Error 1327 “Invalid Drive” while installing or updating applications in Windows

Jan 21, 2011

—

Symptoms

When trying to install or update an application, you receive an error message similar to the following:

Error 1327. Invalid Drive: Z:

I’ve encountered this error installing Google Earth and another application, and it also apparently happens with many others including Microsoft and Adobe applications.

Cause

These installers/updaters are failing to access the drive that one of your shell folders is on — probably your Personal folder, ‘My Documents’. This could be because:

the hard drive is no longer attached or isn’t recognized by the system, or the drive was a mapped network drive that is no longer mapped,
it’s a network folder / mapped drive on a computer or server that is not currently available, or
it’s a network folder / mapped drive that the installer/updater doesn’t have access to.

Resolutions

Cause 1: the drive is no longer attached or mapped

Reattach the hard drive or map the folder back to the drive. If you need help with these, ask your administrator or local geek.

Alternatively, update the registry to point your shell folder to a location that exists on a drive that exists. You may follow the directions at either Microsoft or Adobe for updating your registry (they are essentially identical).

Cause 2: The network folder is on a computer or server that is not currently available

Try again when the server is available (or see #1 above).

Cause 3: The installer/updater doesn’t have access to the network folder / mapped drive

Ok, so this is really why I wrote this article. The second time I encountered this problem I had forgotten that this was the cause and how to fix it. It’s seldom mentioned, and it took me a little while to find the solution even the second time around…

The drive that your shell folder (again, probably ‘My Documents’) is on is a mapped network drive and is connected using your own user account. However, the application installer/updater is running as the Administrative user, which does not have access to your mapped network drives (even if you are an administrative user).

The way to resolve this is simple, seamless, and temporary. Let’s say that the network folder is \user\Robert LaThanh on a server named FileServer (so the full path would be \\FileServer\user\Robert LaThanh), and it’s mapped to the Z:‘drive. We’ll confirm these first (step #2)…

Run the Command Prompt as Administrator.
1. Click on the Windows Logo (Start Menu)
2. Type ‘Command Prompt’
3. Right-click on the ‘Command Prompt’ shortcut and choose “Run as administrator”
4. Click “Yes” in the User Account Control security dialog to allow the Command Prompt to run

Let’s verify that the drive is mapped but unavailable to the Administrator by typing net use at the command prompt. If this is the case, your output will look like this:

C:\Windows\system32>net use
New connections will be remembered.

Status       Local  Remote                            Network
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unavailable  Z:     \\FileServer\user\Robert LaThanh  Microsoft Windows Network
The command completed successfully.

Remap the network folder as Administrator by typing net use Z: "\\FileServer\user\Robert LaThanh". (The double-quotes aren’t necessary if the network path does not contain any spaces.)
```
C:\Windows\system32>net use Z: "\\FileServer\user\Robert LaThanh"
The command completed successfully.
```

That’s it!

Your installer/updater should now work. This won’t affect your ability to use that drive, and once you reboot, you’re back to normal.

Comments

24 responses to “Error 1327 “Invalid Drive” while installing or updating applications in Windows”

Jeremy

March 2, 2011

Well done. Thanks so much.
Ruben

April 5, 2011

Thank you very much! Why didn’t I find this on the Microsoft pages?
Paul

June 17, 2011

Wow, finally! Thanks man.
wellproc

July 12, 2011

Finally somebody with a real solution to this problem. Thanks!
Installation Error 1327 | SoftArtisans, Blogged Installation Error 1327 | The Cathedral and the Bizarre

December 14, 2011

[…] Error 1327 occurs during any basic installation when there is an incorrect value in the Data field in some of the Microsoft Windows registry keys. This issue is addressed by Adobe in this article and by Robert LaThanh in this post. […]
Reza

June 25, 2013

Thank you! This worked! I was searching google
error 1327 invalid drive
so that I can uninstall Microsoft Office. After running cmd as administrator and following those steps I was able to uninstall it. I was also able to install office through ninite.com which was also giving me a 0x80070003 system cannot find the path error.
super helpful for solving issues with mapped drives over the network.
Seán

July 12, 2013

Well done, thanks!
Rick

September 10, 2013

If you’re getting that invalid drive E:\ warning while trying to load new programs, simply plug in a jump drive & use admin tools to rename it to “E:\” drive & leave it in while you download one file & it will correct the path.
B S

October 25, 2013

Thank you so much. What a pain this was. I was just doing a shift-right-click and runas local admin account to resolve.
SB

November 20, 2013

Thank you Rick. All I had to do was put the Flash Drive in and it became Drive E: and problems were solved!!! The program installed flawlessly.
michael

January 14, 2014

My problem was “Cause 3” – you rock. Thanks for taking the time to figure this out and posting it.
dan

March 13, 2014

Thanks for this,

we used to edit registry to get around this, but this is much easier!

Anyone had any issues deploying via sccm and getting the same error in event log? Can’t see a way around that :/
Zaibi

March 31, 2014

Here is helpful solution

The simple and quick resolutions to repair 1327 error are outlined below:

Enter Valid Path of My Documents in your Registry
Make Required Changes
Restore the Original Drive Letter
Temporarily Map a Folder to the Drive Letter

Taken from:

http://sorcim.com/knowledgebase/1327.html
Anthony

March 31, 2014

Thanks for the tip! Quick question. If the fix is only temporary does that mean the error will happen again the next time a program or update tries to install?

If so, and if the fix doesn’t affect the ability to use the drive, why not add it to a batch file that runs on startup?
Robert

April 1, 2014

Hey Anthony,

For me, this only happens once or twice while installing programs on a computer during initial setup, and I’ve never had an update have an issue. So, adding it to a startup batch file wouldn’t be helpful to me.
Mohd

May 8, 2014

Thank you for the solution
Efrain

July 21, 2014

You don’t know how much your post helped me.

Thank you SO much!
Joe

November 7, 2014

Many thanks, this was driving me crazy.
Rich

July 23, 2015

Thank you for this gem of information!!
Cazza

February 17, 2016

Thank you so much, this was really useful, fixed it straight away! All I need to do now is work out how to install it across the network! 😛
Samir

May 19, 2016

Perfect! This worked like a charm… Thank you so much…
Greg

May 30, 2016

Finally – someone with a real solution to this error. Thank you!
Len

January 12, 2017

Please be sure to add /persistent:yes to teh end of the command for each drive so you dont have to re-enter on reboot. Thanks
Anonymous

July 19, 2017

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!