lots of people.   It has been an issue for years.  I am astonished.   She told me that I can't get support via email but I could use Chat however she couldn't tell me how to get to a Chat button.  Never have found anything but a phone number for support. 

I have been a software engineer for 30 years and know my way around a computer.     None of the "fixes" listed above worked for me.  I changed the location of the TEMP directory and rebooted, I disabled Microsoft Defender, I disabled MalwareBytes anti-virus software, I turned off my hardware firewall, --- NOTHING MADE ANY DIFFERENCE.   I have NEVER had to turn off anti-malware software to install some software.  Seems like that is a big clue that maybe you shouldn't install that software.   Last year I tried to use H&R Block software for my S corporation taxes and it failed miserably, couldn't read the prior year's data and couldn't do anything else.   H&R Block gave me a small discount on in-person tax prep due to the total failure of their software.  I thought perhaps TurboTax would be better but this software is junk.   I am returning it for refund. 

[Tax_Frenzy]

Don't quote me on this but I think the blank activation screen (no buttons, etc.) may be a known screen resolution issue.

I recall reading something about this some time ago. Changing the screen resolution apparently solves this for some users.

Try googling this for more info.

[rmcorporateuser73]

I tried a bunch of different screen resolution settings, including the lowest (800x600). No help.  Switched to the laptop screen (vs. an attached monitor)  but so far nothing makes any difference.   There is a post from TT that says it is a problem with the video card driver but mine is up to date.  I have the latest (11 generation) Intel CPU that has a built in video card and the Intel Driver and Support Assistant says "Your Intel® drivers and software are up to date." 

[MichelleLO]

Thank you for reporting this issue. We have escalated this experience for further investigation. 

@rmcorporateuser73

[jpete1966]

Bless YOU!  Thank you!   Thank you!   Thank you!   T  Thank you! Thank you!   Thank you!

I have tried everything I could find to do to my PC and nothing worked until YOU.

I can't thank you enough.  It finally worked after days of trials and almost giving up.

I am 72 and not a pc programmer, my pc is a 2016 w/ Windows 10. 

Thanks again. 

Bless ya.

[cksedg]

I have spent hours trying to install TurboTax 2021.  It just wouldn't install.  I was ready to throw my computer and tubotax out the window (kind of hard, since I'm in the basement)! But, changing the environment variables made it finally install.  Thanks so much for your great help!

[w-burnham]

Rip in Franklin's solution worked great! I was almost ready to just return TurboTax and use H&R Block or some other (less expensive) program this year --- after 8 years of using TT. I spent over an hour on the phone with the TT's No-Help-At-All line and the woman I dealt with didn't have a clue what to do. I didn't even have to shut off my antivirus or firewall.

Only question I have is -- does editing the environment variables in Windows 10 to C:\TEMP have any effect on other things? I guess I should have taken a screen shot of what was there before. But I did do a full backup and create a disk image before I did anything.

Should I change the environmental variables back now?

Bill