The folder path contains an invalid character.

This error can occur for the following reasons:

1. On Windows 95, 98, or ME, your user profile contains an invalid character, such as a slash "/".
2. Your CD-ROM drive uses a real mode (16-bit) driver.

1. User Profile Contains an Invalid Character
2. On Windows 95, 98, or ME, your user profile may contain an invalid character. Determine if your user profile contains an invalid character by navigating to C:\Windows\Profiles\Your Profile, where Your Profile is the name of your user profile, such as James Jones. If your profile contains characters, such as "/", for example, James/Jones, your profile may be damaged. Windows should not allow you to create a user name with invalid characters.
3. There are two possible fixes: You can turn off user profiles and then run the installation or you can install the software under a different user profile. Turning off user profiles installs the software for all users of the computer. Installing the software under a different profile may install the software for only that profile.
4. To turn off user profiles, follow these steps:
   1. Select Start > Settings > Control Panel.
   2. Double-click Passwords.
   3. Click the User Profiles tab.
   4. Select All users of this computer use the same preferences and desktop settings.

      

   5. Click OK.
   6. Restart your computer if prompted to do so.
   7. Run the installation. This installs the software for all users.
   8. To turn user profiles on again, repeat steps 1-3 and select Users can customize their preferences and desktop settings.
   9. Restart your computer if prompted to do so.

5. To install the software under a different profile, log on as a different user by selecting Start > Shutdown > Log on as different user, and then run the installation.
6. For more information on disabling and deleting user profiles, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 156826 How to Disable and Delete User Profiles.
7. Your CD-ROM drive uses a real mode (16-bit) driver.
8. To run your installation, your CD-ROM may require a 32-bit driver. To determine if your CD-ROM is a using real mode 16-bit driver, follow these steps:
9. Windows XP
10. Select Start > Control Panel > System or Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System.
11. Select the Hardware tab.
12. Click Device Manager.
13. Locate the CD-ROM branch in the device tree. If the CD-ROM branch does not exist, you are using a real-mode CD-ROM driver.

    

14. Windows NT/2000
15. Select Start > Settings > Control Panel > System.
16. Select the Hardware tab.
17. Click the Device Manager tab.
18. Locate the CD-ROM branch in the device tree. If the CDROM branch does not exist, you are using a real-mode CD-ROM driver.
19. Windows 95/98/ME
20. Right-click My Computer.
21. Click Properties.
22. Click the Performance tab. If you see a message stating that some drives use MS-DOS compatibility, you may be using a real mode (16-bit) CD-ROM driver.

    

23. There are two possible fixes:
24. The easiest solution is to copy all the installation files to your computer and run them from your hard drive rather than the CD-ROM. To do this:
    1. Create a folder on your hard drive (e.g., your Desktop) by right-clicking and selecting New Folder.
    2. Double-click My Computer.
    3. Double-click your CD-ROM drive.
    4. Press Ctrl + A or select Edit > Select All to select all the installation files.
    5. Drag and drop all the files into the folder you created in step 1.
    6. Right-click each file and select Properties to make sure it is not Read-only. If it is, deselect the Read-only check box.

       

    7. Run the installation by double-clicking setup.exe (or similar file, e.g., installer.exe).

25. Alternatively, you can update your CD-ROM by contacting the CD-ROM manufacturer and obtaining an updated, protected mode driver.

General Troubleshooting

If the above fixes do not resolve this error, try the troubleshooting steps provided in the following articles:

• To run most installations on Windows NT 4.0, 2000, or XP machines, you are often required to have administrative privileges. To make sure you have administrative privileges, see Acquire Administrative Privileges on Your Computer.
• You may not have enough disk space to run the installation. To solve this problem, see How Do I Increase Hard Disk Space on My Computer?
• The Microsoft Windows Installer file may be damaged or is not installed properly. The Windows Installer engine drives some software installations. If it is damaged or improperly installed, your installation may not run. To install the Windows Installer engine, see How Do I Install the Windows Installer Engine on My Computer?
• Your computer may not meet the minimum processor speed (MHz) requirements needed to run the installation. To determine your processor speed, see How Do I Determine My Computer's Processor Speed?

Does Your Issue Still Exist?

If your issue still exists, you may have an invalid character in your registry. For more information, see Microsoft's Knowledge Base article 292582 OFFXP: Windows Installer Error 1324 When You Run Setup. Warning: This resolution requires you to modify your the Windows registry. Modifications to the registry, if not done correctly, can cause serious problems to your system.

If after following these instructions your product failed to install, you'll need to contact your vendor. See the Who to Contact page for more information.