Fix The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation in Windows 10

You may get the error “The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation” when you try installing an application in Windows 10. The process Windows Installer returns this error, but there may be a variety of causes triggering this error. This post describes the four most common fixes for this issue.

The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation

The installer is corrupt or not downloaded completely

Delete the setup and download the installer from the official website. Try to avoid 3rd party websites like CNET of FileHippo

Antivirus software blocks the installation

Temporarily disable the antivirus, or exclude the folder (where the MSI is located) from scanning.

User Account Control is set to the highest level

Turn off User Account Control (UAC)

1. Type UAC in the search field on your taskbar. (If the search field isn’t visible, right-click the Start button and choose Search.)
2. Click Change User Account Control settings in the search results.
3. To turn UAC off, drag the slider down to Never notify and click OK.
4. Reboot your computer for the change to take effect.

A local or group policy is set to prevent the installation

This may be the most likely reason for the installation failure. But also most difficult if you’re not very into IT. No worries, just follow these steps and you’re good to go 🙂
First, we set a policy to Always allow Windows Installer.

1. Click Start – start typing policy (1)
2. Click Edit Group Policy (2)
3. Navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Installer (3)
4. Double-click Turn off Windows Installer (4)
5. In Turn off Windows Installer window, click Enabled. (5)
6. Set Disable Windows Installer to Never (6)
7. Click OK (7)
   

Next, we create a new Software Restriction Policy

1. Navigate to Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Software Restriction Policies (1)
2. Right click Software Restriction Policies and click New Software Restriction Policies (2)
3. Double click Enforcement to open the Enforcement Properties (3)
4. Select All users except local administrators (4)
5. Click OK (5) and policy editor.
6. Click Start – type gpupdate /force and press Enter. This will force the policy to be applied immediately.
   

You should now be able to install the application.