Error 1606 when installing CS4 or Acrobat 8, 9

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Issue

When you try to install Adobe Creative Suite 4 products or Acrobat 8 or 9, you get the error, "1606: could not access network location\Startup".

When installing Acrobat, the 1606 error usually references the Startup location. However, it can also reference other locations, such as the following:

"Error 1606. Could Not Access Network Location <Common Administrative Tools>.All Users\"

Solutions

Do one or more of the following:

Solution 1: Run the Microsoft Fix it wizard.

Try using the Microsoft Fix it wizard, available at support.microsoft.com/kb/886549. This wizard updates the Windows registry.

Disclaimer: Adobe does not support third-party software and provides this information as a courtesy only.

Solution 2: Change the Microsoft Office install root location in the registry.

Important: The following steps require you to modify the Windows registry. Modifications to the Windows registry, if not done correctly, can cause serious problems to a Windows operating system. The information is provided as a courtesy. If you have reservations about modifying the registry, contact Microsoft Office technical support. Back up the registry before modifying it. More information on how to back up the registry can be found on the Microsoft support site at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756.

  1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box opens.
  2. In the Open field, type regedit, and then click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
  3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\[Version Number]\Common\InstallRoot and select the InstallRoot key. In the right pane, check for a value named Path.
  4. Right-click Path and choose Modify. Redirect the value to the local installation folder for Microsoft Office.



    Note: If the Path value does not exist, create it. (Right-click inside the right pane and select New > String Value (REG-SZ). Set it to the path where the Microsoft Office folder is located on your computer.) The default paths for Microsoft Office 2000-2007 are:

    • Office 2000 - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office
    • Office XP (2002) - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10
    • Office 2003 - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11
    • Office 2007 - C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12
  5. Repeat steps 4-5 for every version number found under the Office key.
  6. Install Acrobat.

Solution 3: Back up and delete the Microsoft Office registry key.

Note: Only try this solution if Solution 2 fails.

  1. Click Start, and then click Run. The Run dialog box opens.
  2. In the Open field, type regedit, and then click OK. The Registry Editor opens.
  3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office
  4. Right-click the Office key and select 'export. Provide a name and select a location to save the *.reg file to.
  5. Right-click the Office key again and select delete.
  6. Install Acrobat.
  7. After completing the Acrobat installation, browse to the location where the *.reg was saved. Double-click the *.reg file to import the deleted office registry key.

Solution 4: Create a new local User Account with administrative privileges and install Acrobat.

These instructions are designed for creating a local administrative user. You can use a domain account, but these instructions don't assist with setting up the account. For testing purposes, log in to a local account to prevent any network-related issues.

  1. Right-click My Computer and choose Manage.
  2. Expand System Tools > Local Users and Groups and right-click the Users folder.
  3. Click New User.
  4. Type in a username and full name.

    Note: You are sometimes required to enter a password, depending on the computer's policies.
  5. Deselect Change Password At Next Logon.
  6. Select Password Never Expires, click Create, and click Close.
  7. Right-click the user account and choose Properties.
  8. Select the Member Of tab and click Add.
  9. Verify that the location is the local computer name and type Administrators in the Enter The Object Names To Select dialog box.
  10. Click OK, then click OK again.
  11. Disable startup items and services and log in to the new user account upon restart.
  12. Attempt to install Acrobat again.

Solution 5: Change the target location of the My Documents folder to a folder on the local computer.

  1. Click Start, right-click My Documents, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Target tab.
  3. In the Target box, click Restore Default, and then click OK.



    Note: By default, the location of the My Documents folder is C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name]\My Documents. C is the drive on which Windows is installed, and [User Name] is the currently logged-on user.

     
  4. In the Move Documents box, click Yes to move your documents to the new location.
  5. Install Acrobat.

Solution 6: Remove Microsoft Office, install Acrobat, and reinstall Microsoft Office.

  1. Close all open applications.
  2. Move any documents you want to keep from the Office folder to another folder.
  3. Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel.
  4. Double-click Add Or Remove Programs.
  5. Select Change Or Remove Programs in the Add or Remove Programs dialog box.
  6. Select Microsoft Office, and click Remove.
  7. Click Yes in the Confirm File Deletion dialog box.
  8. Click OK in the Remove Programs From Your Computer dialog box.
  9. Restart your computer.
  10. Install Acrobat and then reinstall Microsoft Office.

Solution 7: What to do when the above solutions do not work. 

If you receive a 1606 error when you install Acrobat after completing solutions 1 through 5, see the following Microsoft articles, or contact Adobe Technical Support. (Also use this solution if you get the 1606 error when installing Adobe Reader or any third-party application.)

  1. Note the exact error message, including the part following "Could not access network location\."
  2. Check if the following Microsoft articles apply to your error message:
  3. If you still get the 1606 error message when installing a supported Adobe product, contact Adobe Technical Support. More information on how to contact Adobe technical Support can be found at: http://www.adobe.com/go/support/.

Solution 8: Verify connectivity with remote computer and install Acrobat.

  1. Choose Start > Run.
  2. Type \\[remote_hostname]\[path]\ and press Enter.
    • If the command generates a error, "Host not found," then you can't connect to the host. Firewalls, networks changes, or loose Ethernet cables can be the cause of the issue.
    • If the command opens a folder, proceed to Solution 1.

Note: [remote_hostname] is the name of the host computer. It is found after the first two backslashes and the before following backslash. For example: \\lotusexchange\flats\acrobat_9_installation. The remote host name is lotusexchange.

Additional Information

This error message is generated when the installer can't resolve a path during the installation of Acrobat. The error is often generated when you attempt to access the installation path of Microsoft Office during the installation of the PDFMaker components. Restoring this path or reinstalling Office typically resolves these issues.

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