I have been trying to figure out why QuickBooks Premier Pro 2022 will not install on Windows Server Essentials 2016.

It gets a quarter of the way in and then throws an error 1603.

I’ve searched high and low and HATE Google results. Nothing but handpicked garbage content farm webpages that do not help at all. I miss you could find an obscure blog on the first or second page with a fix right there. Instead, you get this ad-filled almost AI created gibberish with nothing but rehashed “fixes” from every other website that, again, is filled with nothing but ads.

I’ve tried uninstalling the C++, .Net Framework, etc. to no avail.

I just downloaded a trial of QuickBooks Enterprise 2023 and it installed with NO PROBLEMS.

I stood up a Server Essentials 2016 virtual machine and was able to install QuickBooks Premier 2022 OK with no problem.

However, I came across at least three other people who have had a problem with trying to install QuickBooks Premier 2022 onto either Windows 10 or a server operating system.

If you came across this and fixed it, please comment below. I’ll do the same if I find a fix. I know it will make a lot of people happy.

An interesting update happened last night. I downloaded a trial of QuickBooks Enterprise 2023, and it installed within five minutes.

I’m trying to run Process Explorer and Process Monitor, but am coming up short. If you have any expertise in either of these programs and troubleshooting what might be causing the install to fail with error 1603, please leave a comment below.

I FUCKING FIXED IT!

I used RegScan and performed a scan on all registry hives for “QuickBooks” and then exported them out and finally deleted them all.

I rebooted and sure enough it fucking installed. I knew it was a rogue fucking registry key. I hate Microsoft and Intuit!